At long last, Kyle Larson! The No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports driver claimed the NASCAR Cup Series victory at Talladega Superspeedway in breathtaking fashion, overtaking seven cars over the last quarter-mile on the last lap to claim his first career superspeedway win.
With the triumph, Larson — who entered the contest just five points clear in The Chase presented by Mobil 1 standings — swelled his cushion to 73, a 68-point increase in his championship lead. Swift speed certainly did the trick. So did avoiding major incidents, with a collection of Chasers not as lucky in that regard. Larson now has one hand on the Bill France Cup with two Chase contests remaining, with the ball clearly in the two-time champion’s court.
RELATED: Talladega results | Cup Series standings
That said, Larson isn’t across the start/finish line yet in terms of the championship crown. For one, he’d still need to start the race next week at Homestead-Miami Speedway in order to be officially crowned the champion. But first, Martinsville Speedway is on deck (Sun., 2 p.m. ET, NBC, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), and while Larson has impressive numbers at “The Paperclip,” plenty of other drivers do, too. Which driver could spoil the early Clinchmas party for Larson at the half-mile is this week’s “Last Call” question.
WHICH DRIVER COULD SPOIL KYLE LARSON’S EARLY TITLE CLINCH PURSUIT AT MARTINSVILLE?
Zack Albert: There’s still a window of opportunity for the field to forestall Kyle Larson’s bid for a repeat Cup Series crown, and the best candidate to head that off is Ryan Blaney. The Team Penske pro has finished top three in every fall race at Martinsville in the Next Gen era, with two clutch victories (2023, 2024) during that stretch and a series-best average finish of 5.1 in the last 10 Martinsville events. While a 107-point deficit and sixth-place rank in the standings make the prospects of another title charge an uphill task, Blaney has reliable performance at the 0.526-mile track and the best shot at forcing the championship fight to a Homestead crescendo.
Dustin Albino: At the midway point of the 2026 season, Joey Logano sat 20th in the regular-season standings, on the verge of missing the postseason entirely. Since then, the No. 22 team has found its stride, capturing victories at North Wilkesboro Speedway and Richmond Raceway before adding another at Bristol Motor Speedway — all short tracks — during The Chase. Logano became the first driver since Martin Truex Jr. in 2019 to win three short-track events in the same season. Sitting fifth on The Chase grid, 100 points behind Larson with two races remaining, Logano could improve his own standing with a victory at Martinsville. The three-time Cup Series champion has recorded 14 consecutive top-10 finishes at “The Paperclip,” tying Lee Petty for the third-longest streak in track history. Overall, Logano has 23 top-10 finishes in 35 Martinsville starts, his most at any track.
Cameron Richardson: Team Penske is always tough to beat in the fall Martinsville race, but last year in this contest, William Byron fended off a hard challenge from Ryan Blaney and won his way into the Championship 4. The 2026 season has been disappointing for the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports camp, which is two races away from its first winless season since 2019. Byron also sits 11th in points, which could land him with his worst result in the final standings since 2020. With three top fives and two wins in the last five events at the Virginia short track, Byron could be in a position to set up Larson for his clinching moment — a trade-off after Byron played a massive role in Larson’s first superspeedway victory and got a runner-up result out of it. However, Larson finished ninth in the spring, and based on the results from that race, Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell can keep their title hopes alive if the Hendrick driver winning Sunday isn’t Larson.
Zach Sturniolo: Let’s not forget about the home-state hero, Denny Hamlin. If anyone can still steal the championship away from Larson, it’s the man in second place — 73 points out — with one hell of a track record at “The Paperclip.” With six Martinsville wins on the resume, Hamlin is the Cup Series’ winningest active driver by double over William Byron’s three. That includes a monstrous performance by the No. 11 Toyota in the spring of 2025 that led to his first Martinsville victory since 2015. And while that gap between wins is a decade long, Hamlin has finished inside the top five in six of the last eight Martinsville races, one thwarted only by an engine failure. Hamlin also leads nearly every time the series lands in Martinsville, leading over 100 laps in six of his last 11 starts there. It is hard to ignore the lack of excellence we have seen from the No. 11 team through The Chase despite entering as the No. 1 seed, but it’s also hard to ignore some numbers lining up for him this weekend.
Pat DeCola: Martinsville has already propelled one Chase Elliott championship run — and it could be the place he delays Kyle Larson’s next one. Elliott won the fall race here in 2020 to punch his ticket to the Championship 4, then won the title a week later. And this spring, Alan Gustafson’s bold strategy call helped the No. 9 steal another grandfather clock from Denny Hamlin, who led a whopping 292 laps. Elliott’s championship hopes are over this year, but his ability to win in Hot Dog Heaven certainly isn’t. Larson needs 59 points Sunday to clinch regardless of what anybody else does, which requires a victory. An Elliott win would take that scenario off the table, even if Larson could still clinch otherwise with some help. Funny how Hendrick could leave Martinsville with another clock, yet still walk away feeling like it left something for the taking.