NASCAR
Kyle Larson Wins Talladega, Retains Chase Points Lead
TALLADEGA, Ala. – The man who entered Talladega Superspeedway atop the Chase championship standings took the trophy. Kyle Larson saw the seas part in a hectic overtime run to the line, earning his first ever drafting victory. Now with a third Cup championship within eyesight, team 5 is riding high into the final two weeks of 2026.
A very weird and wacky Stage 1 saw RFK Racing throw fuel savings to the wind and scoot away from the pack. Chris Buescher took the opening stage ahead of his two teammates, with this trio gapping the field by almost 20 seconds on track.
RFK Racing trio still in command in their own mini pack late in Stage 1 here @TALLADEGA #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/MHUPq5ujMS
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) October 25, 2026
Joey Logano just edged ahead of Kyle Larson for the Stage 2 win, only after partly causing a wreck that took out Ryan Blaney and involved other Chase drivers.
There’s trouble at the front of the field!
Multiple championship contenders are collected! pic.twitter.com/u5jRxXRxvo
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 25, 2026
Logano remained a front-running threat for another Talladega trophy, until he was sent spinning with five laps to go. After a bad bump from Carson Hocevar in the trioval, the No. 22 Ford went end-over-end airborne before landing on his roof. Logano did walk out of this wrecked Mustang under his own power, as did many other drivers from this massive incident.
My view of the wreck that turned Logano upside down: #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/O61746k1jt
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) October 25, 2026
In overtime, Todd Gilliland led over Kyle Larson, with the No. 5 grabbing the top spot by the white flag. Being split out of turn two by Austin Hill, Larson lost momentum and dropped back as far as 12th before getting a monster run out of turn four. As Hill and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. tried blocking each other, Larson and William Byron both snuck by for a 1-2 result.’
KYLE LARSON WINS AT TALLADEGA IN THRILLING FASHION!! pic.twitter.com/bvhb3p5y3p
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 25, 2026
“I got really lucky with kind of how everything worked out there,” Larson said. “I was so, like, edgy in one and two with the 33 pushing me, he was really helping me, but I couldn’t add wheel. Kind of wandered me up the track. He got underneath me. No fault at all to him. He was helping me great all day as well as all my Chevy, GM partners. Really got to thank them for working with me all day. I really felt it. Definitely the best speedway race I’ve ever had because of it. Thanks to all them.”
“Yeah, I was pissed at myself off of two. I’m like hands off the wheel, just mad. Then all of a sudden, like, I don’t know, everything just opened up off of four. Almost crashed into three, just able to keep my momentum up. Unbelievable way to get my first speedway win. Cool to have my family here. I don’t think they’ve been for any of my wins this year, here in the Cup car. Glad to have them here. What a day. What a day.”
“I got ate up off of [turn] two, I had no run. Settled into where I was. 33 I think ran out of fuel here. The 33 drug everybody up. I went down, had a huge run. Thankfully Ricky wasn’t able to close it off. Just a heck of a finish. 1-2 for Hendrick Motorsports also. It just helped with so many Chevrolets up there. I can’t really say enough about that. Felt like Dale Jr. out there with half the field kind of helping me.”
“I hope you fans enjoyed it. That was a great green-white-checkered there. Man, what can I say? Thanks to my team, Cliff Daniels, my spotter Tyler [Monn] for staying patient with me through this speedway stuff. I struggled really bad. Thanks to my fans for also staying patient with me to get a speedway win. Talladega has a sick trophy. I’m glad to take it home.”
Chevrolets made up the top-six behind the Hendrick duo, with: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ross Chastain, Cole Custer, and Carson Hocevar up front. The best of the rest was Todd Gilliland in seventh, who had the win within sight in overtime. Hear a few of these drivers’ post-Talladega thoughts below.
Larson will try and take another trophy home next week from Martinsville Speedway. The Xfinity 500 is the next-to-last race in the 2026 Chase for the Cup, and may be the field’s last shot against the 5. The Virginia green flag will fly Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Larson has tamed the Half-Mile of Mayhem before, but a few Martinsville masters are on his heels in the Chase standings.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
