Kyle Larson, No. 5 team establishing own identity in pursuit of third NASCAR championship

Posted on November 5, 2026November 5, 2026 by Zach Sturniolo

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Kyle Larson is on the cusp of winning consecutive NASCAR Cup Series championships, the first back-to-back feat among title winners since seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson.

The comparisons to Johnson’s dominant era in the No. 48 Chevrolet have spread for Larson and his No. 5 team, fueled by their Hendrick Motorsports roots and accentuated by the fact Larson’s crew chief, Cliff Daniels, served as Johnson’s lead race engineer for the seventh of those championships. Larson can further close the gap to Hendrick’s last great by earning his third Cup Series title on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET, NBC, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Homestead-Miami schedule | Cup standings

With 35 career wins and — for now — two championships on his resume, Larson is (fittingly) 48 wins and five championships short of statistically equaling Johnson. But Larson is well aware of the similar tendencies Daniels brings to the No. 5 team that emulate Chad Knaus, the NASCAR Hall of Fame crew chief who led Johnson’s No. 48 team to all seven championships. And Larson doesn’t exactly disagree with the correlations made between the two teams either, even if they’ve stemmed from different eras.

“I think there’s been the comparison of Cliff to Chad for a long time, and then just our team in general,” Larson said during Thursday’s NASCAR Championship Weekend Media Day. “I don’t think I’m as similar to Jimmie as like Cliff would be to Chad, but our teams get compared a lot together, and I always believed that as well. But then I did hear an interview Cliff did where he talked about like, ‘we have our own identity,’ and I was like, yeah, he’s right. Like, sure, it’s great to have those comparisons, but we are a completely different team than what I think that team once was.

“Just the way Cliff leads us — and I don’t know what the word for our identity is — but I don’t think there’s a team like ours that’s ready for moments like our team is. And I’ve said it a lot throughout my career at the 5 team, but it’s due to Cliff. And he’s always evolving as a leader. And there’s no better leader in the sport than him, so I have a lot of trust in that.”

Still working under the tutelage of Knaus, who now serves as Hendrick Motorsports’ vice president of competition, Daniels and his crew have helped lead Larson to all 29 of his victories at Hendrick Motorsports. From team book-club readings to unifying moments through competition, Daniels has encouraged a true team environment within the No. 5 group. Those deeply connecting moments create long-lasting relationships that have permeated their personal lives separately of what happens on the track. And all of that work helps to enhance what happens when Larson is behind the wheel.

“It’s easy to buy into his leadership and what he holds everybody to this standard that he believes we should all be at, and there’s just a lot of accountability,” Larson said. “And when you see him working so hard on not only race-car stuff but his personal being a leader, it just gives you a lot of motivation to not let him down. And then, like I said, just between the little things that bring a team together that he does, I think puts us in a good spot.”

Sean Gardner | Getty Images

Daniels’ leadership has long been a hallmark of the No. 5 team’s success. But his approach has had to evolve over the years, Larson said. And no time better illustrated that evolution than 2022, their second season working together. The 2021 campaign was a dream come true for Larson and the No. 5 team — 10 wins, a NASCAR All-Star Race victory and the Cup Series championship. The 2022 season would have been a career year for most racers — three victories, 13 top fives, 19 top 10s, four poles, seventh in the final standings — but Larson and Daniels aren’t most racers. And Daniels didn’t take the decrease in performance particularly well.

“He was just super intense that year — like overly intense — I think not only on me, but on everybody,” Larson said. “And I think slowly over time, I think he recognized that’s not the leader that he wanted to be. And it wasn’t like he wasn’t leading in a bad way at all; it was just a totally different type of leadership than what he is today. And each year, he’s kind of progressed and molded into something a little bit different. And see, I really look at the 2022 season as like his eye-opening year. I’d be curious what his answer would be. But just for me being the driver, be like I remember seeing him get mad a lot. Like, he would get mad. And I don’t see him getting mad really anymore.

“I think he learned through ‘22 and ‘23 of a different approach to keep people motivated and keep people working down the right path. And so I look at 2021 into (’22) as being pivotal for us.”

Navigating through professional and personal adversity together has also worked to unite the No. 5 crew over the years. So when they were in the midst of a collective 51-race winless drought before The Chase presented by Mobil 1 began, Daniels’ steady approach and trust of process carried Larson into the postseason.

“I really had no confidence — zero — before The Chase. Hope, but no confidence,” Larson said. “But I would say I would really look at Darlington as that was the turning point of my confidence. I know we didn’t win, but I feel like we executed a really good day. Like we maximized what we had going for us that weekend and that day. And I remember leaving that race thinking like, ‘man, that’s the first time it’s felt like the 5 team in forever.’ Like we were calling a race to win. (I didn’t feel like) we really had been in that position for a long time, and then we got a good finish. And yeah, I was just like, ‘man, if we can hopefully have some close speed and continue (those) strategy calls and execution, we’ll see where it goes.”

Where it’s gone is Homestead-Miami, where Larson was the only Cup Series driver fielding questions and participating in Thursday’s Media Day festivities thanks to his 67-point lead over Christopher Bell in the championship standings and 70 over Denny Hamlin, the only other two drivers still mathematically within reach of Larson.

MORE: Clinching scenarios for Cup Series drivers

“I‘m solo, which is a great thing,” Larson laughed, “but yeah, I’ll be honest — it’s an awkward sort of Media Day for me. But you know, we’ve earned the right for it to be awkward.”

Larson says he is able to shut out the pressure behind the wheel, but he admitted Thursday at Homestead that he is feeling that intensity ahead of race day.

“The pressure and where it comes from would be like, ‘man, you’ve done such great work to this point to put yourself in position,’ ” Larson said. “Like, I would just hate for something crazy to happen to eliminate all the work that we’ve done to get ourselves in a great position to where we don’t have to score a ton of points. So, I think that’s the pressure. Like, ‘man, don’t [expletive] it up at this point.’ “

Posted on November 5, 2026 by Zack Albert

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Kaden Honeycutt enters this weekend’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a hefty dose of perspective. He’s one race away from potentially securing the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship for the first time, but he’s also a matter of months away from an even bigger life event: becoming a dad.

