Larson's Misfortune Keeps Cup Series Title Rivals In The Hunt

Ryan Blaney (12) leads a pack of cars at Phoenix Raceway. (Will Lester/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

By Justin Glenn, SWN Staff Writer

AVONDALE, Ariz. (Nov. 19, 2026) – No one aside from 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick met their end goal of a win Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, but many had fresh air blown into their NASCAR Cup Series championship hopes. 

Thanks to the misfortune of points leader Kyle Larson — who earned no stage points, had a average running position of 23rd and did not finish the Freeway Insurance 500 after a tire failure on lap 215 — seven drivers are now within striking distance of the Bill France Cup with three races to go. 

Team Penske and Joe Gibbs Racing were the beneficiaries. Christopher Bell is five points behind, Chase Briscoe is 24 down, while Denny Hamlin (-31), Ryan Blaney (-40), and Joey Logano (-44) are all also well within a statistical single race of the championship lead. 

Of note, Reddick catapulted himself from triple digits out and now sits just 56 points adrift of Larson with three races to go on the calendar.

Team Penske

Blaney and Logano circled Phoenix as a must-win weekend after surviving three weeks of 1.5-mile ovals. They fell short finishing second and sixth. However, both former champions got back to business by being dominant on the short oval at Phoenix. 

Logano earned 20 stage points after sweeping both the segments. He started second, led 84 laps and stayed up front the entire race. Blaney also led 51 and earned 12 stage points, starting from pole position. 

“The first part of the race went good. We had the yellow [on lap 44] and lost some track position, then I didn’t seem as good after that,” said Blaney. “[Logano], Bell, Briscoe got good, so we just worked on our car hard throughout the day to get better and we did. At the last pit stop we drove up to fifth, so proud of the effort, everyone sticking with it all day.” 

The 32-year-old capitalized on track position early, but cars jumped him with two-tire strategies in stage one. That mixed with weather changes to the 1-mile surface transitioning from cool temperature overcast skies to traditional desert heat. Blaney's balance went away once in traffic.

Blaney restarted eighth and stayed within the top 10. On ensuing restarts, his speed remained, but the race winning pace left once control was lost in stage one. Later in the race on the final green flag pit cycle, the No. 12 had a slow stop with trouble on the left rear.

Blaney fell to 15th, but he drove back to sixth. After Larson’s crash inside 30 to go, the final restart gave him the lift he needed.

“We kind of fought it out and gave us a shot to win at the end. Just didn’t have enough to chase down [Reddick],” said Blaney. “Gained a lot of points, so it’s hard to be upset. Try to go into the next three weeks and do the same.”

If it wasn’t Blaney, Logano carried the Team Penske torch. Speed and balance on the No. 22 Ford carried him to a stage sweep and 51 points earned.

Logano led with 91 laps to go, but like his teammate, he had a slow pit stop. It put him fifth, but he stayed inside the top 10 following a two-tire strategy call after the Larson caution. 

Logano’s issue was that he struggled getting past cars on old tires who stayed out, unlike Reddick and Blaney late. He slipped and his dominance became a sixth-place result.

“Bittersweet. Had a good car, led a bunch of laps, stage wins and we cut the gap. We had an opportunity to win, you start to think of those extra 20 points,” said Logano.

“We were a long shot before this, but still could [win the championship]. I don’t feel like so much of a longshot anymore.”

Blaney collected his 12th Phoenix top five and Logano rebounded from a 31st place DNF on March 8. The duo will next look to tame the unpredictable Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway behemoth in the coming weekend.

Blaney has been involved in three accidents in his last five Talladega races. Logano hasn’t had a top 10 at the 2.66-mile track since 2021. However, both drivers are three-time Talladega winners. 

“Control what you can control. We do a great job at Penske working together and having each other's backs,” said Blaney of the Talladega gameplan. “We’re going to do the same thing this upcoming weekend. [A championship] is definitely attainable now.”

Joe Gibbs Racing

For seven weeks, Bell, Briscoe and Hamlin have been in an extended battle for the championship lead, etched by three JGR wins in six races. Phoenix was different, with JGR being a step behind Penske. 

Bell finished fourth, Briscoe sputtered to eighth on older tires, and Hamlin blew a tire and finished a lap down in 28^th after being strong early. From team expectations, Sunday could be looked at as a loss. But like Penske, they benefited from Larson’s struggles. 

“It’s going to be a battle [for the championship], but we’re right there,” said Bell. “Proud of our team, they’ve been doing a good job of executing races. We’ve been able to qualify well, run up front in stages. Our performance tapered off, but we had the right strategy to put tires on at the end to get track position.” 

Hamlin suffered the back breaking tire issue and speeding penalty on lap 221 after potentially being the lead candidate to catch Larson.

The Chase’s original top seed had an advantage due to his regular season championship. But Hamlin has yet to find the June form he had when he won three straight races. 

All JGR cars flexed speed inside the top five, but the extra notch to control the race simmered. Phoenix marked just the third time in seven weeks the organization hasn’t led at least 39 percent of a Chase race. The trio combined for 43 stage points, but only Bell was able to truly capitalize with 85 laps led. 

Once the Larson caution fell, Briscoe’s team elected to stay out on track. He faded to eighth, but Bell was able to drive up to fourth after electing two tires. 

JGR’s title contending trio weren’t bad at Phoenix, but it’s the first race since Sept. 13 at Gateway they weren’t the clear-cut favorites. That factored into keeping Penske and race winner Reddick alive in the title fight. 

Bell still netted his fifth top five in the last six Phoenix races. And Briscoe broke a cold spell with his first track top 10 in two years.  

Next week at Talladega, Briscoe is the only JGR driver with recent superspeedway success. He is the defending fall winner at the facility. In contrast, Hamlin hasn’t won a drafting-style race since 2020.

Bell isn’t known for superspeedway racing, with just a photo finish victory at EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta in 2025 on his resume. He did, however, lead 31 laps at Talladega on April 26 before finishing 17th. 

“When we have a good car, we need to finish well; we just haven’t,” said Hamlin, speaking of the postseason. 

Coverage of the YellaWood 500 from Talladega is slated for Sunday, Oct. 25 at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.