Just a handful of days removed from the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, we are already counting the days until the 2027 season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.
It's 101, by the way.
Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson became the first back-to-back Cup Series champion since Jimmie Johnson won five in a row from 2006 to 2010, and he became the 11th driver to win more than two Cup Series titles total.
Other drivers to win back-to-back titles include Buck Baker, Lee Petty, Joe Weatherly, David Pearson, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt (three times), and Jeff Gordon.
Now the driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet is aiming to join Johnson and Cale Yarborough (1976 to 1978) on the very short list of drivers to pull off a three-peat.
There will, of course, be 36 drivers (assuming RFK Racing move forward with their planned non-chartered entry) aiming to prevent that from happening. Who are the drivers most likely to stop a Larson three-peat?
Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing
For as inconsistent as Christopher Bell was at times throughout the 2026 season, he still ended up second in points behind Larson, and that was despite earning only one victory, even though the next five drivers in the standings all earned not just two each, but at least three each.
He had race-winning speed far more than just once in 2026. If he can actually capitalize on it more than once in 2027, he can be Larson's biggest title threat once again.
William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports
Yes, the 2026 season was a rough one for Hendrick Motorsports as a whole. But despite what you may have been led to believe, Larson wasn't the only Hendrick driver to break out of that slump at the right time.
William Byron quietly did the same, and he finished the season hotter than anybody, reeling off three straight top-three finishes, including his lone win of the year. Larson and only Larson finished the Chase with more top 10 finishes than Byron, and they probably would have been tied if not for Byron's Southern 500 mechanical failure.
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske
Ryan Blaney has now recorded back-to-back four-win seasons and is one of only two drivers who have done so. He also leads the series with 10 consecutive seasons of top 10 finishes in the championship standings. He finished fourth in 2026 despite four separate race-altering/ending issues during the Chase alone.
If he can capitalize on Team Penske's newfound speed on intermediate tracks next year, and if the No. 12 team's pit crew is even slightly better than it was this year, he can become the sport's next two-time champion.
Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing
There was a brief moment in time during the race at Phoenix Raceway when Chase Briscoe actually would have been the points leader, after winning back-to-back races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway to make up for the disappointing end to the race at Kansas Speedway.
Speaking of Kansas, we might have actually had a legitimate championship fight had he held off Larson to win that one as well. Unfortunately for Briscoe, Larson still would have won, thanks to the No. 19 Toyota's engine failure at Homestead. But at the end of the day, he proved his 2025 Championship 4 run was no fluke.
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing
I am less inclined to include Denny Hamlin on this list than I would have been a few months ago, simply because his win drought dates back to mid-June. That being said, I've been very firm in my belief that his so-called "choke" in the Chase wasn't nearly what it was made out to be by both the media and the fanbase.
He quite literally extended his full-season points lead throughout the 10-race postseason, and that was even without winning, even though seven of the next eight drivers behind him in the full-season standings did.
Winning a championship at the age of 46 in what is expected to be his final season would be the ultimate sendoff for the future first-ballot Hall of Famer. But after spending most of 2026 as the championship favorite and ultimately coming up short once again, does he really have it in him in year No. 22?
Joey Logano, Team Penske
Speaking of No. 22, while he didn't continue his trend of even-numbered year success in 2026, Joey Logano proved that he and the No. 22 team can be serious contenders regardless of the playoff format. They looked like they might not even qualify for the playoffs midway through the season, then turned it on and ascended to as high as third in the standings.
During the regular season, we kept hearing how drivers needed to be in the top six to start the postseason to have a legitimate chance at winning the championship. First of all, Larson proved that wrong almost instantly, and second of all, with just five points separating literally every position from third on down, you truly can win it from anywhere by getting hot at the right time. And Logano has done that too many times in the past for us not to consider him a contender.
Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing
For as much as Tyler Reddick seemed to fade during the middle of the season following his historic red-hot start, he still finished the year as the series leader in victories with six; no other driver had more than four, and he nearly had seven, before Blaney passed him with just over one lap to go at Homestead.
Reddick's victory at Phoenix in October, which ended a six-month win drought, was significant in that it proved 23XI Racing have at least somewhat regained some of their early-season form, and also in that it came at a track where he hadn't previously experienced a ton of success.
The 2027 NASCAR Cup Series season is scheduled to begin with the 69th annual Daytona 500, which is set to be shown live on Fox from Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 21.
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