Honeycutt and his wife, Jessica, announced in August the expected arrival of their first child, a boy, due next February. The 23-year-old driver of the Tricon Garage No. 11 Toyota says he’s allowed himself to think ahead to what a Truck Series title might mean, and that he has a spot for the trophy in the newborn’s nursery room.

“He’ll be a bigger trophy, I promise you, than that championship,” Honeycutt said. “That’s life, you know. Whether you win it or not, he’ll be the most important thing, no matter what.”

First things come first in Friday’s season-ending Truck Series race (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, FOX One, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at the 1.5-mile Homestead track, where Honeycutt will square off against fellow contender Layne Riggs, the Front Row Motorsports ace who’s the only other driver with a mathematical shot at the title. A championship would be the first for both, and Honeycutt holds a 20-point advantage over Riggs heading into the 201-mile finale.

A Honeycutt triumph would mean the second consecutive title for Tricon’s No. 11 team, which hoisted the trophy with Corey Heim in 2025. Honeycutt stepped in this year, and after slight early growing pains, he has assembled a four-win season marked by a series-best 7.9 average finish among full-time drivers. Riggs has similarly made the most of his third straight campaign with Front Row, winning a series-topping seven times but coming in at a slight disadvantage to Honeycutt in consistency (10.0 average finish). It’s little wonder the two are head-to-head for Friday’s finale.

“Obviously, I think myself and the 11 truck, no matter who’s driving it, has always been the best two in the series consistently,” Riggs said. “I think if you’d put that down on paper at the beginning of the season, that’s what we’d have all expected. So yeah, I don’t think any big surprises here.”

Both drivers share similarities in their short-track backgrounds. Honeycutt was crowned the CARS Tour’s Pro Late Model champion in 2024, two years after Riggs became national champ in the NASCAR Local Racing Series, then called the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series. Though they don’t run in the same social circles off the track, there’s at least an appreciation for how their on-track relationship has been on the civil side of fierce.

“I mean, we have a lot of respect for each other and the way that we race,” Riggs said. “Hard racers, we don’t give each other an inch, and we wouldn’t expect any different either way. So yeah, a lot of mutual respect there.”

Said Honeycutt: “We race each other hard, but without crashing each other. I think if we can win this the right way, I think it would really show the series you can race each other hard, just not wreck each other, to win a championship and to win races in general.”

Both drivers have spent time leading the Craftsman Truck Series standings this year, and Riggs gained 23 points in last weekend’s race at Martinsville Speedway to cut the standings margin to its current 20-point gap. Honeycutt would clinch the title with a 57-point day, regardless of Riggs’ outcome. He’s already exceeded that output three times this year, at Richmond Raceway, Kansas Speedway and Phoenix Raceway – all Honeycutt wins.

MORE: Fresh look for Homestead track

Though the temptation exists to take a more conservative approach to Homestead, Honeycutt says the mindset is to bypass any math problems by winning.

“Yeah, I think if we go out and just focus on winning the race, winning the stages, and contending for the win at the end of the night, I think that will make our points situation a lot easier,” Honeycutt said. “I think if you have any other mindset other than just win the race, I think you take yourself out of it mentally, so our job is pretty simple: Go out and win.”

Riggs doesn’t have the luxury of taking it easy Friday night, but his race-day approach matches up with Honeycutt’s.

“I think I’m really good on offense at all the times,” Riggs said. “You know, I think when I’ve got a carrot in front of me, and I know what the goal is and the task is, I can go out there when the pressure’s on and perform really well. So, I’m just excited about the weekend, excited about the opportunity I have. This is my first time coming to the final race of the year and actually have a shot to get it done. So yeah, just a lot of great improvement. No matter what happens, obviously the championship’s our goal, being the season that we’ve had, but at the same time, if it doesn’t happen, we still can’t let this one race determine and put a bad look on the entire year. It’s been an amazing season, a seven-win season. I mean, if I would have told myself that a couple years ago, I would have been amazed. So it’s just, no matter what, we’ve done a really great job as a team to put ourselves in this spot.”

Posted on November 5, 2026November 5, 2026 by Neil Paine

As the Cup Series sets its sights on Homestead-Miami Speedway for the 2026 season finale, the emotions tend to track with where you sit in the standings. For points leader Kyle Larson, the operative word is focus: He has not yet clinched his third career championship, so there is still work left to do. For still-active challengers Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin, it’s hope that their slim title chances can grow during the afternoon on Sunday, mixed with regret that they’re not closer to Larson in the standings. And for the 13 drivers already eliminated from championship contention in The Chase presented by Mobil 1, the thoughts have turned to the decisions, moments and missed opportunities that helped seal their fate this season.

So as Larson closes in on the goal every team carried into the Daytona 500 back in February, let’s look at where his top rivals lost their way — and what those turning points revealed about the larger trends that ruled their seasons.

🛞 The long shots

Not every Chase driver came into the postseason with the same championship expectations. Some arrived in September knowing they’d need nearly everything to break their way over the final 10 races on the schedule in order to have a shot — and most of those names simply failed to make much headway in that effort. Note that half of the 16 Chase drivers started out eighth or lower in the standings and never rose any higher than that following any race afterward:
It’s not like they didn’t have their moments of potential or brilliance. We just watched William Byron absolutely dominate at Martinsville (with a 146.2 Driver Rating), and teammate Chase Elliott finished second. Earlier in The Chase, Carson Hocevar (third at Bristol) and Austin Cindric (second at Kansas) scored podium finishes that seemed to suggest they might be a threat for more. But the reseeded Chase points format can be cruel to drivers outside the upper echelon, giving them little or no margin for error. And for most of the names on this list, they were down in this zone of the standings for a reason anyway.

