Kyle Larson got hot at the right time in the NASCAR Cup Series Chase, put together three victories and five more top 10s, including a second-place effort at Bristol Motor Speedway, to charge through the 10-race Postseason run and score his second series championship in a row and third overall (also 2021) for Hendrick Motorsports.
Larson becomes the first repeat champ in the Cup Series since seven-time champ Jimmie Johnson won back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010.
Larson and his Team Chevy teammates across the board had a rough go of it in the regular season, winning only seven races among all drivers in the group and the defending champ Larson was shut out of victory lane during that stretch.
The California native put all that behind and came alive at the beginning of the 10-race Chase, however, starting off with a fifth-place finish at Darlington. He stormed through the first six races of the post-season, including grabbing his first win of the year at Gateway in St Louis, then scoring the runner-up to Joey Logano at the Bristol Night Race, where Larson also won the pole. He then posted another win at Kansas, a second-place effort at Las Vegas and a six-place finish at Charlotte.
The points were piling up while he was off and running to grab the championship trophy and the rest of his challengers were simply caught in his wake.
He officially clinched the Cup Series crown following Stage 1 at Homestead-Miami Speedway where he posted a fourth-place finish. Larson scored seven points in the opening stage, ensuring that his closest rivals had no path mathematically to pass him in the standings.
His laid-back California personality shined through when he was told on the radio that he was the champ following the outcome of Stage 1.
“Cool,” Larson said. “That was a little anticlimactic. Good job guys.”
When speaking to the media later after the race, Larson was more reflective.
“I’m just so proud of my team, first and foremost, Hendrick Motorsports,” Larson said. “This was statistically probably one of our worst years. To still come away with the championship shows how resilient everybody at the race shop is, everybody on my 5 team, all my teammates.
“We absolutely could not have done what we did in the Chase without the teamwork that it took. That’s what this championship is, makes it so meaningful, just the teamwork. This one more than any of them took teamwork.”
The Joe Gibbs Racing drivers who performed so well in the Regular Season – Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin -- finished second and third, respectively, in the final points order. Ryan Blaney, who won the final race yesterday in his Team Penske Ford, finished fourth in the standings, while the season’s leader in total race victories (6), Tyler Reddick, posted a fifth-place finish in his 23XI Racing Toyota.
Blaney, who won the championship in 2023, says Larsons’ mastery of finding the edge and being able to manage it well makes him a “dangerous” opponent for the rest of the garage moving forward.
“Obviously, he’s incredibly talented, his natural God-given talent is off the charts," Blaney told the media Sunday. “He is very deserving, I think, to win his third championship. That group makes it hard on everyone in the garage, for sure. They are a very good team and everyone has their work cut out for them to try and contending with that group and specifically that pairing of Kyle and Cliff (Daniels, crew chief)."
The two Bristol Motor Speedway winners this season, Ty Gibbs from the Food City 500 in April and Joey Logano from the Bass Pro Shops Night Race in September, finished ninth and seventh, respectively in the Cup Series championship standings.
Larson posted a third-place finish and contended in the Food City 500 before Gibbs ultimately took the checkered flag, the first of his career. Larson led a race-best 284 laps of that race and seemed in position to add to his three Cup Series titles at Bristol on that afternoon.
Larson led 45 laps at the Night Race and ran out of laps to track down Logano in his No. 22 Team Penske machine, ultimately claiming the second place and keeping the mojo going in the Postseason.
The 2027 NASCAR Cup Series season opens with the Daytona 500 on Feb. 21. Bristol Motor Speedway’s two races next season will be held during the regular season, the first one, the tradition-rich Food City 500, on the weekend of April 9-11. The Bass Pro Shops Night Race moves back to its longtime home in August during the weekend of Aug. 12-14.
To purchase tickets to either Bristol race, please visit the BMS website by clicking here, or call the BMS Ticket Sales Center at (866) 415-4158.
