Homestead Preview: Kyle Larson Takes 67-Point Lead Into NASCAR’s Title Race

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In this Homestead preview, Kyle Larson takes a 67-point lead into Sunday’s Cup Series championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he won the last time the series raced there.

The Straight Talk Wireless 400 starts at 3 p.m. ET Sunday, November 8, on NBC. It is the 10th and final race of the Chase and the first Cup championship race at Homestead since 2019.

The title picture

Larson leads Christopher Bell by 67 points and Denny Hamlin by 70. Chase Briscoe, 84 back, can no longer win the title because a driver can score at most 76 points in a race.

That means Bell and Hamlin each need to win the race, pile up stage points and have Larson finish deep in the field. Larson finished ninth at Martinsville on Sunday, when William Byron won.

Weather forecast

The Weather Channel’s 10-day forecast for Homestead as of Monday morning calls for:

• Friday, November 6: High of 87, low of 71, 20% chance of rain
• Saturday, November 7: High of 87, low of 70, 8% chance of rain
• Sunday, November 8: High of 87, low of 70, 12% chance of rain

Homestead had a flood watch on Monday, but the weekend looks mostly dry and hot.

The track

Homestead is a 1.5-mile oval with progressive banking that climbs to 20 degrees at the top of the turns, which lets drivers run against the wall or down low. Sunday’s race is 400 miles, or 267 laps.

Tires

Goodyear had not released its tire notes for Homestead as of Monday morning. NASCAR.com’s Neil Paine described Homestead as a high tire-wear intermediate track, and the worn surface usually rewards drivers who can manage their tires over a long run.

Odds

Sportsbooks had not posted lines for Sunday’s race as of Monday morning. For the last Cup race at Homestead, in March 2025, DraftKings had Larson as the favorite at +285 after qualifying, followed by Ryan Blaney at +600, Tyler Reddick at +700, William Byron at +800 and Hamlin and Bell at +1100, SportsBettingDime reported.

Historical favorites

Kyle Larson. Larson won the last Cup race at Homestead, in March 2025, passing Alex Bowman with five laps to go after Bowman hit the wall while leading. It was his second Cup win at the track. He won at Kansas in September, leading 235 laps, and was second at Las Vegas and sixth at Charlotte, both 1.5-mile tracks like Homestead.

Chase Briscoe. Briscoe won back-to-back races at Las Vegas and Charlotte in October, and he finished fourth at Homestead in March 2025. He is out of the title race but is a threat to win.

Christopher Bell. Bell finished second to Briscoe by 0.029 seconds at Charlotte and won the Southern 500 at Darlington this season. He finished 29th at Homestead in March 2025.

Denny Hamlin. Hamlin finished fifth at Homestead in March 2025 and fifth at Charlotte in October. He is still looking for his first Cup championship.

Tyler Reddick. Reddick won at Homestead in the fall of 2024 and finished eighth there in March 2025. He was third at Las Vegas in October.

Championship weekend schedule

Cup practice is Friday at 5:30 p.m. ET and qualifying is Saturday at 2:30 p.m., both on truTV. See the full Homestead schedule and TV guide for the Truck and O’Reilly Series championship races.