🛞 Ty Gibbs

Smallest deficit in Chase standings: minus-39 after Darlington

Where it all went wrong: Gibbs seemed like he might be a dark-horse championship pick — sitting fourth in the pre-Chase rankings (40 points back of the lead) — especially after a second-place run at Darlington to begin The Chase. But he never really built momentum from there. Starting with Gateway, the intermediate tracks were punishing, yielding an average finish of 19.2 and a 74.3 Driver Rating. But maybe the biggest missed opportunity came at Bristol, where he’d scored his first career win earlier in the season; despite leading 120 laps, recording 73 fastest laps and ranking second in Driver Rating (115.5), Gibbs lost the lead tangling with Hocevar with under 10 laps to go and ended up fifth, watching as Joey Logano took the W.

🛞 Tyler Reddick

Smallest deficit in Chase standings: minus-24 after Darlington

Where it all went wrong: In The Chase, Reddick was undone by two distinct segments of the schedule: First, a trio of disastrous runs at Gateway, Bristol and Kansas — the tone for which was set just four laps in, when Daniel Suárez slid him up into the wall for major damage — that sent Reddick tumbling from 24 points back to 111. And then, any hopes buoyed by his win at Phoenix were completely deflated when Reddick was caught up in the “Big One” at Talladega, resulting in a 37th-place finish. But honestly, it could be argued that Reddick’s chances dimmed long before that, when he first cooled off from his remarkable early season hot streak. In his first 14 races, he had five wins, a 5.6 average finish and a 108.5 average rating; over the next 12, he had zero wins, a 20.0 average finish and an 80.8 rating to close the regular season.

🛞 Chase Briscoe

Smallest deficit in Chase standings: minus-24 after Phoenix

Where it all went wrong: Briscoe was sort of the opposite of Reddick — a relatively slow start to the season (he had only one set of back-to-back top 10s until June) left him playing catch-up for better positioning heading into The Chase. He ended up fifth in the pre-Chase standings regardless, but once there, a strong run at Bristol was soured by late wall contact and a late lead at Kansas was relinquished to Larson. And even after that, the No. 19 team clawed its way back within 24 points of Larson after consecutive wins at Las Vegas and Charlotte and an eighth-place run at Phoenix. But despite starting Talladega on pole, Briscoe’s day was derailed in the big wreck on Lap 183. (Logano’s car flipped upside down after contact with Briscoe’s No. 19 Toyota.) A frustratingly non-competitive 14th at Martinsville formally ended a title bid that ‘Dega had already ruined.

🛞 Ryan Blaney

Smallest deficit in Chase standings: minus-16 after Darlington

Where it all went wrong: Blaney went into The Chase on the short-list of drivers with serious championship aspirations, if he and his team could consistently perform to their potential. But that was also always the catch with the No. 12 all season. In The Chase, Blaney has had wildly inconsistent results — finishing either top five (five races) or outside the top 32 (four races) every single week. The worst of this unfathomable feast-or-famine trend, though, came early on, at Bristol. Already under pressure from a 35th-place run at Gateway a week prior, Blaney led 202 laps but had a pit-road commitment violation, was infamously spun out by Hocevar to finish just 33rd, and then got the worst of a post-race altercation with Hocevar for good measure. Blaney would recover to pull within 40 points of Larson after Phoenix before a Talladega crash doomed him for good, but the enduring image of Blaney’s disappointing ‘26 Chase will be the Hocevar fight.

🛞 Joey Logano

Smallest deficit in Chase standings: minus-16 after Bristol

Where it all went wrong: There was a brief moment when it looked like Logano — whose most recent championship (in 2024) has long been criticized as more a product of the format than his own performance — would earn a pretty sweet measure of vindication by winning another title in a brand-new championship system. Joey had already gone on an epic late-season hot streak to turn his season around, and that seemed to carry over early in The Chase, with a trio of top 10s at Darlington, Gateway and Bristol culminating with a brilliantly opportunistic win at the latter. But in retrospect, that would be as close as Logano got to first place, as the intermediates took their toll — Joey averaged an 86.7 rating at those tracks in The Chase, versus 111.2 at all other tracks. Kansas was a case in point: Logano was in line for a top 10 from the pole (his average running position was eighth and he spent 99% of laps in the top 15), but a late tire problem left him finishing 20th.

🛞 Christopher Bell/Denny Hamlin?

Smallest deficits in Chase standings: Bell minus-5 after Phoenix / Hamlin 0 (leader) after Gateway

Where it all (probably) went wrong: Technically, either Bell or Hamlin could still win the championship; both are within 70 points of Larson, and a perfect day is worth 76 points. So, yes, we’re saying there’s a chance.

But there’s no denying it could have been a much better chance for both drivers.

For Bell, one moment will clearly haunt him for a long time: The self-induced brake lock-up heading toward pit road at Talladega, which sent the No. 20 car skidding into the wall and turning him into a non-factor all day. Bell had just rattled off top-six finishes in four of five races, and his average Driver Rating in the Chase through Phoenix (111.4) was actually higher than Larson’s (109.2) despite the latter’s dominance. With a huge opportunity to take over the championship lead, Bell literally crashed out instead.

Hamlin’s story is less clear-cut. Unlike last year, when one specific moment turned a surefire championship bid upside-down, Denny can only point to a string of little misses that have added up to a big letdown in this year’s Chase. It was that way from the beginning; at Darlington, the No. 11 car led 68 laps but toe-link damage ruined his speed over the last 120+ laps. Little did we know it at the time, but Hamlin would find ways to let promising runs slip away all Chase long.

But if we zoom out even further, perhaps this could have been foreseen. As measured by Driver Rating, Hamlin’s core performance down the stretch of the regular season — dating back to mid-June — had been substantially worse than it was earlier in the year, when he was tracking down Reddick for the No. 1 Chase seed. His finishes hadn’t slipped that much, which concealed the extent to which Hamlin went into The Chase far from peak form. But now, his results have caught up with a Chase rating that looks a lot more like the summer stretch run than the early part of the season.

At the time, we still argued that the composition of The Chase’s schedule — with its many favorable tracks for Hamlin — would help make up for any trends in performance. But that hasn’t proven to be true. And unless Hamlin can summon one last superhuman effort this weekend at Homestead, yet another season of championship promise for the No. 11 will end in disappointment.

Posted on November 5, 2026November 5, 2026 by Staff Report

One year later! William Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team dominated at Martinsville Speedway for the second straight fall race, leading 362 laps to win No. 1 of 2026 and claim another iconic grandfather clock.

