Illustrative image; not a photograph of the 2026 Homestead race.
Kyle Larson arrived at Homestead-Miami Speedway needing just nine points to secure the NASCAR Cup Series championship. He left with more than the title: Larson won Sunday’s Season Finale 400, clinching his third Cup crown in South Florida.
The victory capped a weekend that brought NASCAR’s season finales to Homestead, where the Cup championship came down to a small points cushion and a straightforward target for Larson. According to NASCAR.com’s live results, Larson finished the season with 2,469 points, ahead of Christopher Bell’s 2,402-a final margin of 67 points.
Nine points stood between Larson and the title
The championship was Larson’s to lose, but it was not settled before the green flag. Bell and Denny Hamlin remained the other contenders with a mathematical path to the title, while Larson needed only a modest day to shut the door.
The clinching threshold was nine points. NASCAR’s published championship scenarios outlined how Larson could reach it: eight stage points would put him within one point, while a third-place-or-better finish in Stage 1 would earn enough points to clinch. If he scored no stage points, a finish of 28th or better would also be sufficient under the stated scenario.
Larson clinched early in the race, then went on to win it. That combination made the afternoon especially emphatic: the title was secured before the final checkered flag, but the No. 5 team kept racing for the event win.
Illustrative motorsports photograph; not an image of Larson or the race.
Briscoe started from the pole; Larson finished the job
Chase Briscoe started from pole position after winning Saturday’s qualifying session. NASCAR’s qualifying recap credited the Joe Gibbs Racing driver with a 32.396-second lap at 166.687 mph.
That put Briscoe at the front when the field took the green, but the headline belonged to Larson by the finish. NASCAR’s live results list Larson as the race winner and record his championship result. The final points standings show Bell in second, 67 points behind.
That 67-point final margin matches the 67-point gap Larson carried into the finale. The identical figures describe different snapshots: the pre-race advantage and the post-race separation. As Motorsport.com reported before the finale, Larson entered the weekend ahead of Bell by 67 points. The final standings, as reported by NASCAR.com, show that same numerical gap after the race.
A third Cup title, with Homestead as the stage
The championship adds another major milestone to Larson’s NASCAR career. He and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team turned a points advantage into a race victory and a third Cup Series title, ending the season with the championship secured on the track rather than merely inherited through the standings.
For South Florida, the finale was a high-profile return to Homestead-Miami Speedway. The track hosted NASCAR’s championship weekend from Nov. 6–8, bringing the Cup finale to a venue with a long-running place in the region’s motorsports calendar. The speedway’s announcement confirmed the weekend dates.
Homestead sits near the eastern edge of the Everglades region, making the speedway a natural gathering point for fans from Miami-Dade and beyond. The setting is part of the local appeal: a major national racing event close to home, in a part of South Florida known as a gateway to Everglades country.
Illustrative speedway scene; not a photograph from Championship Weekend.
Championship weekend delivered across NASCAR’s series
The Cup finale closed a three-day schedule of title races at Homestead. On Saturday, Brandon Jones won the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series finale, while Justin Allgaier secured that series’ championship. NASCAR’s race recap reports Jones’s victory and Allgaier’s title.
Friday’s Craftsman Truck Series race also crowned a champion, as covered in South Florida Digest’s earlier championship-weekend reporting. Together, the three finales gave Homestead a full weekend of NASCAR title stakes, with Larson’s Cup win providing Sunday’s closing moment.
Illustrative pit-lane photograph; it does not depict a specific team or moment from the race.
Larson’s route to the trophy was clear before the race, but his finish made the result more than a points calculation. He needed nine points. He got the championship, and the Homestead checkered flag.
For more coverage across South Florida’s sports, culture and community, visit our Arts & Entertainment section.
