Cup Series Preview Sunday, November 8, 2026

NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race

Homestead-Miami Speedway

Laps 267 Distance 400 mi Type intermediate Coverage NBC · 3:00 PM ET Stages 80 / 165 / 267

1.5

asphalt

Surface

Race Date

Sunday, November 8, 2026

3:00 PM ET

The NASCAR Cup Series Championship race moves to Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2026, ending a seven-year run at Phoenix and restoring the 1.5-mile South Florida oval to its former role as the sport's finale. Homestead's variable-banking progressive-design turns — 18 to 20 degrees — create a multi-groove racing surface where cars can run the top, bottom, or anywhere in between, making it one of the most strategically rich tracks on the schedule. From 2002 through 2019, Homestead was the championship venue, and that era produced some of the most memorable title moments in NASCAR history: Kurt Busch's 2004 clinching run, Tony Stewart's 2011 walk-off over Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson's three consecutive Homestead championships, and Kyle Busch's dramatic 2019 winner-take-all victory. Under the 2026 Chase format, the finale crowns the driver with the most cumulative points across the 10 Chase races rather than the winner of a single elimination race — but winning at Homestead still matters. A race win pays 55 points, potentially swinging the championship in one afternoon. The 267-lap finale concludes the season in the place where so many careers were defined, and the return to Homestead is one of the most anticipated scheduling changes of the 2026 calendar.

Pre-Race Race Day Post-Race

Band A · The Hook

Your watchlist, historical context, and race-week curiosities.

Your Drivers' Outlook

Historical Context

Tyler Reddick has 12 starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway with 3 wins and a 6.3 average finish.
Chase Elliott has 13 starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a 10.4 average finish.
Denny Hamlin has 27 starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway with 3 wins and a 10.5 average finish.

Based on Cup Series results at Homestead-Miami Speedway from 1949-2026.

DID YOU KNOW?

Denny Hamlin has won 3 times at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a 10.5 average finish.

See Denny Hamlin's full stats

LAST TIME HERE

Kyle Larson has led 1,323 laps at Homestead-Miami Speedway — more than anyone else.

Kyle Larson's stats

Band B · The Story

The narrative arc, drivers to watch, and race-weekend color.

Band C · The Data

Schedule, predictions, entry list, track history, fantasy, and betting angles.

TV & Start Time

What channel is the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race on?

The NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race airs on NBC on Sunday, November 8, 2026 at 3:00 PM ET, broadcast from Homestead-Miami Speedway. The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series schedule splits between FOX, FS1, TNT, NBC, USA, and Amazon Prime Video.

What time does the NASCAR Cup race start today?

The NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race green flag is set for 3:00 PM ET on Sunday, November 8, 2026, airing on NBC. All NASCAR start times are listed in Eastern Time.

NR-Rating Track Rankings

#	Driver	Badge	Elo Rating	Starts	Wins	Last Finish
1	Denny Hamlin	Prev Winner	1624	14	2	P5(2025)
2	Chase Elliott		1617	10	0	P18(2025)
3	Tyler Reddick	Prev Winner	1597	5	1	P8(2025)
4	Chris Buescher		1591	7	0	P6(2025)
5	Chase Briscoe		1579	4	0	P4(2025)
6	Brad Keselowski		1570	14	0	P26(2025)
7	William Byron	Prev Winner	1561	6	1	P12(2025)
8	Ryan Preece		1544	4	0	P9(2025)
9	Bubba Wallace		1543	5	0	P3(2025)
10	Christopher Bell	Prev Winner	1539	6	1	P29(2025)

NR-Rating: Elo-based rating from the NR-Rating prediction model. Higher = stronger at this track type. = Previous winner at this track