Of course, Byron wasn’t the only Hendrick Motorsports driver to benefit. Well, sort of. A relatively bumpy performance that stabilized to an “average day” for Kyle Larson at the Virginia 0.526-mile track resulted in six markers lost in The Chase presented by Mobil 1 table. The buried lede, of course, is that Larson still sits 67 points ahead of Christopher Bell and 70 markers ahead of Denny Hamlin, the only two Chasers still in championship contention.

Now comes the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, NBC, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), with Larson looking to clinch back-to-back championship crowns and the Joe Gibbs Racing duo aiming to play spoiler. Nine prior postseason races have led to this, and if any moment in any of those races went differently, who knows what the conversation would be. Let’s dive into that a little bit more in this week’s “Last Call” segment, with our NASCAR.com insiders discussing the biggest “what-if” of the 2026 Chase.

What was the biggest ‘what-if’ of the 2026 Chase?

Zach Sturniolo: Christopher Bell will be kicking himself for a long time after the Oct. 25 race at Talladega Superspeedway. One week after Larson fell apart at Phoenix Raceway and finally looked vulnerable, Bell was in prime position to keep the No. 5 team honest with three races remaining and trailing Larson by only five points. All Bell needed to do was keep the No. 5 car in sight all race at Talladega, and he’d have a realistic shot of winning the 2026 Cup Series championship. Instead, an apparent error in brake-bias positioning spelled trouble for Bell, who spun his No. 20 car entering pit road and crashed into the wall, finishing 35th, 12 laps down. Sure, maybe Bell would have later been collected in the “Big One” and this point would have proven moot. But this moment alone took control out of Bell’s hands and handed it back to Larson. Bell still mathematically has a chance to win the title this weekend, but as he said Sunday after Martinsville: “We already know.”

Cameron Richardson: If you are the No. 1 seed in a 10-race stretch to win a championship, a key part of hoisting the trophy is keeping the mojo. After a strong regular season, Denny Hamlin’s title hopes took a dip after starting The Chase with an 18th-place result at Darlington Raceway after damage incurred in an incident with Michael McDowell. A slow pit stop by the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing pit crew catalyzed the eventual downfall of Hamlin’s hopes for that elusive first title. Things worsened for Hamlin after rival Kyle Larson won his first 2026 race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway and then lost the points lead to the defending champ after Bristol Motor Speedway. The biggest gaffe came at Las Vegas Motor Speedway when Hamlin pitted during Stage 1, allowing Larson to wave around and return to the lead lap. Hamlin then spun late in the opening stage and finished 16th, while Larson placed second. Any chance to capitalize on rare Larson mistakes was canceled out by Hamlin committing an error of equal consequence. A tale of two seasons bit Hamlin in the end this year: “I feel like the racing gods are picking on me.”

Dustin Albino: When Ryan Blaney reflects on the 2026 Chase, he may see a championship that slipped away. Team Penske and the No. 12 team rebounded from its early-season woes on 1.5-mile tracks, with Blaney scoring top fives at all three intermediate venues in the postseason. But the tracks that typically played to his strengths became his biggest downfall. Despite finishing runner-up at Phoenix, Blaney endured four finishes of 33rd or worse at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Talladega and Martinsville – a costly stretch that dropped him from the No. 2 seed to seventh in the standings. Each setback came under different circumstances. A brake rotor failure derailed him at Gateway; contact with Carson Hocevar at Bristol led to a post-race encounter that left him with a black eye; the No. 12 was caught in the “Big One” at Talladega and a tangle with Team Penske affiliate Josh Berry ended his chances of being competitive at Martinsville. All four incidents could be chalked up to pure racing, but the points lost were significant. How might the championship standings look if Blaney had enjoyed his usual consistency at those venues?

Pat DeCola: What if Austin Hill had just a little more fuel at Talladega? A week after a tire failure at Phoenix gutted Kyle Larson’s Chase lead from 49 points to five, the No. 5 Chevrolet was suddenly staring at another missed opportunity. Larson had fallen from the lead to 11th on the final lap, seemingly headed for a perfectly respectable points day – just not the 71-point monster he wound up with. Hill’s No. 33 Chevy then ran dry coming off Turn 4, breaking up the pack at precisely the moment Larson needed a lane. Somehow, the driver who had gone 58 drafting-track starts without a victory emerged from the scramble with one of the most improbable wins of his career. His five-point championship lead became 73, and he still carries a 67-point advantage into Homestead. Nobody can say where Larson would’ve finished had Hill kept rolling, but 11th instead of first would’ve meant 29 fewer finishing points alone. That’s an enormous swing in a championship fight decided by cumulative points, and it could have dramatically changed the complexion of the season finale, and even last weekend at Martinsville. Funny how one empty fuel tank – belonging to a driver declared for the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship and who wasn’t even driving that car the last time we raced at Talladega in the spring – could wind up having so much to do with who wins the 2026 Cup Series title.

Zack Albert: Hard to argue with any of the above, but let’s rewind to the earliest stages of the year. What if Tyler Reddick had been able to replicate just a shred of his early season mojo for The Chase? The 23XI Racing driver won five of the first nine races this season and was anointed a way-too-early favorite for the Cup Series title. Reddick won just once the rest of the way – a Phoenix victory last month that kept him at least slightly Chase-relevant — and endured a troubling midseason slump that cost him the standings lead. Had just a smidge more of that early success carried over, Reddick could’ve at least kept Kyle Larson honest during the final 10 races.

Posted on November 4, 2026November 4, 2026 by Staff Report

Three different paths. One dream.

NASCAR’s “RISING” docuseries returns for a second season, offering an all-access look at three of the sport’s emerging stars as they navigate pivotal moments in their careers on and off the track.

Season 2 follows NASCAR Cup Series drivers Connor Zilisch and Carson Hocevar, along with NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Brenden “Butterbean” Queen. The four-episode season concludes Thursday, Nov. 5, after unfolding monthly from August through November.

RISING: Catch up on Season 1

The series brings fans beyond the weekly results and inside the personalities, challenges and ambitions shaping the next generation of NASCAR talent.

