NASCAR: Kyle Larson wins at Homestead to set up a rare Cup Series split title scenario

Kyle Larson isn’t racing for a NASCAR Cup Series title. But his car will be.

Larson won Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway after Martin Truex Jr. went spinning off his bumper on pit road during the race’s final caution.

Truex was leading when Tyler Reddick’s car spun into the inside wall. He led the field onto pit road and Larson unintentionally bumped Truex as Truex slowed down to get into his pit. Larson emerged from pit road in first place and held on for the final 22 laps to win the race.

“I was just going behind him and he had a hard left and was hard on the brakes at the same time and I ran right into the back of him. …If it was my fault, I’m sorry. I don’t think it was," Larson said after the race.

Truex noted the angle of the setting sun in the final laps of the race. The sun sets over Turn 1 at Homestead and this race ended close to sunset.

"I did see my box late for sure,” Truex said. “So when I slowed before I turned out of the way [Larson] there. So obviously partly on me, I didn’t expect to get turned around. I’m glad nobody got hurt there.”

It’s been a hard-luck year for Truex. He’s winless so far this season and failed to make the playoffs. Sunday’s race might have been his best shot for a win in 2022.

Larson was eliminated in the second round of the driver playoffs at the Charlotte Roval. But there are two sets of playoffs in NASCAR. The owner points determine the financial payouts at the end of the year for teams from the points fund. And 23XI Racing’s No. 45 car made the owner playoffs thanks to Kurt Busch’s win in May.

Busch wasn’t in the driver playoffs after backing out in August. He’s still sidelined from a summer concussion. Busch’s inability to compete created the NASCAR oddity where Ryan Blaney was the final driver into the 16-driver playoffs but Busch’s car was in the owner’s playoffs in lieu of Blaney’s.

And so when Larson was eliminated from the playoffs at the Roval, his car wasn’t because it was ahead of the No. 45 in the owner points standings. So if Larson wins the winner-take-all championship race at Phoenix on Nov. 6, he’ll win the owner’s title for his team while the highest-finishing final four driver behind him would win the driver’s title.

A split title hasn’t happened in the modern NASCAR era (post-1972). The last split title at NASCAR’s top level came in 1963.

Larson was a deserved winner of the race. He had the fastest car overall, and it wasn’t even close. He led 199 of the race’s 267 laps while teammate William Byron was second in laps led at just 33.

Ross Chastain finished second while AJ Allmendinger was third and Austin Dillon was fourth. Brad Keselowski finished fifth and Truex recovered from his spin to finish sixth ahead of teammate Denny Hamlin.

Chastain and Hamlin were the only two playoff drivers to finish in the top 10. The top four drivers in the playoff standings will advance to the championship race at Phoenix. Thanks to Larson's win, at least two drivers will make it to the title race via points.

Points standings

1. Joey Logano (win at Las Vegas)

2. Ross Chastain, 4,101

3. Chase Elliott, 4,093

4. William Byron, 4,087

5. Denny Hamlin, 4,082

6. Ryan Blaney, 4,069

7. Christopher Bell, 4,054

8. Chase Briscoe, 4,043

Race results

1. Kyle Larson

2. Ross Chastain

3. AJ Allmendinger

4. Austin Dillon

5. Brad Keselowski

6. Martin Truex Jr.

7. Denny Hamlin

8. Kevin Harvick

9. Kyle Busch

10. Daniel Suarez

11. Christopher Bell

12. William Byron

13. Chris Buescher

14. Chase Elliott

15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

16. Michael McDowell

17. Ryan Blaney

18. Joey Logano

19. Austin Cindric

20. Harrison Burton

21. Aric Almirola

22. Ty Gibbs

23. Corey LaJoie

24. Cole Custer

25. Noah Gragson

26. Ty Dillon

27. John Hunter Nemechek

28. Justin Haley

29. Landon Cassill

30. Erik Jones

31. Todd Gilliland

32. JJ Yeley

33. BJ McLeod

34. Cody Ware

35. Tyler Reddick

36. Chase Briscoe