Kyle Larson took the final spot in the NASCAR Cup Series title race in a battle for the bubble with Christopher Bell.
William Byron, who was below a transfer spot entering Sunday’s race, won at Martinsville Speedway, leaving the bubble battle to the No. 5 and No. 20. Just a single point separated the two entering the day, with Bell sitting third on the playoff grid and Larson fourth.
Larson finished fifth and earned 49 points. He finished third and second in the two stages.
Bell finished seventh and earned 41 points. He finished eighth and third in the stages.
The final margin between the two drivers was seven points.
“I think it was a little less stressful because I recognized that we were better than Christopher in car performance, and we were in front of him all night,” Larson said. “I knew when we got a good first stage that it was not going to be easy, but the math was going to be much easier. I just had to keep him within my sights at that point.
“Our team did a great job. We didn’t have any hiccups, really. I definitely could have had some better restarts, but like I said, when I outscored Christopher, I was just playing it a little bit easy and wanting to just tuck in line and go from there. We had a good long run car.”
Larson last made the Championship 4 in 2023 when he finished second to Joey Logano in the title fight. He is the only driver advancing this season having won a championship before, doing so in 2021.
“I’m happy to be in the final four,” Larson said. “I’m really proud of William; that was a [heck] of a drive. We’ve got two Hendrick cars going for a championship and hopefully we can do it for Rick (Hendrick).”
The championship will come down to Larson and Byron from Hendrick Motorsports against Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe from Joe Gibbs Racing.
Of the five previous champions who have been crowned at Phoenix Raceway, two have come from the Hendrick stable with Chase Elliott (2020) and Larson (2021). Joe Gibbs has never won a title in a Phoenix finale, as the last three years went to Team Penske, who were locked out of the final four when Byron and Larson prevailed Sunday.
Larson’s early preview was this: “Denny was good there earlier this year. [Briscoe] has gotten way better as they’ve become comfortable with each other, and all that. I’m sure he’ll be really strong, and he’s tough. He’s just a gamer. He can figure out how to get to the front at any point.
“And William, I think with a performance like that tonight, he’s going to carry a lot of confidence. We have confidence ourselves. I felt like we were decent there earlier this year, and I think our short track package has gotten way better. I felt like at Gateway we were really strong, and then Loudon we were probably a little bit better than the Gibbs cars, and maybe even my teammates for a lot of the race. We’ll see. I’m just glad we have an opportunity to go out there and race for a championship.”