Episodes debut on Xumo Play on the first or second Thursday of each month. Each installment is also released on NASCAR’s YouTube channel 14 days after its Xumo Play premiere.

“RISING” Season 2 schedule

Episode 1 — Thursday, Aug. 6: Connor Zilisch
Episode 2 — Thursday, Sept. 3: Brenden “Butterbean” Queen
Episode 3 — Thursday, Oct. 8: Carson Hocevar
Episode 4 — Thursday, Nov. 5: All three drivers

Watch “RISING” Season 2 on Xumo Play here.

Catch up on clips from the first three episodes below, and check back for additional coverage of Zilisch, Queen and Hocevar.

Episode 4

The Season 2 finale of “RISING” brings together Connor Zilisch, Brenden “Butterbean” Queen and Carson Hocevar as their journeys continue in the final episode. Watch Episode 4 on Xumo Play beginning Thursday, Nov. 5.

WATCH: Stream “RISING” Season 2 on Xumo Play

Episode 3

Episode 3 of “RISING” follows Carson Hocevar, a rising star and controversial figure in the NASCAR Cup Series. In this clip, Hocevar talks about his view on what other people consider “distractions” to his career. Watch the clip here:

Carson Hocevar receives a special die-cast tribute made for him after his inaugural Cup Series win earlier this season at Talladega Superspeedway. Watch the clip here:

Episode 2

Episode 2 of “RISING” follows NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series rookie and Kaulig Racing driver Brenden Queen. Get to know this up-and-comer — with a unique personality. Watch the clip here:

Brenden “Butterbean” Queen gets his first dose of racing at his home track, Richmond Raceway; see how he handles the pressure. Watch the clip here:

Episode 1

Before Connor Zilisch’s rise into the NASCAR Cup Series, he grew up racing go-karts — and earned quite the nickname, as detailed by family members. Watch the clip here:

In the midst of a difficult rookie season, Zilisch is just hoping to have clean races. Ride along as he drives the track, breaking down his weekly thought process. Watch the clip here:

Posted on November 4, 2026November 7, 2026 by Zach Sturniolo

Homestead-Miami Speedway has been eager to return as host of NASCAR’s Championship Weekend for quite some time. After all, it’s been 19 months since the facility last hosted NASCAR in March 2025.

Track president Guillermo Santa Cruz is elated the time has finally come to welcome the sport back to its South Florida home this weekend, culminating in a trio of championship battles in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and NASCAR Cup Series.

MORE: Homestead-Miami schedule | Cup Chase standings

Santa Cruz has overseen the speedway since July 2024 and has been planning upgrades to the historic facility throughout his tenure, particularly since May 2025, when NASCAR announced its 2026 return to Homestead as the championship host for the first time since 2019.

“If you were here six months ago, you wouldn’t recognize the place — let alone 18 months ago, or let alone seven years ago, if the last time you came was during championship,” Santa Cruz said. “It is completely different. Now it’s not a major overhaul, but it is a very significant overhaul.”

Santa Cruz said “there is a certain sense of satisfaction” as campers and guests begin to arrive and see what he and his team have prepared to show off the track’s latest additions.

“You can look outside and you can go to the fan zone and you can go to the suites and you can walk this facility and see that it all became a reality, and that is highly unusual,” Santa Cruz told NASCAR.com in a Tuesday teleconference. “I’ve worked in sports my whole life, and I worked in creative projects pretty much my whole life. And to see from vision to execution what’s transpired here and what the team has done is really incredible, because it really stayed close to the original vision. They took it further, and the team in our design and development groups, the team here locally, track ops and facilities and everything else, what they’ve done is amazing. It really is spectacular.”

Among the upgrades are stunning pops of color across the track’s facade courtesy of famed artist Romero Britto, whose website describes him as “Brazilian-born and Miami-made.” The mural features the Bill France Cup, awarded to the Cup Series champion Sunday evening, as well as the track’s iconic palm-tree logo with checkered patterns woven into bright swatches of color and designs, showcasing Britto’s unmistakable influence and allowing the track to embrace his connection to South Florida.

“We want to be a really important part of this community,” Santa Cruz said. “And Homestead is part of South Florida. It’s not Miami, but there has to be a link. And I think this brings Miami closer to us because the goal is not to bring us closer to Miami; the goal is to bring Miami closer to Homestead, and that puts us in that space. We are now home to the largest Romero Britto artwork installation anywhere in the world. There’s none bigger anywhere, and there’s plenty of other big ones. So to have that connection with somebody who is so connected to our community — because you see his art everywhere. We have his art elsewhere in Homestead. He has a Florida license plate that he designed. You see him everywhere. He is very symbolic and synonymous with South Florida, so to have that association and that partnership is wonderful.”

In addition to the mural, Britto also designed the vibrant trophy that will be handed to the winner of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series championship race (3 p.m. ET, NBC, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Jason Koerner | Getty Images

Britto’s artwork is just part of the backdrop for this weekend’s championship events, the first held outside of Phoenix Raceway since 2019.

Enhanced signage highlights the main gate to better direct fans to their vehicles. The footprint of the fan zone has been increased to accommodate more activations and merchandise trailers.

“It’s gonna be a real festival type of atmosphere inside the gate because we’ve pushed that to the edge of the property,” Santa Cruz said. “A lot of land that wasn’t being used, a lot of land that actually had been left in disrepair, is now refurbished and looks spectacular.”

Santa Cruz also spoke highly of the newly renovated suites in the Turn 1 grandstand, which provide a sweeping and unique view of the 1.5-mile oval.

“If you have the good fortune of being in one of the Turn 1 suites, well, let me tell you, you’re in for a real treat because what we’ve done with those suites and with Champions Club is truly incredible,” said Santa Cruz, whose previous work included production of the FIFA World Cup among other sports. “It is on par with any other sports facility anywhere in the world, and trust me, I’ve been to my fair share of them. We are on par with anyone. It is beautiful what we’ve done, and the view from the Turn 1 Tower to the track, it looks surreal. It looks like you’re staring into a video game. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Ultimately, Santa Cruz simply hopes all race-goers enjoy their experience at Homestead, a track known for its championship-defining moments. He also knows the NASCAR community is part of the appeal, and one of the best ways for someone to become a new fan is by talking to an existing one.

