Larson Survives Martinsville Scare to Move Within Reach of Another NASCAR Title

Kyle Larson turned a nearly disastrous Sunday at Martinsville Speedway into a manageable one, keeping himself in position to win a second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series championship.

Larson finished ninth and gave up only six points from his large lead in the standings. He now holds a 67-point advantage over Christopher Bell, who placed 10th, heading into the Nov. 8 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. A mediocre finish there should be enough to give Larson his third Cup title. Bell and Denny Hamlin, who was sixth at Martinsville, are the only other drivers still in contention after nine races of the Chase, the 10-race championship stretch that closes the season.

Larson's day went wrong early because of a strategy call that backfired. He started third in the No. 5 Chevrolet, but most of the field made a pit stop for fresh tires after 75 laps, while his team chose to keep him on the track and hoped for an early caution. The yellow flag did not come until lap 130, when the first stage ended. By then Larson was 23rd and a lap down.

It took him nearly 100 laps to get back onto the lead lap, and he spent most of the 500-lap event working through heavy traffic.

While Larson recovered, his Hendrick Motorsports teammates thrived on the 0.526-mile track. William Byron earned his first victory of the NASCAR season, and Chase Elliott took second, giving Hendrick the top two positions. Ty Gibbs finished third. Hendrick is the winningest organization in Martinsville history with 32 wins.

The same gamble hurt Hamlin. He began the race on the pole and led 40 laps, but he stayed out instead of pitting and was 17th when the first stage ended. Hamlin arrived at Martinsville second in the standings, 73 points behind Larson, and he scored no stage points. He was also caught up in an incident with Bell, who spun after contact from Joey Logano following a speeding penalty on pit road.

Larson missed his chance to become the first driver to clinch a Chase championship before the final race. Still, he is a heavy favorite at Homestead to become the third Hendrick driver with three titles. He would join NASCAR Hall of Famers Jeff Gordon, who won four, and Jimmie Johnson, who won seven.

The finale will be broadcast on NBC next Sunday and marks the first Cup race at Homestead-Miami in seven years. The 1.5-mile oval in South Florida hosted the season finale from 2002 to 2019, before Phoenix Raceway became the championship venue for the past seven seasons. Larson won the most recent Cup race at Homestead on March 23, 2025.