Kyle Larson needs just nine points at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday to secure his third NASCAR Cup Series championship, with all three national titles to be decided in Florida this weekend.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver leads Christopher Bell by 67 points and Denny Hamlin by 70 after recovering to finish ninth at Martinsville. Only those two drivers can deny him the championship, although both now need an extraordinary sequence of results.
Homestead hosts NASCAR’s championship weekend for the first time since 2019, with the Craftsman Truck Series racing on Friday, the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series on Saturday and the Cup Series finale on Sunday, 8 November.
Larson can settle title early
Larson’s advantage means he could secure the championship before Sunday’s race reaches halfway distance. Third place or better in the opening stage would be enough, while even without stage points he needs only to finish 28th.
That is a substantial margin for a driver with a strong record at Homestead. Larson won there in 2025 and arrives as the defending Cup Series champion, looking to become the first driver since Jimmie Johnson to win consecutive titles.
His position was strengthened at Martinsville, where William Byron dominated but Larson recovered from an early strategy setback to finish ninth. Bell and Hamlin could not take full advantage, finishing 10th and sixth, respectively.
Larson had gone into Martinsville with a chance to clinch the title a week early. He missed that opportunity, but his advantage remains so large that Bell and Hamlin need a near-perfect race and a serious setback for the championship leader.
Bell and Hamlin face difficult task
Bell and Hamlin must both win and collect substantial stage points to have any chance of overturning the deficit. Bell needs at least 14 stage points with victory, while Hamlin requires at least 17, unless the fastest-lap bonus changes the calculation. Neither can afford to leave the opening stage without a strong result, and both still need Larson to suffer a difficult afternoon.
Homestead is not a straightforward circuit. Its progressive banking encourages drivers to run close to the outside wall, rewarding those who can manage tyre wear over long green-flag runs. Larson’s record here gives him reason for confidence, but it also makes avoiding unnecessary risks particularly important.
The championship maths heavily favour Larson. His challenge is to complete 267 laps without allowing a mechanical problem, contact or a caution to undo nine races of work.
Allgaier faces closer championship fight
Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series finale is far less settled, with five drivers still capable of taking the title. Justin Allgaier leads Jesse Love by 22 points and Corey Day by 23, while Carson Kvapil is 31 behind and Sheldon Creed trails by 42.
Allgaier has recovered from a difficult start to the Chase with four consecutive top-five finishes, regaining the lead at Martinsville. Love, by contrast, lost his advantage after finishing 30th, while Day’s victories at Las Vegas and Charlotte have brought him into contention.
Allgaier remains the favourite, but the margins leave considerably more room for the championship to change hands than in Sunday’s Cup race.
Honeycutt and Riggs fight for Truck title
The first championship will be decided on Friday evening, when Kaden Honeycutt takes a 20-point lead over Layne Riggs into the Craftsman Truck Series finale. He has won twice during the Chase, although his 14th-place finish at Martinsville allowed Riggs to keep the contest alive. Riggs has finished inside the top eight in four successive races, including a victory at Charlotte.
A win would give Riggs a strong chance of overturning the deficit, but Honeycutt can guarantee the championship by scoring 55 points. The two-driver fight is more straightforward than Saturday’s five-way contest, although the championship remains open.
NASCAR Homestead championship weekend schedule
All times are UK Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and US Eastern Standard Time (EST).
| Race | UK date and time | US Eastern date and time |
|---|---|---|
| Craftsman Truck Series finale | Saturday 7 November 2026, 00:30 GMT | Friday 6 November 2026, 19:30 EST |
| O’Reilly Auto Parts Series finale | Saturday 7 November 2026, 22:00 GMT | Saturday 7 November 2026, 17:00 EST |
| NASCAR Cup Series finale | Sunday 8 November 2026, 20:00 GMT | Sunday 8 November 2026, 15:00 EST |
The Cup finale covers 267 laps of the 1.5-mile Homestead oval, with stage breaks after laps 80 and 165. NBC broadcasts Sunday’s race in the United States, while FS1 carries Friday’s Truck Series finale and The CW shows Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race.
British viewers can follow Cup Series coverage through Premier Sports, which holds NASCAR broadcast rights in the UK and Ireland. Support-series availability should be checked against the broadcaster’s listings.
For context on how the title race reached this point, our Martinsville weekend guide covered the penultimate round and the championship permutations facing Larson before Sunday’s race.
Larson has done almost everything required to put himself in position for a third championship. His rivals have one final opportunity to change the outcome, but the greater uncertainty this weekend lies in the two supporting series, where the title fights remain much closer.
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