The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Championship ended on November 2, 2025, at the Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. In the final race of the 2025 NASCAR season, Chase Briscoe, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Larson were the final four drivers remaining in the playoffs. With three laps remaining in the race, a yellow flag came out when a flat tire sent Byron into the wall. With the caution flag out, Larson and his team put on two new tires. That change was enough to give Larson the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Championship, the second of his career. Larson, who finished in sixth place in 2024, first won a NASCAR title in 2021.
The 2026 NASCAR season begins on February 1 with the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC. That race does not generate points for the drivers. The first 2026 NASCAR race where drivers can earn points is the Daytona 500 on Sunday, February 15 at Daytona International Speedway in Florida.
In total, the 2026 NASCAR season features 36 races with 31 oval races, four road courses, and one street race (in San Diego). The final race of the year will be the Championship Race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida.
We take a look ahead to the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series and give our best free NASCAR betting picks to try and earn you some extra cash, while you enjoy the action on the track.
| To Win 2026 NASCAR Cup Championship |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle Larson | +500 | +450 | +475 |
| Denny Hamlin | +500 | +500 | +500 |
| William Byron | +600 | +600 | +600 |
| Christopher Bell | +600 | +600 | +600 |
| Ryan Blaney | +600 | +600 | +600 |
| Chase Elliott | +1000 | +900 | +950 |
| Chase Briscoe | +1000 | +1000 | +1000 |
| Connor Zilisch | +1000 | +1000 | +1200 |
| Joey Logano | +1600 | +1600 | +1800 |
| Tyler Reddick | +1600 | +1600 | +1800 |
| Ros Chastain | +2500 | +2500 | +2800 |
| Bubba Wallace | +3000 | +3000 | +3000 |
It’s no surprise to see the defending champion as the betting favorite to win the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Championship. If Larson manages to go back-to-back, he will be the first driver to win two titles in a row since Jimmie Johnson won five straight between 2006 and 2010. No driver has won two consecutive championships since NASCAR instituted the four-round playoff format in 2014. However, Joey Logano has won three titles since the advent of the playoffs (2018, 2022, and 2024). Logano placed seventh in 2025, and he is not among the favorites in 2026.
Kyle Larson’s contract with Hendrick Motorsports runs through the end of the 2026 season. The 33-year-old has been with the team since 2021. He previously drove for Chip Ganassi Racing. His best finish with that team was sixth in 2019. Larson, who drives the No. 5 Chevy for Hendrick, has never finished worse than seventh with Hendrick. In addition to his two titles, Larson placed second in 2023.
Larson had three wins in 2026, 15 top 15s, and 22 top 10s. He did not finish two races during the season. Larson led the second-most laps of the year with 1,106. Larson’s three victories all came early in the year. He did not win a race after finishing first in Kansas on May 11.
No one had more wins during the 2025 NASCAR Cup season than 44-year-old Denny Hamlin with six. Hamlin, who has never won a NASCAR Cup Series Championship, placed second in 2025, his best finish since he was also runner-up in 2010. Hamlin finished in sixth place in the championship race, having started on the pole, led the most laps, and recorded the fastest lap of the race. Larson placed third to win the title.
Hamlin recently spoke about the race, saying, “This is life, and you better get used to it that things are not always gonna happen as planned. Some things are gonna happen to you that are unfair at times, but that’s sports, that’s how it goes, and can chalk it up to that’s sports and we got unlucky there, or maybe we made a bad call. In the end, they didn’t really wanna hear any of that, for sure.”
Hamlin will be back in 2026 for Joe Gibbs Racing, where he drives the No. 11 Toyota. He is signed with the team through 2027, but has spoken about retirement. However, the odds are that he will fulfill his contract with his current team.
Hamlin had 14 top-five finishes, 18 top 10s, and did not finish four races. He was one of three drivers to lead more than 1,000 laps in 2025 (1,084), along with Larson and Byron (1,330).
William Byron has been very consistent over the past four years with NASCAR. The 27-year-old joined the circuit in 2018 and quickly established himself as a racer to watch. Byron has not won a championship, but over the past four years, he has finished no worse than sixth at the end of the season. For the past three years, he has been among the four racers competing for the championship in the final race of the year. In 2022 and 2023, Byron placed third. Last year, he finished fourth.
Byron was first in laps led in 2025 with 1,330. He won three races and had 11 top-five finishes to go with 16 inside the top 10. He did not finish four times. Had Byron not had a tire issue in the late stages of the championship race, he might have been in the running for the title.
Byron drives the No. 24 Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports. He is signed with the team through the 2029 NASCAR season.
Once you are all up to speed on the latest NASCAR Cup Series news and information, make sure to check out the fantastic array of resources for you over at SBS. Of course, for even more analysis on the topic covered here, you should bookmark our NASCAR betting sites rundown. On this page you can find a variety of awesome information as it relates to the sport including the latest betting markets and beyond. Additionally, for those on the go, another fantastic page to familiarize yourself with is the best betting apps breakdown, which goes over all of the nuances of mobile betting sites and beyond. Finally, for those interested in maximizing their wagers, look no further than the best bonus betting sites guide, which contains a catalog of the latest and greatest welcome bonus offers.
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