Kyle Larson’s title is sealed, and NASCAR’s next race, the Wheatley Vodka Clash at Daytona, is 97 days away on Feb. 13, 2027.
The Clash awards no points, so the 69th Daytona 500 on Feb. 21 opens the real season, with the Duel at Daytona qualifying runs set for Feb. 18. The calendar around it has shifted in some places and stayed put in others.
The 2026 half of the story ended quickly. Larson needed only one stage.
Kyle Larson Clinches Cup Title for Hendrick Motorsports
Larson had the championship in hand before Stage 2 began, a fourth-place finish in the opening segment sealing it for a driver who came to Homestead-Miami Speedway with a 67-point lead over Christopher Bell. Tyler Reddick won the segment, and Larson’s seven stage points gave Hendrick Motorsports its 16th Cup championship.
Larson, 34, who also won titles in 2021 and 2025, is the first repeat champion since Jimmie Johnson ended a run of five straight in 2010, and the 11th driver with at least three titles. Only Jeff Gordon and Johnson had previously won consecutive championships for team owner Rick Hendrick.
The route there was unconventional. Larson went winless through the 26-race regular season, then won three of nine Chase races, Talladega Superspeedway among them, and stretched his lead to 73 points.
It all unfolded under a new format. The Chase returned as a 16-driver, 10-race run with no eliminations, and Homestead-Miami hosted the finale for the first time since 2019.
The calendar produced firsts of its own. NASCAR raced on an active military installation, Naval Base Coronado, in June, and North Wilkesboro Speedway hosted its first points race since 1996 in July. Dover Motor Speedway, meanwhile, went a full season without a points race for the first time since 1968.
Kyle Larson Faces Changes on 2027 NASCAR Cup Series Schedule
Structurally, 2027 mirrors 2026 with 26 regular-season races, a 10-race Chase and a title race at Homestead-Miami on Nov. 14. The differences lie in where the pieces sit.
The biggest shift is the Chase itself. Darlington, Gateway and Bristol opened the 2026 postseason. This time Richmond Raceway opens the Chase on Sept. 11, followed by Watkins Glen International on Sept. 19 and New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sept. 26. The last seven venues carry over.
Darlington, which opened the 2026 Chase, moves to Labor Day weekend, Sept. 5, as the regular-season finale. Gateway, the second Chase stop last year, slides into the regular season too, and the Bristol night race on Aug. 14 becomes the 23rd of 26 regular-season races.
The Clash leaves Bowman Gray Stadium, where it ran in 2025 and 2026, and heads back to Daytona. It “should be a really great way to kick off Speedweeks,” according to NASCAR Vice President Julie Giese. The Craftsman Truck Series takes over the venue in August, making its debut at Bowman Gray.
The All-Star Race moves to North Wilkesboro on May 23, while Dover returns to the points schedule on May 16. NASCAR goes back to Coronado on Aug. 1, then plans to take the military-base race to a different installation in 2028.
Homestead-Miami, meanwhile, is undergoing a renovation of roughly $20 million before championship weekend. It “is going to feel like a new facility,” NASCAR Chief Operating Officer Ben Kennedy said, according to the series.
NASCAR has yet to announce the Clash’s format or eligibility standards. Those details are due at a later date. Larson, meanwhile, will bring the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to Daytona as the reigning champion.
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