Kyle Larson Scores Crucial Talladega Chase Win

Kyle Larson seized a much-needed victory at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, providing a massive boost to his 2026 championship hopes. Entering the weekend with a five-point lead, Kyle Larson leaves Talladega 73 points above the field.

The No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team’s third win of the 2026 came on the back of airtight strategy from the Chevrolet field throughout the race, supporting the one and only Chevy driver still in the championship hunt. Teammate William Byron gave Larson the final push, completing his surge from 11th to first in the final two corners of the race.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. led Austin Hill entering Turn 3 on the final lap, with the lone Ford of Todd Gilliland trailing in third. Hill quickly drifted out of contention, and Byron carried momentum to Gilliland’s outside to take second. Coasting on a push from Ross Chastain, Larson went underneath Byron and Stenhouse in the final stretch to cross the finish line first.

William Byron was credited with second place, giving Hendrick Motorsports a 1-2 finish. Stenhouse placed third, followed by Chastain and Haas Factory Team’s Cole Custer. Austin Hill was scored 14th at the line, moments after he appeared to have a shot at the victory.

RFK Racing’s Bold Plan

For the first few dozen laps of the race, nearly the entire field ran at partial throttle to save fuel. With the end of Stage 1 coming over halfway into the race, each team began searching for the perfect time to pit to split the stage and last until the end. Except one: RFK Racing.

Ryan Preece, Brad Keselowski, and Chris Buescher assumed the top three positions on Lap 32. Within 12 laps from that point, they led by over half the length of Talladega Superspeedway. The three drivers each applied much more throttle for the majority of the stage than the field, allowing them to open up an enormous lead without staying connected with the rest of the pack.

Buescher cruised to the Stage 1 win with Preece and Keselowski close in tow. Over 17 seconds later the rest of the pack reached the green-and-white-checkered flag, with points leader Kyle Larson placing fourth for seven stage points. He received a push from teammate William Byron to keep him ahead of one of his closest championship rivals: Chase Briscoe.

Stage 1 Dramatics

An entirely separate race played out while the three RFK Racing cars committed to their own strategy. Christopher Bell was the first Chase driver to feel Talladega’s wrath, slamming the inside wall on his way to pit road on Lap 56. Bell went nine laps down after the No. 20 team initiated lengthy repairs.

Chase Elliott made some NASCAR history on Lap 73. The No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet became the first car to run a lap at over 200 miles per hour since the NASCAR Next Gen car debuted in 2022. Also reaching the same milestone on the same lap was Austin Hill, Josh Berry, Cole Custer, and Connor Zilisch. Elliott paced the group with a 201.405 mile-per-hour scorcher.

The First Big One

There’s trouble at the front of the field!

Multiple championship contenders are collected! https://t.co/u5jRxXRxvo

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 25, 2026

The moment that haunts drivers each trip to Talladega Superspeedway came to pass with 11 laps left in Stage 2. Joey Logano moved outside to cover teammate Ryan Blaney’s run on the outside, causing Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford to lose momentum. The field stacked up, sending Blaney down the track and Bubba Wallace up into the outside wall.

One of the first cars to collide with Blaney was that of Tyler Reddick, causing substantial damage to two of the top Chase contenders. Chase Elliott caught a piece, as did Ross Chastain, Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson, John Hunter Nemechek, Ryan Preece, and Daniel Suárez.

“It wasn’t [Joey’s] fault. We were both trying to protect it,” Blaney said. “Both of us didn’t time it very good and unfortunately wrecked folks. I feel like I had a hand in kind of being aggressive there, but it’s a shame guys got tore up.”

In the Stage 2 shootout that followed, Joey Logano edged ahead of Kyle Larson to complete a stage sweep by Ford drivers. Austin Cindric came across the line third, followed by Chase Briscoe, William Byron, and Chris Buescher.

The Second Big One

The second and most frightening incident of Sunday’s race came on Lap 184. Joey Logano’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford flipped onto its roof, while Riley Herbst’s No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota had a vicious impact with the inside wall.

Carson Hocevar made contact with Logano from behind in Talladega’s tri-oval, appearing to get Logano loose. Logano ricocheted off the outside wall down into Chase Briscoe, allowing air to get under his car and lift him off the ground. He then slid on his roof across the start-finish line, ricocheting off multiple other wrecked cars. The crowd cheered loudly after Logano’s car was flipped back over and he exited unharmed.

Herbst, meanwhile, was shot quickly down to the apron in the fronstretch pileup. His car hit the SAFER barrier with wicked force, sending it sliding mangled back up the racing surface. After the checkered flag, Herbst was seen with a wrap around his left wrist and forearm. No injury was immediately announced.

“I can’t think the safety crew enough,” Logano said. “They did an amazing job flipping that thing over. The car did a great job. The last time I flipped it was crushed on my head. This time, I don’t think anything really caved or crushed at all. I appreciate what NASCAR has done.”

“I just hit him in the rear at the wrong time,” Hocevar added post-race. “I was inching at him in the tri-oval because obviously you have to do that in the third lane and just spun him. I was moreso looking in my rearview, so that’s on me for that. That’s my fault.”

Chase Outlook

As many expected, Talladega led to a drastic shakeup of the 2026 Chase standings. Kyle Larson came into the weekend with a delicate five-point lead, preparing for a track that has historically not been kind to him. It took nothing less than flawless teamwork from the Chevrolet organization and an insurgent final drive from Larson to break the Chase picture wide open.

Larson now leads the standings by 73 points over second-place Denny Hamlin, a staggering 68-point gain over last week. Hamlin ascended from fourth to second, but slid from 31 points behind Larson at the green flag.

Christopher Bell’s points day was scarcely could’ve played out worse. He had the points lead in his sights exiting last week’s Phoenix race, but a 35th-place finish leaves him third in the standings and 74 points out. He’ll likely need the next two races to be as beneficial to him as Talladega was detrimental if he hopes to seize his first NASCAR Cup Series championship.

After several weeks of strong performances, Chase Briscoe finished 33rd thanks to damage in the Lap 184 wreck. He dropped from 24 points out to 79, falling from third in the standings to fourth.

With their championship hopes already hanging on by a thread, the Team Penske duo of Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano are now even further from title contention. Logano gained a spot in the standings due to Blaney’s misfortunes, but went from 44 points behind to 100. Blaney dropped from fifth to sixth and saw his 40-point deficit become a 107-point gap.

Race Results