Homestead-Miami Speedway
Sunday, Nov. 8
1.5-Mile Oval
3 p.m. ET
Location: Homestead, Florida
TV: Fox
Event: NASCAR Cup Series (Race 36 of 36)
RADIO: SiriusXM
5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 34 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Last Race: 9th (Martinsville)
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 1st
No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet
- Kyle Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com team scored another top-10 finish last weekend at Martinsville Speedway, marking their eighth top 10 of The Chase.
- The No. 5 team heads to Homestead-Miami Speedway with a 67-point lead over second place. Larson needs to score nine points in Sunday’s race to clinch the 2026 championship. Eight stage points or finishing 28th or better will secure the title.
- The Elk Grove, California, native enters the finale with a 6.8 average finishing position in The Chase. The defending champion ranks first in every major statistical category, including points (424), wins (three), top-five finishes (six), top-10 finishes (eight), laps led (579) and average finish (6.8).
- The No. 5 team has won two of the last four races at Homestead-Miami, including the most recent NASCAR Cup Series race there in March 2025.
- In addition to his success in the Cup Series at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Larson has earned a victory each in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series and the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.
9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 30 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Last Race: 2nd (Martinsville)
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 10th
No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet
- Following his runner-up effort at Martinsville Speedway, Chase Elliott is 10th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings heading into this weekend’s finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
- On 1.5-mile tracks this season, the 30-year-old driver has one victory (Texas Motor Speedway), has led 87 laps, has an average finish of 10.75 and earned a stage win. Elliott has finished top 10 in five of the last eight races at 1.5-mile facilities.
- Elliott has the fifth-best average finish (10.6) at Homestead-Miami all time in the Cup Series among drivers with at least five starts and the third-best average finish among active drivers on that list.
- His best finish at the South Florida track is second (2020).
24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 28 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Last Race: 1st (Martinsville)
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 9th
No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet
- Starting eighth, William Byron swept both stages and led a career-high 362 laps in Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway. He picked up the fastest lap award before going on to win his first race of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season.
- Sunday’s victory was his fourth Cup Series win at Martinsville, and he became just the second driver to score a race-maximum 76 points this season, joining Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson.
- The Charlotte, North Carolina, native’s stellar day propelled him to ninth in The Chase standings, 166 points behind the leader heading into the final race.
- Byron’s win gives him 17 in the Next Gen era, the third most. He also extended his active streak of consecutive seasons with wins to seven, the third-longest active such streak and the third-longest in Hendrick Motorsports history (Jimmie Johnson 16, Jeff Gordon 14).
- On 1.5-mile tracks in 2026, Byron has the fifth-best average finish (10.38) and is one of two drivers with seven top-10 finishes, most in the field.
- In the Next Gen era on 1.5-mile tracks, Byron has an average finish of 9.9, best among all drivers. In the last 11 races on this track type, he has nine top 10s. While in the same era at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Byron has the second-best average finish at 8.5.
- Overall, Byron has eight Cup Series starts at Homestead with one win (2021), one pole, two top-five finishes and four top 10s with 160 laps led.
48 ALEX BOWMAN
Age: 33 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Last Race: 13th (Martinsville)
Crew Chief: Blake Harris
Standings: 26th
No. 48 Ally Chevrolet
- Last weekend at Martinsville Speedway, Alex Bowman qualified seventh for the NASCAR Cup Series race, marking his eighth top-10 starting position of the season. He went on to finish in 13th, earning his 12th top-15 result in the 2026 season.
- In the most recent Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway (March 2025), Bowman finished runner-up to teammate Kyle Larson after starting from the pole and leading 43 laps.
- The 33-year-old has earned four top-10 finishes at the 1.5-mile oval with his two highest finishes coming in his most recent starts.
- Bowman has the fourth-best average finish among active Cup drivers at Homestead-Miami in the Next Gen era at 9.33.
17 COREY DAY
Age: 20 (November 28, 2005)
Hometown: Clovis, California
Last Race: 3rd (Martinsville)
Crew Chief: Adam Wall
Standings: 3rd
- Corey Day and the No. 17 HendrickCars.com team secured a third-place finish at Martinsville Speedway following a resilient performance that kept them in contention for the NASCAR O’Reilly Series championship. Day remains third in the standings, now just 23 points behind the leader as the field heads to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the season finale.