“I tell people all the time, if you don’t know anything about NASCAR, show up anyway. Ask a question,” Santa Cruz said. “Believe me, people will be very happy to answer your questions and go on and on and on with all sorts of details about it. Because NASCAR fans are like that; they really are the greatest fans of any sport, and it’s a real community.”

Santa Cruz encourages fans to arrive at the track early. A new traffic plan is in place around the speedway, and a handy know-before-you-go “Fan Info” feature is now available on the Homestead-Miami website to help.

“We’re doing our best to make sure that ingress is as smooth as possible, and we made a lot of changes with that in mind. But there’s nothing like ‘hey, just get there early,’ ” Santa Cruz said. “And by the way, if you’re coming, you’re not gonna want to miss the flyover. You’re not gonna want to miss the pre-race that we’re cooking up. So be here on time. There’s plenty to do, and we’re gonna put on a great race.”

Jason Koerner | Getty Images

Posted on November 4, 2026November 4, 2026 by Staff Report

Ryan Preece will drive the No. 6 Ford for RFK Racing for the 2027 NASCAR Cup Series season, the team announced Wednesday morning.

Preece has driven the No. 60 car since joining the organization in 2025 and collected his first NASCAR Cup Series victory in August at Daytona International Speedway. Preece replaces Brad Keselowski in the No. 6 Ford as Keselowski, a current team co-owner, and RFK announced they will part ways at the conclusion of 2026.

MORE: 2027 Cup Series schedule | Homestead-Miami schedule

RFK Racing announced the full No. 60 team with crew chief Derrick Finley will transition to the No. 6 Ford with Preece, who becomes just the sixth full-time driver to pilot the iconic number for famed team co-owner Jack Roush.

“To be trusted with the 6 means more to me than I can put into words,” Preece said in a press release. “When you think about what this number means to RFK Racing, you think about Jack Roush, Mark Martin and everything they built together. To know this team believes I’m the right person to carry that number into the future is incredibly humbling.”

Martin, a NASCAR Hall of Famer, made his lasting marks in NASCAR driving the No. 6 at what was then known as Roush Racing from 1988 through 2006.

“I like Ryan Preece because he’s a racer, plain and simple,” Martin said in a team release. “He came up the hard way, and he’s had to fight for everything he’s gotten. That’s something I respect. When he gets in a race car, he gives you everything he’s got, and he’s not going to be satisfied just riding around. That number means a lot to me, and I think Ryan is a great fit to carry it forward.”

Preece, the 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion, frequently piloted a No. 6 car with team owner Ed Partridge, who played a significant role in Preece’s career.

“I drove that number for Ed Partridge, who was more than just a car owner to me. He was one of my best friends and someone who believed in me and helped fund me an opportunity that changed my life,” Preece said. “We didn’t know it at the time, but we won our final Whelen Modified Tour race together Richmond 2021. So when I say the No. 6 feels like home, it’s because it represents more than racing. It represents the people who believed in me, the relationships I’ve built and the memories that got me here. To have the opportunity to carry that number into the next chapter of my career means more than I can put into words.”

Partridge died in September 2021, shortly after celebrating that final victory with Preece at Richmond.

“Ryan Preece is a true racer making him the perfect fit for the number 6,” said Chip Bowers, president of RFK Racing. “The 6 car is symbolic in our organization and has contributed to some incredible memories in the Cup Series. Ryan is not just enthusiastic about the opportunity, but more importantly, he’s embracing the expectations that come with taking the wheel of an iconic car. More great history is sure to be made with Ryan at the helm.”

RFK Racing also confirmed Preece’s No. 6 Ford will remain a chartered entry in the new year. While the team currently operates three charters in the 2026 season, one of its charters will transition to Legacy Motor Club in 2027. Additional details regarding the future of RFK Racing’s No. 60 entry will be announced at a later date, the team said in its press release.

A new era of the No. 6 legacy.

https://t.co/4yWhVUry2p https://t.co/RGTCfxD1Uv

— RFK Racing (@RFKracing) November 4, 2026

Posted on November 4, 2026 by Zach Sturniolo

John Hunter Nemechek will join Haas Factory Team to drive the No. 41 Chevrolet for the 2027 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, the team announced Wednesday.

Nemechek is an 11-time winner in the O’Reilly Series and joins after completing his fourth full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series. He’ll partner with veteran crew chief Jason Trinchere, who was paired with Sam Mayer in the No. 41 the last two seasons.

MORE: 2027 O’Reilly schedule | More on JHN

With primary sponsorship from Pye-Barker Fire & Safety, Nemechek joins Dean Thompson on HFT’s 2027 roster. The team announced Aug. 8 that it will also expand from a two-car outfit to three cars in the new year. Plans for its third team have not yet been announced.

“I’m excited to join Haas Factory Team’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series program,” Nemechek said in a team press release. “They have championship-caliber cars and personnel, and I’m ready to get to work with this group and compete for wins in 2027.”

A second-generation racer, Nemechek has driven the No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota in the Cup Series since 2024, collecting three top fives and 14 top 10s in his 107 starts with Legacy ahead of Sunday’s Cup finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET, NBC, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Nemechek has raced in parts of six O’Reilly Auto Parts Series campaigns, two of which were full-time efforts (2019, 2023). The 2023 campaign with Joe Gibbs Racing marked Nemechek’s best across NASCAR’s three national series, racking up seven victories, 17 top fives and 24 top 10s before finishing fourth in the championship battle. Nemechek last competed in the O’Reilly Series in 2024, racing 11 times and winning two races.

“John Hunter brings the experience and talent we’re looking for at Haas Factory Team,” Joe Custer, president of Haas Factory Team, said in a release. “We’re excited to have him join our organization and look forward to competing for wins and championships together.”

Nemechek is also a 13-time winner in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competition, scoring five wins in 2021 as he embarked on a career rejuvenation. The Mooresville, North Carolina, native made his full-time Cup Series debut in 2020 with Front Row Motorsports but returned to the Truck Series the following year, seeking an opportunity to rebuild his career through race-winning performances. That plan worked, rising back to the Cup Series by the 2024 season.

