Homestead Results: Ryan Blaney Wins the Finale, Kyle Larson Takes the 2026 Cup Title
Welcome to the Happy Hour Racing Monday race recap, where we break down what decided Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race and what it means. This week is the big one: the 2026 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The Short Version
Here are the Homestead results in one breath. Ryan Blaney passed Tyler Reddick with two laps to go and won the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, November 8, by 0.314 seconds. Kyle Larson finished 12th and won the 2026 Cup Series championship by 49 points over Christopher Bell. It is Larson's third title and his second in a row. And Blaney finally got his payback at the track where Reddick beat him on the last lap two years ago.
How Ryan Blaney Won at Homestead
Blaney started ninth in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford, and for a while it looked like his day was done early. He ran second at the end of Stage 1, then had to come back to pit road a second time for a loose wheel. That dropped him to 28th by Lap 85. He spent the next 100 laps grinding his way back into the top five.
The final run is where it got good. With 15 laps to go, Noah Gragson turned Daniel Suárez into the infield grass and brought out the last caution. Blaney lined up fourth for the restart. William Byron led, but Reddick got by him on Lap 261 and looked like the man to beat.
Blaney had other ideas. He passed Bell on Lap 263 and Byron on Lap 264. Two laps from the end he got a run off Turn 2, Reddick blocked low, and Blaney went high in Turn 3, pulled alongside and cleared him. He led the last two laps and crossed the line 0.314 seconds ahead. Byron was third, Bell fourth and Bubba Wallace fifth.
It was Blaney's fourth win of 2026 and the 21st of his Cup career. He led only seven laps all day. They were the right seven.
Ryan Blaney on battling Tyler Reddick at Homestead: "Last two years I've had nightmares about that finish. Fun to get a little redemption. … I think we're even now." pic.twitter.com/XGM2JtCcfy
- Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) November 9, 2026
The Payback Angle
If this finish felt familiar, that is because it was. In 2024 at this same track, Reddick made a last-lap move on Blaney in the final corner to steal the win and a spot in the title race. Blaney has carried that one around since. "Every time I come here, that race haunts me," he said after Sunday's win.
This time the roles flipped. Reddick took it well, too. He laughed about it on pit road and called it a dose of his own medicine.
"He gave me a dose of my own medicine."
- Frontstretch (@Frontstretch) November 8, 2026
-Tyler Reddick shares a laugh as he reacts to Ryan Blaney passing him in the closing laps to take away the win. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/bBzHzC0SEw
Reddick still had a monster year. He won Stage 1 on Sunday, led 53 laps, finished second and closed 2026 with a series-best six wins. He ended up fifth in the final standings.
Kyle Larson Wraps Up Title Number Three
Larson came to Homestead as the points leader, and under this year's Chase format the driver with the most points after the last race is the champion. No winner-take-all final four. That meant he did not need a trophy, he needed a clean afternoon in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
He took care of business fast. Larson finished fourth in Stage 1, and those points put the title out of reach before the race was even a third of the way done. He did not lead a lap all day and brushed the wall on the final restart, but he brought it home 12th. Final margin: 49 points over Bell and 56 over Denny Hamlin. Blaney's win jumped him three spots to fourth in the standings.
That gives Larson championships in 2021, 2025 and 2026. Want the full breakdown of how he got here? Read our Kyle Larson 2026 report card.
Homestead Results by the Numbers
Hamlin Dominated, Briscoe Went Up in Smoke
The best car for most of the day was Hamlin's No. 11 Toyota. He won Stage 2 and led 87 laps, the most of anyone, running out front from Lap 128 to Lap 214. Then he brushed the Turn 4 wall, Blaney and Reddick got by, and he never led again. He finished sixth and third in points.
Chase Briscoe had the worst day of anyone. He won the pole at 166.687 mph and led the first 33 laps. Then a slow pit stop cost him the lead, and with three laps left in Stage 1 his No. 19 Toyota started smoking. The engine was done on Lap 77. He finished 39th and dropped to sixth in the final standings.
Bell had a strong run of his own. He led 46 laps and finished fourth, and it was enough to lock up second in the championship. His team will head into the off-season knowing they were close.
Winners and Losers
Hot: Ryan Blaney. Down to 28th after a loose wheel, back to the front, and a last-gasp pass to end the year on top.
Hot: Kyle Larson. Three titles, two in a row. He did exactly what he needed to do and nothing he did not.
Not: Chase Briscoe. Pole, 33 laps led, then an engine failure on Lap 77.
Not: Denny Hamlin. 87 laps led and nothing to show for it after one brush with the wall.
The Bottom Line
Larson won the championship. Blaney won the race. Both of them got what they came for. Kyle Larson leaves Homestead as a three-time champion, and Ryan Blaney leaves it with two years of nightmares finally put to bed. Not a bad way to close the book on 2026.
Your turn: Was Blaney's pass on Reddick the move of the year, or does something else from 2026 top it? Tell us what you think. And if you missed Saturday, here is our O'Reilly Series finale recap from Homestead.
Shop the Story
Blaney fans and Larson fans both have something to celebrate this week. Here is the gear tied to Sunday:
- Ryan Blaney #12 2026 Quaker 400 Atlanta Winner T-Shirt
- Ryan Blaney #12 2026 New Hampshire 301 Win T-Shirt
- Ryan Blaney #12 2026 America 250 Coffee Mug
- Kyle Larson #5 2026 Kansas Clean Sweep Winner T-Shirt
- Kyle Larson #5 2026 Cup Series Race Schedule T-Shirt
Want the winner's shirt every week next season without thinking about it? Take a look at the win shirt subscription fan club.
