Ryan Blaney has won the NASCAR Cup finale for the second consecutive year, as Kyle Larson was crowned a three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Blaney took the lead from Tyler Reddick with an outside pass coming to the white flag, holding on to claim victory in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford.
“I’m going to be honest with you. Every time I come here, that race (2024 Homestead loss) haunts me,” said Blaney in Victory Lane. “I kind of gave that one away. I didn’t do a very good job at the end of that race. Learned from it. Was able to apply some stuff we learned a couple years ago in that situation to tonight.
“Pretty cool night battling back from coming down pit road. Car was really, really fast. I appreciate everybody for sticking with it. Even though we weren’t part of the championship fight, our goal was to try to win the race, end on a high note, get the most points we can.
“We’ll rerack and hopefully be better next year. Congratulations to Kyle Larson, Mr. Hendrick, Cliff Daniels, championship number three, two in a row. Those guys are awesome. Hopefully we can race with them next year.”
Ryan Blaney wins race, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
Photo by: Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
Reddick finished second, William Byron third, Christopher Bell fourth, and Bubba Wallace fifth.
Denny Hamlin, Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez, Noah Gragson, and Michael McDowell filled out the remainder of the top ten.
Larson finished 12th, clinching the title by the end of Stage 1 in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
“Yeah, I mean, you definitely think about it, but try not to,” said Larsona bout winning the title earlier in the race. “I’m just so proud of my team, first and foremost. Hendrick Motorsports, this was statistically probably one of our worst years. To still come away with the championship shows how resilient everybody at the race shop is, everybody on my 5 team, all my teammates, 24, the 9, the 48. GM, too, Chevrolet, all the key partners there.
“We absolutely could not have done what we did in the Chase without the teamwork that it took. That’s what this championship is, makes it so meaningful, just the teamwork. This one more than any of them took teamwork.”
Reflecting on his 2026 title run, Larson added: “10 weeks ago, I don’t know if my fans had a clue. I definitely didn’t. We just didn’t have the speed. Our execution was so-so at the time. I felt like we had glimpses all throughout really our career where we could turn it on when everything was right. That’s what we did. We made no mistakes really until tonight, all of them behind the wheel. I got the word that we had clinched it. I started driving like an idiot (smiling). I’m more mad at myself.
“Again, thanks to Cliff Daniels, my whole team. Cliff mentioned on the radio our car chief, Jesse Saunders, he doesn’t get enough credit for what he means to our race team, too. The boss here, Mr. H, Mr. Hendrick, Miss Linda, thank you for everything.”
It’s the 16th Cup championship for Hendrick Motorsports, and Larson is just the 11th driver to win three or more titles at the highest level of NASCAR.
Watch: Ryan Blaney wins Homestead thriller, Kyle Larson crowned champion
Stages 1 & 2
Briscoe led the way from pole position, while Larson quickly began flirting with the wall similar to what we saw in practice.
In the early running, Ty Dillon angered both Chastain and Gibbs as they battled in the mid-field, and they both bumped him off into the corner on separate laps.
On Lap 35, the first lead change of the race happened as Briscoe pitted from the lead for a scheduled stop. He then had a slow, 16-second pit stop, knocking him outside the top five.
Larson ran a bit longer than Hamlin and Bell, pitting on Lap 40. Bell cycled into the lead via the undercut, but drivers on fresher tires were coming. Reddick also waited with Larson, and took the lead from Bell with 27 laps to go in the stage.
Heim suddenly slowed from inside the top 15 and pitted, telling the team that the engine shut off. He was the first driver to fall out of the race.
Larson ran down Hamlin and then Bell in the closing laps of the stage, but right as he was about to pass Bell, the caution flew as Briscoe’s No. 19 went up in smoke. It was a catastrophic engine failure for the pole-sitter, ending the stage early.
However, Larson had done enough already, clinching the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series championship at the end of the opening stage.
Reddick won Stage 1 under caution, followed by Blaney, Bell, Larson, Cindric, Hamlin, Wallace, Suarez, Byron, and Briscoe.
During the stage break, Reddick held the lead off pit road, while Blaney was forced to pit a second time to tighten a wheel.
On the restart, Reddick and Bell touched doors with Bell taking control early in Stage 2.
Larson spoke with Rick Hendrick on the radio, who gave him the green light to attack and go for the win. Shortly after, Larson ended up having to pit early as he got up into the wall and cut a right-rear tire.
During the green-flag pit stop cycle, Hamlin used the undercut to take the lead. However, the three-lap fresher tires of Bell helped him to make up the lost ground.
Once he got there, though, he struggled to find a way by. Hamlin held on to win Stage 2, followed by Bell, Reddick, Cindric, Blaney, Byron, Bowman, Elliott, Smith, and Suarez.
Stage 3
During the stage break, there was a stack-up entering the pits and Keselowski got spun sideways. Several cars continued with buckled hoods, compromising their aerodynamics. Elliott was among those cars with damage and his No. 9 had terrible pace for the rest of the night.
Hamlin held the lead through pit stops, while Elliott and McDowell got hit with penalties that sent them to the rear.
On the restart, Blaney jumped up to second and was shadowing Hamlin in the battle for the race lead.
Larson continued to be a non-factor after his wall contact as it caused slight damage to the car.
Up front, Reddick pulled off a dramatic three-wide pass for the lead, blowing by Blaney and Hamlin as they lapped Elliott.
During the final round of green-flag pit stops, Byron and Bell cycled to the front with the undercut, but those cars with fresher tires after running long were closing in.
Despite that, Byron did well to hang on to the race lead until the first caution for an on-track incident. With just over 10 laps to go, Suarez spun from 11th after contact from Gragson.
The entire field came down pit road, with Byron holding onto the lead for an eight-to-go restart.
It was a frantic battle, with Reddick taking the lead from Byron after a helpful push from his boss in the No. 11. Hamlin then got into the wall and slipped back a few positions. Larson also got into the wall on the restart, costing him a potential top ten.
Reddick continued to lead until Blaney ran him down, ripping by on the outside as they took the white flag. Blaney went on to collect his fourth win of the 2026 season and the 21st of his NASCAR Cup career.
Watch: Kyle Larson reflects on improbable third Cup title: ‘So proud of my team’
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