The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series champion will be decided on Sunday, November 8, at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Kyle Larson is the defending champion, and after three of the ten Chase races he leads the standings by a single point over Denny Hamlin.
The championship race at a glance
- Race: NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race
- Date: Sunday, November 8, 2026, 3:00 p.m. ET
- Track: Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead, Florida, a 1.5-mile intermediate oval
- Distance: 267 laps, 400.5 miles
- TV: NBC, with MRN on radio
Homestead takes the finale in 2026. The 2025 title was settled at Phoenix Raceway, which moves to October 18 on this year’s schedule.
How the Chase decides the title
NASCAR brought back the Chase format for 2026. The top 16 drivers in points after the 26-race regular season qualify, and a regular-season win no longer guarantees a spot. There are no eliminations: after ten Chase races, the driver with the most points is champion.
Points were reset once, when the Chase began. The regular-season leader started on 2,100, second place on 2,075, third on 2,065, and each place after that 5 points lower, down to 2,000 for 16th. A race win is now worth 55 points instead of 40, while second still pays 35 and stage wins still pay 10.
That math matters for anyone reading the standings. A 25-point gap is less than half a win, so no lead this early is safe.
Where the Chase stands
Denny Hamlin entered the Chase as the top seed after three straight summer wins at Nashville, Michigan and Pocono. Ryan Blaney was second, and Ryan Preece took the last of the 16 spots by winning the regular-season finale at Daytona.
Three Chase races are done. Christopher Bell won the Southern 500 at Darlington on September 6, Larson won the Enjoy Illinois 300 in Madison, Illinois, on September 13, and Joey Logano won the Bristol Night Race on September 19 with a pass on lap 494 of 500.
| Pos. | Driver | Points | Behind | 2026 wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle Larson | 2,206 | leader | 1 |
| 2 | Denny Hamlin | 2,205 | -1 | 4 |
| 3 | Joey Logano | 2,190 | -16 | 3 |
| 4 | Christopher Bell | 2,189 | -17 | 1 |
| 5 | Ty Gibbs | 2,164 | -42 | 2 |
| 6 | Ryan Blaney | 2,154 | -52 | 3 |
| 7 | Tyler Reddick | 2,145 | -61 | 5 |
| 8 | Carson Hocevar | 2,121 | -85 | 1 |
Standings after Bristol, race 29 of 36. Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace, Austin Cindric, Chase Elliott, William Byron, Preece, Buescher and Daniel Suarez sit ninth through 16th, with Suarez 134 points back.
Larson is the only driver with a top five in all three Chase races: fifth at Darlington, first in Madison and second at Bristol. Blaney’s run went the other way at Bristol, where he was wrecked on lap 458 and finished 33rd.
The road to Homestead
| Date | Track |
|---|---|
| Sunday, Sept. 27 | Kansas Speedway |
| Sunday, Oct. 4 | Las Vegas Motor Speedway |
| Sunday, Oct. 11 | Charlotte Motor Speedway |
| Sunday, Oct. 18 | Phoenix Raceway |
| Sunday, Oct. 25 | Talladega Superspeedway |
| Sunday, Nov. 1 | Martinsville Speedway |
| Sunday, Nov. 8 | Homestead-Miami Speedway |
Kansas, Las Vegas and Charlotte are all 1.5-mile tracks and all 267-lap races. Talladega is the longest left at 2.66 miles, and Martinsville is the shortest track left at 0.526 miles.
The last champion
Kyle Larson won the 2025 Cup Series title with 5,034 points, three ahead of Hamlin. Briscoe was third on 5,019 and Byron fourth on 5,004.
The 2025 finale at Phoenix on November 2 was won by Blaney, with Brad Keselowski second and Larson third. Third was enough for the title. The next season opens with the Daytona 500 on Sunday, February 21, 2027, covered on our Daytona 500 page.
NASCAR Cup Series championship odds
No championship price is quoted here. As of September 24, 2026, we have no market for the 2026 title that we can source and date.
When a board appears, read each price as a chance. +400 is priced at 20%, and +1000 at about 9.1%. A title bet is only worth making when you rate a driver’s chance higher than the price does, and in a no-elimination Chase that rating has to cover seven more races, not one.
Race-by-race coverage and results are on our NASCAR page and in NASCAR race results. To compare where you can bet the Chase, see our sportsbook reviews, and before paying anyone for racing picks, read our handicapper site reviews.