- The Clovis, California, native heads to the 1.5-mile oval for his NOAPS debut at the track. Day has made two NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series starts at the venue, finishing 15th in 2024 and 16th last season.
- Day swept his last two starts on 1.5-mile tracks, both during The Chase, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway.
- He enters the season finale following a successful rookie campaign that has included four victories, two poles, 12 top-five finishes, 22 top 10s and 422 laps led across 32 races.
Hendrick Motorsports
| 2026 | All-Time | Homestead | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Races | 35 | 1,452 | 27** |
| Wins | 6 | 326* | 5 |
| Poles | 0 | 259* | 5 |
| Top 5 | 34 | 1,356* | 23 |
| Top 10 | 59 | 2,319* | 44 |
| Laps Led | 2,096 | 87,463* | 1,178 |
| Stage Wins | 16 | 153 | 4 |
*Most
**Tied for most
- The NASCAR Cup Series returns to Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend for the 2026 season finale. Hendrick Motorsports has combined to win three of the last five races at the 1.5-mile oval with William Byron winning in 2021 and Kyle Larson in 2022 and 2025.
- At least one of Rick Hendrick’s Chevrolets has finished in the top 10 in each of the last 24 races at Homestead-Miami, the longest such streak of any team in the Cup Series.
- The Hendrick Motorsports engine department enters the weekend with 588 victories across all three national NASCAR touring series including 25 of 32 events in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series this season.
- Hendrick Motorsports remains the Cup Series’ all-time standard bearer in wins (326), poles (259), top-five finishes (1,356), top 10s (2,319), laps led (87,463) and championships (15).
QUOTABLE
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet, on his cushion in the points standings: “I would feel a lot more confident if the gap were 77 points, but now it’s down to single digits that we need to score. There’s definitely a sense of relief knowing we have a comfortable gap heading into Homestead[-Miami Speedway], but nothing is locked up yet, and anything can happen, so I know I’ll feel some pressure this week. I’d love to get a couple of solid first stages under our belt and then go out and pound it in the final stage. We just need to approach the weekend like we have throughout The Chase: be prepared and ready to capitalize on every opportunity. Crazy things can happen, so we need to be ready for anything.”
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet, on this weekend’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway: “We just want to go and have a good run to close out the season. I feel like we’ve put together some good races these last few weeks, you know, outside of crashing at Talladega. It’d be great to do down to Homestead[-Miami Speedway] and continue that and end the season on a high note.”
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet, coming off a win at Martinsville: “Hopefully we can go to Homestead[-Miami Speedway] and run really well there, too. I think this is a good way to go into the offseason, off time. Like I said, I just wanted to win a race really bad. It’s tough to win in the Cup Series. You never want to get used to losing. That is a culture that you never want to shift, especially when you drive for the team we have, driving the No. 24 car. It’s important that we can win races. [The Martinsville win] feels really good. I think it just shows the effort we can put in.”
Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet, on heading to Homestead-Miami Speedway: “Homestead[-Miami Speedway] has been a really good track for our Ally 48 team. Last year, we had a really solid race; qualified on the pole, led laps and finished second to Kyle [Larson]. It’s not a secret we’ve had an up and down season, but our goal is to close it out on a high note and Homestead is a place we can do that while supporting our teammates on the No. 5 as they chase the championship.”
Corey Day, driver of the No. 17 Chevrolet, on heading to Homestead-Miami Speedway to chase a championship: “We’re heading to Homestead-Miami [Speedway] knowing we need to win to bring home the NASCAR O’Reilly Series championship, and I like our chances. Our No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet team has been getting better at the right time, and this is a 1.5-mile track, which is probably my favorite type of track to race on. I haven’t raced Homestead in a NOAPS car yet, but I’m excited to get there. These tracks really suit my driving style and remind me a lot of racing on dirt. I like being able to run up high and find my own lines, so I think it’ll be a fun challenge. Regardless of how it all shakes out, I’m really proud of this team and everything we’ve accomplished this year. At the beginning of the season, I don’t know if I necessarily expected us to be in this position, so to be heading into the championship with a shot at winning is pretty cool.”
