NASCAR's 2026 season defined by two Kyles: Larson's playoff surge and Busch's shocking death

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) — NASCAR’s championship weekend started with another Kyle Busch remembrance and ended with another Kyle Larson celebration.

The Cup Series drivers will be linked forever.

Larson’s incredible playoff run and Busch’s shocking death will go down as the highest and lowest points of the 2026 season.

Larson closed out a dominant Chase for the championship with his second consecutive Cup Series title and third in six years. He clinched the Bill France Cup at the end of the opening stage of the season finale and went on to finish 12th at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday.

Despite becoming the 11th driver in history to win a third Cup title, Larson wasn’t quite ready to compare himself to any NASCAR legends or the motorsports greats who, like himself, have found success in varying racing disciplines.

“I just feel like when you’re in it and you’re competing, it’s just so hard to reflect in the moment,” Larson said. “I recognize the success that we’ve had, but it’s just tough to reflect because there’s still more than I think we want to accomplish and are capable of accomplishing.

“I just feel like I’ve got a lot of years ahead of me, so I don’t want to stop to kind of look in the rearview mirror right now. I want to keep looking out the windshield and just trying to do the best job I can. And wherever the results end up, you will see.”

Larson’s latest championship with Hendrick Motorsports will be celebrated at NASCAR’s annual awards banquet Tuesday. Busch will be a big part of the show, too, likely to be named the series’ most popular driver. He died in May after severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis.

“It’s tough to not talk about Kyle when you’re back in Miami,” NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell said. “An extraordinary competitor, two-time champion in our sport and won the championship here, and I think he’s left a forever mark on our sport. …

“We all miss Kyle. It’s not the same without him in terms of celebrating a championship, especially how he embraced this place, but he’s going to be with us for years and years to come.”

Dodge will make its return to the Cup Series at Daytona International Speedway in February. Kaulig Racing will anchor Dodge’s effort and field cars for veteran drivers AJ Allmendinger and Ty Dillon. Kaulig said it would like to add a third car for the season-opening Daytona 500.

Dodge initially planned to return in 2028 — 16 years after leaving the series — but NASCAR offered an enticing path that included using ECR Engines built by Richard Childress Racing.

“Through the engine cooperation, I think we’ve opened some possibilities for others to take a look at NASCAR who otherwise may not have done that,” O’Donnell said. “Our existing partners, Chevrolet, Toyota and Ford, have been fantastic in terms of sharing information about how the sport works, being open to dialogue about where we can go.”

No one expects Dodge to be strong out of the gate. It took Toyota more than a year — and the addition of Joe Gibbs Racing — to make it to victory lane.

And not only did Dodge struggle in its return to the Truck Series with five Kaulig entries this year, the team is counting on two Cup drivers who have a combined three victories in 835 starts.

Brad Keselowski, the 2012 Cup Series champion, is the biggest free agent in the Cup garage and insisted at the season finale that he has “too many options, and I have to do a little soul searching.”

Keselowski and Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing parted ways in late September because the driver wanted to remain behind the wheel for 2027 and potentially beyond while other parts of the ownership group wanted him to transition into a full-time role as a competition leader.

Keselowski will remain a “passive investor” at RFK. He said he will decide his next move soon.

“There’s opportunities for me to compete with great teams or to be an owner with other teams or to do things in the TV booth,” Keselowski said. “There’s a lot of great opportunities. The driving ones right now are certainly very interesting to me."

Jesse Love, who spent the last three years driving for Richard Childress Racing in the second-tier O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, is moving to the No. 21 Ford for Wood Brothers Racing in Cup. He is replacing Josh Berry, who is shifting to the No. 42 Toyota for Legacy Motor Club.

Legacy dumped John Hunter Nemechek, who landed a ride in the O’Reilly series.

The No. 60 car remains open after Ryan Preece swapped to the No. 6 Ford vacated by Keselowski’s departure.

At least two drivers will have new crew chiefs in 2027.

Blake Harris is leaving Hendrick Motorsports and the No. 48 Chevy driven by Alex Bowman and will work with Shane van Gisbergen in the No. 97 Chevy at Trackhouse Racing.

It’s unclear who will step in at Hendrick to work with Bowman in his final year — and potentially with Connor Zilisch in 2028.

Will Denny Hamlin, the best driver to never win a championship, retire from full-time racing at the end of next year? Will Carson Hocevar, who was parked by Spire Motorsports for the season finale, change his reckless ways in his fourth full Cup season? What will Toyota do to improve its championship fortunes after coming up short every year since 2019 despite having 78 wins in that span?

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