However, Legacy Motor Club announced Sept. 2 that it would part ways with Nemechek following the 2026 season, later announcing Josh Berry would pilot the No. 42 Toyota in the 2027 Cup Series campaign.

Nemechek, the son of former O’Reilly champion Joe Nemechek and nephew of former racer John Nemechek, sits 29th in the Cup Series points standings ahead of Sunday’s finale.

Posted on November 4, 2026 by Staff Report

Championship Weekend has arrived! All three NASCAR national series will crown champions at Homestead-Miami Speedway — the first time the season-ending events have returned to South Beach. The Craftsman Truck Series race is slated for 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday on FS1, followed by the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday on The CW. The Cup Series caps everything off Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on NBC, where Kyle Larson can win his third Bill France Cup in the last six seasons. See qualifying orders for all three series this weekend in Florida.

MORE: Weekend schedule | How to watch NASCAR on TV

Cup Series
Single-car qualifying will occur at 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday (truTV).

POSITION	NUMBER	DRIVER	METRIC
1	62	* Casey Mears	41.900
2	44	* JJ Yeley(i)	40.700
3	67	* Corey Heim(i)	39.500
4	66	* Chad Finchum(i)	37.300
5	51	Cody Ware	34.200
6	41	Cole Custer	33.700
7	35	Riley Herbst	31.100
8	42	John Hunter Nemechek	30.700
9	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	29.400
10	4	Noah Gragson	27.800
11	43	Erik Jones	27.200
12	10	Ty Dillon	25.900
13	16	AJ Allmendinger	25.300
14	6	Brad Keselowski	24.600
15	33	Austin Hill(i)	23.300
16	88	Connor Zilisch #	22.100
17	38	Zane Smith	21.400
18	71	Michael McDowell	17.200
19	34	Todd Gilliland	17.100
20	48	Alex Bowman	16.300
21	1	Ross Chastain	13.100
22	3	Austin Dillon	12.400
23	21	Josh Berry	9.100
24	97	Shane van Gisbergen	8.600
25	2	Austin Cindric (C)	28.800
26	12	Ryan Blaney (C)	26.600
27	7	Daniel Sáarez (C)	24.100
28	17	Chris Buescher (C)	21.600
29	60	Ryan Preece (C)	20.300
30	77	Justin Haley(i) (C)	18.000
31	22	Joey Logano (C)	14.100
32	19	Chase Briscoe (C)	11.000
33	45	Tyler Reddick (C)	10.200
34	23	Bubba Wallace (C)	9.500
35	20	Christopher Bell (C)	7.600
36	5	Kyle Larson (C)	6.600
37	11	Denny Hamlin (C)	5.100
38	54	Ty Gibbs (C)	4.500
39	9	Chase Elliott (C)	4.400
40	24	William Byron (C)	3.400

O’Reilly Auto Parts Series
Single-car qualifying will occur at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday (ESPN Unlimited).

POSITION	NUMBER	DRIVER	METRIC
1	50	Preston Pardus	41.300
2	38	Patrick Emerling(i)	37.000
3	02	Ryan Ellis	36.800
4	91	Mason Maggio	33.300
5	0	Garrett Smithley	32.300
6	47	Dawson Cram	31.000
7	31	Blaine Perkins	30.600
8	32	Andrew Patterson	29.800
9	42	Brad Perez	28.500
10	55	Joey Gase	28.000
11	26	Dean Thompson	27.800
12	53	Will Rodgers	26.900
13	51	Jeremy Clements	26.600
14	07	Josh Bilicki	25.800
15	92	Josh Williams	24.700
16	28	Kyle Sieg	23.400
17	45	Lavar Scott	22.500
18	48	Patrick Staropoli	21.700
19	44	Brennan Poole	19.700
20	87	Nick Sanchez(i)	17.000
21	96	Anthony Alfredo	16.400
22	27	Jeb Burton	16.000
23	24	Harrison Burton	15.000
24	39	Ryan Sieg	12.500
25	18	William Sawalich	9.800
26	21	Austin Hill (C)	25.000
27	2	Jesse Love (C)	21.600
28	99	Parker Retzlaff (C)	14.100
29	88	Rajah Caruth (C)	13.900
30	54	Taylor Gray (C)	10.900
31	19	Brent Crews # (C)	8.700
32	8	Sammy Smith (C)	7.000
33	20	Brandon Jones (C)	5.800
34	00	Sheldon Creed (C)	5.700
35	41	Sam Mayer (C)	5.300
36	17	Corey Day (C)	3.000
37	1	Carson Kvapil (C)	1.900
38	7	Justin Allgaier (C)	1.700

Craftsman Truck Series
Single-truck qualifying will occur at 2:30 p.m. ET on Friday (FS2).

POSITION	NUMBER	DRIVER	METRIC
1	66	Matt Crafton	58.700
2	20	Mason Massey	39.800
3	4	Connor Hall	35.100
4	2	Josh Reaume	34.100
5	16	Justin Haley	30.400
6	22	Clayton Green	28.400
7	25	Parker Kligerman	28.400
8	33	Frankie Muniz	26.500
9	52	Stewart Friesen	26.400
10	42	Tyler Reif	26.100
11	76	Spencer Boyd	25.400
12	81	Kris Wright	23.400
13	13	Cole Butcher	23.200
14	10	Corey LaJoie	20.900
15	14	Mini Tyrrell	20.300
16	15	Tanner Gray	18.300
17	62	Leland Honeyman Jr.	16.000
18	12	Brenden Queen	14.400
19	98	Jake Garcia	13.600
20	44	Andrés Pérez	10.500
21	5	Spencer Davis	9.900
22	7	Connor Mosack (C)	25.800
23	1	Corey Heim (C)	19.200
24	45	Landen Lewis (C)	16.300
25	19	Daniel Hemric (C)	14.400
26	9	Grant Enfinger (C)	11.900
27	11	Kaden Honeycutt (C)	10.100
28	18	Tyler Ankrum (C)	10.000
29	91	Christian Eckes (C)	8.500
30	17	Gio Ruggiero (C)	7.700
31	77	Nick Sanchez (C)	5.300
32	99	Ben Rhodes (C)	4.700
33	88	Ty Majeski (C)	4.000
34	34	Layne Riggs (C)	2.700
35	38	Chandler Smith (C)	1.600

* Required to qualify on time
# denotes series rookie
(i) denotes ineligible for driver points
(C) denotes Chase driver or participant

Posted on November 4, 2026 by Dustin Albino

After 32 races and 5,423 laps logged, the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship is down to five drivers, all with a shot to hoist the trophy in Saturday’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway (5 p.m. ET, The CW, ESPN Unlimited, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). And if the numbers are any indication, the title fight is far from settled.

