With a 73-point lead heading into Sunday afternoon's Xfinity 500 NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Martinsville Speedway over Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin, Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson had a chance to become the first driver since 2003 to clinch a championship before the season finale.
Of course, under the "win and in", Championship 4 era, it was impossible to lock up a title before the season finale, since NASCAR guaranteed a winner-take-all championship battle between four drivers in the season finale each year from 2014 to 2025.
Nobody made up much ground on Larson in Sunday's 500-lap race around the four-turn, 0.526-mile (0.847-kilometer) oval in Ridgeway, Virginia, but the fact is that two drivers made up enough to remain in title contention before Homestead.
Hamlin, who finished sixth, outscored Larson, who finished ninth, by three points and moved to 70 points behind, while Hamlin's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell, who finished 10th, outscored Larson by seven points, thanks to his stage points, to move to 67 points behind.
There are 76 points on the table for each driver in each race: 10 for the stage one win, 10 for the stage two win, and 55 for the race win, along with one for running the race's fastest lap.
Team Penske teammates Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano were both eliminated, as were Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe and 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick.
NASCAR Cup Series results at Martinsville
Order | Driver |
|---|---|
1 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
2 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
3 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
4 | Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford |
5 | Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
6 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
7 | Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
8 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota |
9 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
10 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
11 | Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
12 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota |
13 | Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
14 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
15 | Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
16 | Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
17 | Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
18 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford |
19 | Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
20 | Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
21 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
22 | Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
23 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford |
24 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford |
25 | A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
26 | Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
27 | Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford |
28 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
29 | Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
30 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet |
31 | John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
32 | Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota |
33 | Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet |
34 | Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet |
35 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford |
36 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford |
37 | Josh Bilicki, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford |
NASCAR championship standings after Martinsville
Rank | Driver | Points | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | 2469 | 0 |
2 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 2402 | -67 |
3 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 2399 | -70 |
4 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 2385 | -84 (OUT) |
5 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford | 2366 | -103 (OUT) |
6 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota | 2344 | -125 (OUT) |
7 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford | 2336 | -133 (OUT) |
NBC's live coverage of the Straight Talk Wireless 400 from Homestead-Miami Speedway is set to begin at 3:00 p.m. ET next Sunday, November 8. Don't miss any of the action from the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season finale and begin a free trial of FuboTV!
Add us as a preferred source on Google