Kyle Larson is officially a three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, and he didn’t even have to wait until the halfway point of Sunday’s season finale to celebrate.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver clinched the 2026 championship during Stage 1 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 8, securing his second consecutive title before the checkered flag.
The decisive moment came when Chase Briscoe suffered an engine failure late in the opening stage, bringing out a caution that ended the stage and settled the championship battle.
Larson had been running fourth shortly before the caution, with Christopher Bell in third. The stage-ending caution locked in the points needed to put the title mathematically out of reach.
The result makes Larson NASCAR’s first back-to-back Cup Series champion since Jimmie Johnson in 2010.
Kyle Larson Reacts to Clinching Third NASCAR Cup Series Championship
Even Larson seemed surprised by how quickly the championship was decided.
Larson learned the news from crew chief Cliff Daniels, who told him, “Uh, they’ve declared it. We got it.”
Larson had a simple response.
“It’s done?”
It was hardly the dramatic championship-clinching moment anyone would have expected entering NASCAR’s biggest race of the season. There was no last-lap battle for the title, no desperate charge through traffic and no need to wait until the checkered flag.
Instead, Larson had secured his third Cup Series championship before the race even reached its halfway point.
His reaction summed it up perfectly.
“That was a little anticlimactic.”
The understated response made for a memorable moment in an otherwise extraordinary afternoon for the Hendrick Motorsports driver.
NASCAR Championship Decided Before Homestead Checkered Flag
Larson’s fourth-place finish in Stage 1 proved sufficient to secure the championship, bringing an unusually early conclusion to the 2026 title fight.
Under NASCAR’s Chase format, the championship was determined by points accumulated throughout the postseason rather than a winner-take-all showdown among the remaining contenders.
Larson entered Sunday’s finale with a substantial points advantage. His performance in the opening stage, combined with the developments involving his two championship rivals, Bell and Denny Hamlin, left them without a mathematical path to catch him.
The result gave Larson his third NASCAR Cup Series championship, adding to his titles from 2021 and 2025.
There was still plenty of racing left at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and the battle for Sunday’s race victory continued. But the season’s biggest prize had already been claimed.
For Larson, the championship arrived earlier than expected. That didn’t make the accomplishment any less significant.
Kyle Larson is officially a three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion.
Kyle Larson Is Officially the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Champion After Stage 1 at Homestead