A NASCAR champion will be crowned in South Florida on Sunday.
Kyle Larson is on the cusp of becoming the first repeat champion since Jimmie Johnson, who captured five straight crowns from 2006 to 2010. The Hendrick Motorsports driver, who inherited Johnson’s old team in 2021, can clinch his third championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway — the same venue where Johnson celebrated all of his titles.
The 1.5-mile track is hosting the season finale for the first time since 2019 after undergoing major renovations and upgrades over the past year. Drivers and fans alike welcomed the schedule change, with high tire wear and various racing lines always delivering exciting action at the track.
So, what’s in store for Homestead-Miami? What’s the TV schedule to watch all the action? And who could contend for the win on Sunday? Here’s everything to know for Championship Weekend.
Green flag for the NASCAR Championship Race is set for Sunday, Nov. 8, at 12:13 p.m. PT.
Before the race, there will be practice and qualifying sessions. All 37 drivers hit the track for 50 minutes of practice on Friday. Qualifying will take place Saturday, with each driver getting one lap to set their fastest time and determine the starting order.
Leigh Diffey (play-by-play), Jeff Burton (analyst) and Steve Letarte (analyst) will be on the call for USA Sports, with the race airing on NBC. Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett will provide analysis on the Pre-Race Show, with Marty Snider, Kim Coon, Dave Burns and Trevor Bayne reporting from pit road.
Here’s the full schedule for Homestead-Miami:
Friday, Nov. 6 (truTV, HBO Max)
Saturday, Nov. 7 (truTV, HBO Max)
Sunday, Nov. 8 (NBC, streaming online)
Forty drivers will race at Homestead-Miami: the 36 full-time cars and four part-time entries.
Austin Hill will continue to fill in for Kyle Busch, as he has since the former champion died in May due to sepsis. Carson Hocevar will miss the finale after Spire Motorsports suspended him for on-track incidents following last week’s race, including brake-checking several times and a suspicious spin. Justin Haley will drive the No. 77 car before Hocevar returns next season.
J.J. Yeley (NY Racing Team) and Casey Mears (Beard Motorsports) will make their 400th and 500th career Cup starts, respectively, in milestone events for the part-time veterans. Chad Finchum (Garage 66) and Corey Heim (23XI Racing) will make their eighth and 13th starts of the season, respectively.
Here’s the entry list for the Championship Race:
| Car number | Driver | Team | Sponsor |
| 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | Busch Light |
| 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Discount Tire |
| 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Breztri |
| 4 | Noah Gragson | Front Row Motorsports | Long John Silver’s |
| 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | HendrickCars.com |
| 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | BuildSubmarines.com |
| 7 | Daniel Suárez | Spire Motorsports | Modo Super Gaming App |
| 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | NAPA Auto Parts |
| 10 | Ty Dillon | Kaulig Racing | Grizzly Nicotine Pouches |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Progressive Insurance |
| 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Menards/Dutch Boy |
| 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Celsius |
| 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Body Guard by Fastenal |
| 19 | Chase Briscoe | Joe Gibbs Racing | Bass Pro Shops |
| 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Interstate Batteries/DeWalt |
| 21 | Josh Berry | Wood Brothers Racing | Motorcraft/Quick Lane |
| 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Shell/Pennzoil |
| 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Columbia PFG |
| 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Valvoline |
| 33 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing | Rebel Bourbon |
| 34 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Love’s Travel Stops |
| 35 | Riley Herbst | 23XI Racing | Basic Water |
| 38 | Zane Smith | Front Row Motorsports | Patriot Mobile |
| 41 | Cole Custer | Haas Factory Team | Sysco/Hooters |
| 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Legacy Motor Club | Pye-Barker |
| 43 | Erik Jones | Legacy Motor Club | Dollar Tree |
| 44 | J.J. Yeley | NY Racing Team | PCNY |
| 45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing | Chumba Casino |
| 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Hyak Motorsports | 7th Level/Commas |
| 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Ally |
| 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing | Super.com |
| 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Monster Energy |
| 60 | Ryan Preece | RFK Racing | Kroger/Thomas’ Bagels |
| 62 | Casey Mears | Beard Motorsports | The Gracie Foundation |
| 66 | Chad Finchum | Garage 66 | Protection Technologies |
| 67 | Corey Heim | 23XI Racing | Mobil 1 |
| 71 | Michael McDowell | Spire Motorsports | Gainbridge |
| 77 | Justin Haley | Spire Motorsports | Spectrum |
| 88 | Connor Zilisch | Trackhouse Racing | Red Bull |
| 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Trackhouse Racing | Kubota Tractors |
Kyle Larson is on the brink of another championship, his second straight and third overall.
Ditching the convoluted playoff system used from 2014 to 2025, NASCAR went back to the “Chase” format used from 2004 to 2013 — whichever driver leads after the final 10 races is the champion.
The race winner can score a maximum of 76 points in an event by finishing first in both stages and having the fastest lap, while last place can earn a minimum of one point. So, Larson would clinch the title Sunday with just nine points. If he doesn’t earn stage points, he just needs to finish 28th or better (if Christopher Bell has a maximum points finish). If Bell doesn’t have a perfect race, the clinching scenarios get even easier for Larson.
Here are the Chase standings, with only the top three still mathematically alive in the title fight:
A trip to Homestead-Miami is usually good news for Larson and bad news for everyone else.
The defending winner at the track has led more laps than any active driver there. The only concern is that Larson may drive more conservatively with a championship in sight. But if he clinches the title with stage points early in the race, a care-free version of Larson would be the clear favorite to win.
Aside from him, the other usual contenders at Homestead-Miami are Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin.
Reddick leads all active drivers with an 8.8 average finish in six starts (1 win, 4 top-fives, 5 top-10s). Blaney finished second in 2023 and 2024, then led 124 laps in 2025 before an engine failure ended his race. Hamlin is a three-time Homestead winner with top-fives the last two years.
If you’re looking for a sleeper pick, A.J. Allmendinger and Ryan Preece are two potential spoilers. Allmendinger has four straight top-10s at the track, while Preece has two straight.
Six of the 40 drivers in the field are past winners at Homestead-Miami.
Hamlin leads the way with three victories at the track. Larson is a two-time winner and Logano (2018), Byron (2021), Bell (2023) and Reddick (2024) have one win each.
