TALLADEGA, Ala. — Beyond all the NASCAR Cup Series championship implications that came with Kyle Larson’s dramatic victory at Talladega Superspeedway Sunday afternoon, the 33-year-old Californian was genuinely just so elated to finally claim the first drafting track victory of his career, snapping a nagging 0-for-58 streak in a double-championship career.
In fact, Larson, his crew chief Cliff Daniels and even Hendrick Motorsports executive Jeff Gordon remained adamant even in all the celebratory post-race hoopla, that despite the dramatic ‘Dega win, the 2026 title is not theirs – yet – with two races remaining at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway.
And that careful approach comes despite Larson’s 73-point point advantage on the field – the largest it’s been in the eight-race old Chase to date.
“I also don’t want to let that [points margin] be clouding in my thoughts as we prepare this week and run in the race at Martinsville, ’cause really have a good day and give ourselves a good shot at Homestead,” Larson said.
“Never in a million years would I have imagined leaving here plus 73, though (smiling). I was shocked when I saw that on the screen. Even more pumped. That makes the win feel even way cooler.”
Added Hendrick executive Jeff Gordon, a NASCAR Hall of Famer, and a four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion himself, “They know their competitors are fierce and there’s no given. There’s no points lead big enough at this point.
However. … Sunday’s Talladega outcome could hardly have been more in Larson’s favor. Not only did he earn lots of stage points in addition to the victory, many of his closest championship challengers at the drop of the green flag were wary and thwarted by the time the checkered flew in overtime.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell went into Talladega only five points behind Larson – the closest margin atop the standings all Chase – after a brutal Phoenix race for the reigning champ, who finished 34th after crashing out.
Talladega was the reverse, with Bell the first Chase driver to suffer a major setback when his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing spun approaching pit road on his first pit stop. The damage – and three subsequent pit road penalties during the repair stop – ended up putting Bell down eight laps before the end of the opening stage of racing. He finished 35th – 12 laps off the pace and dropped to third in the standings, 74 points behind Larson.
Bell’s JGR teammate Denny Hamlin also had a rough day. He went into Talladega ranked fourth – but only 31 points off Larson – and was among those collected in a 12-car pileup during Stage 2. Hamlin was able to continue, his No. 11 JGR Toyota finishing eighth and now he’s second to Larson in the title standings and needing to recover those 73 points in the next two races.
The veteran Hamlin sat on pole position and finished runner-up at Martinsville earlier this season. He has six wins and 28 top-10 finishes there – his last trophy coming in Spring, 2025. And Hamlin has three wins at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the most recent in 2020.
Bell’s only Martinsville win came in the Chase race in 2022. He won the following year at Homestead.
Larson scored his only Martinsville victory in Spring, 2023. And he is a two-time winner at Homestead, his most recent win at the South Florida 1.5-miler coming in the series’ last visit to the track in March 2025.
“There’s still two races,” Larson repeated. “Like, it’s so easy to look at it and be like, oh, the 5’s got it. We could go to Martinsville and there’s a 33-car stack-up on the first lap, it’s so unpredictable. I could cave in the radiator and be done.
“I’m just saying there’s still a lot of racing left. So much in the Chase. All you guys in here are like, ‘this person is out, this person has it locked up.’ They win or something happens and then, ‘boom,’ the picture completely changes.
“I’m not getting ahead of myself at all. I’m not going to let you guys get me ahead of myself either.”