Justin Allgaier reclaimed the championship lead in the penultimate race of the 2026 season at Martinsville Speedway, putting himself in the driver’s seat heading into Homestead. Reigning champion Jesse Love remains within striking distance, 22 points back after a brake failure derailed his afternoon at Martinsville. Corey Day sits just one point further behind following a late-season charge.

Martinsville winner Carson Kvapil enters Homestead 31 points off the lead, with just one previous start at the high-banked intermediate. Sheldon Creed faces the steepest climb, trailing by 42 points, but remains mathematically eligible to capture the title at one of his favorite tracks, where he’s among the best at running the high line.

With five drivers still in contention, let’s take a closer look at how each Chase presented by Mobil 1 pilot stacks up heading into the championship showdown.

Meg Oliphant | Getty Images

Justin Allgaier, No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
Chase seed: No. 1

The veteran No. 1 Chase seed has more than twice as many starts at Homestead (17) as his four challengers combined (seven). Until taking the lead on a late restart last year, Allgaier had never banked a top five in 16 prior attempts in Vice City.

As Allgaier pointed out following Martinsville, his Homestead statistics don’t tell the entire story. The No. 7 car has shined at intermediates in 2026, winning at Darlington Raceway and Nashville Superspeedway in dominant fashion. Regardless of the outcome, this is arguably the best season of the 40-year-old’s career, with a personal best six victories and 19 top-five finishes.

“It’s always good to be the points leader,” Allgaier said after finishing runner-up at Martinsville. “At the same time, you would love to be farther ahead, have a 70-point lead and not have to worry about it. Either way, I’m proud of the team, proud of the effort. I think Homestead is a great race track for us.”

Meg Oliphant | Getty Images

Jesse Love, No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Chase seed: No. 4

Love has proven he can deliver when the stakes are highest, and his performance throughout The Chase has been no exception. The reigning champion has scored two victories and five podium finishes in the first eight races, building on the momentum that carried him to his first title last year at Phoenix Raceway. Now, the 21-year-old is firmly in the championship hunt heading to Homestead before jumping to the NASCAR Cup Series with Wood Brothers Racing in 2027.

Although Love has made just two previous starts at the 1.5-mile track, both results have netted top-six efforts. His path to becoming the first repeat champion since Tyler Reddick (2018-19) is relatively straightforward.

“If we go out there and finish top three in both stages and win the race, I don’t know what anybody else could do to outpoint that,” Love told NASCAR.com after Martinsville. “I don’t think they can, especially because we will probably get the fastest lap at that point. I think that’s the avenue: top three in both stages and win the race. If we do that, we will be just fine.”

Meg Oliphant | Getty Images

Corey Day, No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Chase seed: No. 7

Day may be ahead of schedule in his first season with powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports, but the California native has an opportunity to deliver Rick Hendrick his first O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship since Brian Vickers captured the title in 2003.

An avid dirt-track competitor, Day has the wherewithal to search for different lanes and run inches from the wall with the best in the series, a skill that will prove valuable at Homestead. Experience, however, is limited. He has just two previous starts at the track, both in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He plans to lean on advice from Kyle Larson and the momentum the No. 17 team possesses entering the weekend. The organization has won the two most recent O’Reilly races at 1.5-mile tracks, securing victories at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“I would say we have a pretty good chance,” Day said of his title aspirations. “I would say we’re in a must-win. I don’t see [Allgaier] running worse than top five there. Must-wins are OK, though. I like those odds. It’s better than being out of it entirely.”

Meg Oliphant | Getty Images

Carson Kvapil, No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
Chase seed: No. 2

Like Day, Kvapil has a limited resume at the 1.5-mile Homestead oval, with just one previous start in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, a 10th-place finish last season with JR Motorsports. Still, the sophomore’s growth since breaking through to Victory Lane in July has been evident. He has won three of the last 11 races, highlighted by a dominant performance at Martinsville.

The short-track standout navigated plenty of adversity in 2026, driving for three different teams before taking over the No. 1 car for the remainder of the season at EchoPark Speedway in July. Although he has shown solid pace on intermediate tracks, he has yet to claim a victory at this style of track, making a 31-point deficit an especially steep hurdle to overcome.

“Being where we’re at in points is tough because we’re in championship contention, but it’s going to be a pretty tall task to get the championship,” Kvapil said. “It doesn’t deter us any. We’re going to go out, just like we did [at Martinsville] and try to win every stage, lead every lap and try to win the race to give ourselves a chance to win the championship.”

Amy Kontras | Getty Images

Sheldon Creed, No. 00 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet
Chase seed: No. 3

Don’t count out the always-positive, soft-spoken Creed, who could be poised to play the role of spoiler in the championship fight. Homestead ranks among his strongest tracks on the circuit, and he has contended for victories at the South Florida oval on multiple occasions.

Creed has enjoyed an impressive second — and final — season with Haas Factory Team, highlighted by three victories, including a long-awaited return to Victory Lane in February that snapped a 138-race winless streak. He is one of just three drivers with multiple victories during the postseason, including a win at Darlington, a track with similar characteristics to Homestead.

“It’s better than 50. I guess if you go run top two in the stages and win the race, you might have a chance, you might be close,” Creed said. “It kind of depends on what everyone else does. I think there’s only a few that can rip the fence pretty good there and [Allgaier and Love] aren’t none of them.”