NASCAR 2026 season ends with Kyle Larson’s third Cup championship, Digi Mart USA News: The 2026 NASCAR season is over, and Kyle Larson is a three-time Cup champion. Technically, Ryan Blaney took the checkered flag at the finale, but Larson’s fourth-place finish in the first stage was enough to clinch the title at Homestead.
The columnist called this the most turbulent NASCAR season since 2001, pointing to a series of controversies and issues facing the sport. Steve O’Donnell spoke to the media over the weekend in his first full State of the Sport since taking over for Steve Phelps in January and then Jim France in April.
He addressed a number of topics, some positive and some negative.
The return to the old Chase format, after the previous year’s playoffs and elimination races, left the championship effectively decided before the race began. Larson himself described the result as anticlimactic.
The columnist questioned whether NASCAR could still draw casual sports fans away from the NFL without a reason to watch.
On television, the columnist said last week’s Martinsville race drew 1.9 million viewers, the lowest-rated Cup race ever on broadcast TV. NASCAR has said Nielsen’s reporting methods have changed, and the columnist acknowledged some truth to that explanation while maintaining that the number was still poor.
O’Donnell said NASCAR would look into competing against the NFL in the fall.
O’Donnell also said the short-track product was at its highest level possibly from positivity from fans, a remark the columnist said drew criticism online. On the positive side, track attendance was up 5% overall and 12% among children 12 and under, and social media impressions rose 34%, according to O’Donnell.
