Analysis: Six drivers who fell short of the title, and what needs to change in 2027
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Kyle Larson is the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series champion!
Larson finished fourth in Stage 1 Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and those seven points were all that the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports driver needed to secure his third Bill France Cup in six years and his second in a row. He became just the 11th driver to earn three Cup Series titles, entering rarefied air at stock-car racing's highest level.
RELATED: Final Cup Series standings | Homestead results
But as Larson celebrated on the Homestead frontstretch, the other 15 Chase presented by Mobil 1 drivers were left scratching their heads about how the 10-race postseason played out. With three races remaining, seven drivers were separated by 56 points, but Larson's Talladega Superspeedway triumph marked a major turning point in the championship equation.
Take a look at what went wrong for some of the top title contenders, and what needs to change in the 2027 season.
CHRISTOPHER BELL
Entered Chase: Sixth in points, 50 back.
Finished Chase: Second in points, 49 back.
What happened: Bell opened The Chase with a bang, motoring his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to a crown-jewel victory in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. The speed remained for the entirety of the postseason, but Bell suffered damage in a crash the next race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, then battled a failing power-steering column a few weeks later at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Back-to-back top fives at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Phoenix Raceway brought him within five markers of Larson heading to Talladega, but a crash during Stage 1 pit stops in the antepenultimate race marked Bell's ultimate fatal flaw.
What needs to change: One more spot. Bell placed runner-up eight times across the 2026 season, fittingly culminating in a second-place finish in the final standings. His seven second-place finishes without a win in the regular season tied the most all time, and turning some of those into victories would have resulted in major points swings to improve his starting Chase position. Execution became an issue at times -- especially during The Chase -- but earning a career-best 16 top-fives proves Bell remains a perennial championship contender. Considering he fractured his left wrist in a crash at Michigan International Speedway over the summer, the season is all the more remarkable for the Oklahoman.
Quotable: "In that moment, like leaving Michigan, I think, if you'd have told me, hey, you're going to go into Homestead, second in points, 67 back, be like, OK, yeah, that's pretty good, but, yeah, just the way that we got here, the way that the Chase unfolded, obviously has been disappointing, and yeah, I mean, overall, I think, I don't know, three months from now, it, I'll look back at it and maybe, I don't know ... it's just we're in the moment today and it is what it is. -- Bell on Friday at Homestead, reflecting on Michigan.
DENNY HAMLIN
Entered Chase: First in points, 25 ahead.
Finished Chase: Third in points, 56 back.
What happened: The Chase felt like Murphy's Law for Hamlin. The No. 11 pit crew had a pair of costly stops at Darlington and Gateway, with the former leading to an on-track incident and damage while racing Michael McDowell. At Las Vegas, Hamlin had an opportunity to trap Larson a lap down while leading, but instead elected to pit. Laps later, Hamlin spun by himself later on, and his Toyota was never the same. A tire failure the next weekend at Phoenix was arguably the most costly, resulting in a 28th-place finish. In the penultimate race at Martinsville Speedway, Hamlin lost control of the lead with pit strategy gone wrong, and a spin after contact from Bell -- who was hit from behind by Joey Logano -- felt like the straw that broke the camel's back.
What needs to change: The outcome? Although execution certainly wasn't great down the stretch, it's difficult to identify a weakness in the No. 11 team's game. Hamlin still won four times this season, and amid his postseason struggles, still mathematically had a shot at the title at Homestead. The future NASCAR Hall of Famer has won 27 races over the last seven seasons, finishing worse than fifth in points just once. But Father Time isn't on his side. Hamlin continues to say that 2027 will be his last behind the wheel, meaning that if he's true to his word, he has just one more opportunity at a championship. And other than a Brickyard 400 win, that's quite literally the only box he has left to check.
Quotable: "It was a few times. I mean, I had a role. I think Vegas is certainly one. Now, did I love pitting? No, and did I feel a sense of urgency to make up for that? Yes, but those are mistakes no one on the team's fault for a couple of the incidents I had. The (Michael) McDowell one, I mean, that probably could have gone either way. Yes, we have an execution problem, but I'm not going to totally remove myself from that problem ... we obviously had a great regular season, and the Chase tracks lined up great, but obviously, we just did not perform at a championship level the last nine races." -- Hamlin on his strategies during the 2026 Chase.
RYAN BLANEY
Entered Chase: Second in points, 25 back.
Finished Chase: Fourth in points, 94 back.
What happened: Blaney had blazing speed all Chase -- but his results didn't show for it. He finished inside the top five six times, including the race win Sunday at Homestead, but also had four finishes of 35th or worse. The most notable came at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he led 202 laps before contact with Carson Hocevar ended his night early and resulted in fisticuffs on pit road. A brake rotor failure took him out a week before at Gateway, and the No. 12 Team Penske Ford was involved in the first "Big One" at Talladega.
What needs to change: Limit DNFs. Blaney had three during The Chase, and that doesn't include damage sustained via a Josh Berry brake check at Martinsville. Certainly, not all of these DNFs were of Blaney's doing, but it's become a trend in the last few years. He had six in 2026, which came after eight last year. In 2024, he had seven. Blaney continues to leave valuable points on the table, whether it be in the regular season or the postseason, and it's cost him since his 2023 championship.
Quotable: "Gateway ending the way it did was frustrating after having a really good day and throwing away a lot of points, and then having to start in the back at Bristol from qualifying being rained out after having our issue at Gateway, doing a really good job getting up through there, had a fast car, had our issue on pit road and we fought back from it and then the night ending poorly again, and just realizing how many more points we lost. It just kind of built," -- Blaney at Kansas Speedway, speaking about his fight with Hocevar.
TYLER REDDICK
Entered Chase: Third in points, 35 back.
Finished Chase: Fifth in points, 104 back.
What happened: Reddick limped into The Chase after a historic regular-season start, opening the postseason with two finishes of 18th or worse in the first three races. A stretch of three straight intermediates played into his hands a week before scoring a victory at Phoenix -- a significant milestone for a No. 45 23XI Racing team that has generally struggled on flat tracks. That win pulled Reddick within 56 points of Larson. But a week later, Reddick was involved in a crash at Talladega and finished 37th before his elimination at Martinsville.
What needs to change: Sustained success. Reddick won five of the first nine races this season -- including the Daytona 500 – and paced the series by 129 markers after the 12th race at Watkins Glen International. But a crash at Michigan in June marked a turning point, beginning a stretch of six finishes of 25th or worse in the next nine races. Certainly, winning five of every nine races isn't sustainable, but Reddick needs to find a way to keep some measure of solid results throughout the entire 2027, and that's ultimately what cost him this year. In short, his lows can't be nearly as low.
Quotable: "There was two sides to it, really. We’d be on, or we’d be off, and not necessarily from a base standpoint of just executing and having the clean days versus having catastrophic days. So yeah, I mean, I’d say if it was all sunshine and roses all year long, you feel good about what you do, but it is important to have a degree of toughness, a degree of understanding how to deal with losses, how to deal with failures, how to deal with whatever it is, and we’ve been on both sides of it." -- Reddick during Chase Media Day in September.
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