NR-Rating Predictions

Last updated: Wed, May 13, 2026, 07:50 AM ET

#	Driver	Tier	Exp. Finish	Win %	Top 5 %	Top 10 %
1	Tyler Reddick Best in Field	Favorite	6.2	18.2%	58.6%	76.5%
2	Chase Elliott	Favorite	7.8	17.8%	58.4%	76.5%
3	Denny Hamlin	Favorite	8.2	16.3%	55.9%	74.6%
4	Chris Buescher	Favorite	9.2	15.4%	54.1%	72.9%
5	Ryan Blaney	Favorite	9.2	12.7%	49.0%	69.0%
6	Ryan Preece	Favorite	10.1	10.9%	46.4%	67.2%
7	Christopher Bell	Contender	10.7	9.6%	43.6%	65.3%
8	William Byron	Contender	10.7	8.4%	40.3%	62.2%
9	Brad Keselowski	Contender	11.2	7.6%	38.0%	60.3%
10	Chase Briscoe	Contender	11.9	6.4%	35.5%	58.5%
11	Kyle Larson	Contender	12.7	5.2%	32.4%	56.7%
12	Bubba Wallace	Contender	12.7	5.1%	30.9%	55.5%
13	Carson Hocevar	Contender	13.1	4.3%	28.1%	53.2%
14	Ross Chastain	Contender	13.3	3.8%	25.9%	50.5%
15	Alex Bowman	Mid-Pack	13.5	3.3%	24.0%	49.5%
16	Daniel Suarez	Mid-Pack	14.0	3.1%	21.8%	47.6%
17	Ty Gibbs	Mid-Pack	14.5	3.0%	20.3%	45.4%
18	Joey Logano	Mid-Pack	14.7	2.7%	18.8%	43.9%
19	Austin Cindric	Mid-Pack	15.4	2.2%	16.9%	41.0%
20	Erik Jones	Mid-Pack	16.7	1.7%	13.5%	36.0%
21	Casey Mears	Mid-Pack	16.9	1.4%	12.6%	34.6%
22	Michael McDowell	Mid-Pack	17.0	1.2%	11.6%	32.5%
23	Kyle Busch	Mid-Pack	17.0	1.1%	10.9%	31.6%
24	Austin Dillon	Mid-Pack	17.1	0.9%	10.3%	30.3%
25	Shane van Gisbergen	Mid-Pack	18.3	0.7%	8.5%	27.2%
26	A.J. Allmendinger	Mid-Pack	18.3	0.5%	7.5%	25.0%
27	Zane Smith	Dark Horse	19.1	0.5%	6.5%	22.5%
28	John Hunter Nemechek	Dark Horse	19.1	0.5%	6.7%	22.9%
29	Todd Gilliland	Dark Horse	19.1	0.4%	5.8%	21.1%
30	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Dark Horse	19.9	0.3%	4.6%	18.5%
31	Josh Berry	Dark Horse	22.9	0.2%	2.1%	10.8%
32	Connor Zilisch	Dark Horse	22.9	0.1%	2.0%	11.2%
33	Cole Custer	Dark Horse	22.9	0.1%	1.9%	11.2%
34	Katherine Legge	Dark Horse	21.4	0.1%	2.4%	13.2%
35	Noah Gragson	Dark Horse	21.4	0.1%	2.3%	12.7%
36	Riley Herbst	Dark Horse	21.4	0.1%	2.5%	13.9%
37	Ty Dillon	Dark Horse	23.4	0.1%	1.5%	8.7%
38	B.J. McLeod	Dark Horse	24.8	0.0%	0.9%	6.7%
39	Cody Ware	Dark Horse	56.1	0.0%	0.1%	1.3%

Win probabilities reflect full-field Monte Carlo simulations. A 10% pWin means roughly 1-in-10 chance of winning — higher than most bettors realize for a 36-car field where the average driver has ~2.8% odds. Top 5 and Top 10 percentages similarly reflect simulated outcomes, not historical averages. Learn how the model works.

Predictions powered by NR-Rating model (MAE: 8.5 positions)

Prediction Scorecard

Go Bowling at The Glen: Model picked Chase Elliott at P1 → Actual P24

(1/5 top-5 hits)

38% top-5 hit rate across 11 races

History at Homestead-Miami Speedway

Cup Series data from 1949-2026 (14 races)

Recent Results

Year	Race	Winner	Margin	Team	Laps Led
2025	Straight Talk Wireless 400	Kyle Larson	—	Hendrick Motorsports	19
2024	Straight Talk Wireless 400	Tyler Reddick	—	23XI Racing	97
2023	4EVER 400	Christopher Bell	—	Joe Gibbs Racing	26
2022	Dixie Vodka 400	Kyle Larson	—	Hendrick Motorsports	199
2021	Dixie Vodka 400	William Byron	—	Hendrick Motorsports	102

All Results at This Track

2025 Larson 2024 Reddick 2023 Bell 2022 Larson 2021 Byron 2020 Hamlin 2019 Busch 2018 Logano 2017 Jr. 2016 Johnson 2015 Busch 2014 Harvick 2013 Hamlin 2012 Gordon

Laps Led Leaders

Driver	Total Laps Led
Kyle Larson	645
Kyle Busch	424
Denny Hamlin	373
Ryan Blaney	294
Martin Truex, Jr.	290

Track Type Tendencies

intermediate

Intermediate tracks like Homestead-Miami Speedway reward the complete package — car setup, pit strategy, and driver consistency all factor in. These are the races where elite teams separate themselves.

Track position and tire management are critical, especially in long green-flag runs.