Byron ends his winless year at Martinsville, and three NASCAR titles go to Homestead: Week 45
William Byron's first win of 2026 closes out Martinsville, where Justin Allgaier took the O'Reilly lead and Layne Riggs cut Kaden Honeycutt's Truck margin to 20, sending all three NASCAR titles to Homestead.
William Byron won the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Nov. 1, leading 362 of 500 laps and beating Chase Elliott by 2.049 seconds. It was Byron's first Cup Series win of 2026 and the 17th of his career. 1
Kyle Larson finished ninth and left with the championship still in reach. He leads Christopher Bell by 67 points and Denny Hamlin by 70, and needs 28th or better at Homestead-Miami on Nov. 8 to take the title. 12
Martinsville moved the other two championships as well. Justin Allgaier took the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series lead from Jesse Love, and Layne Riggs cut Kaden Honeycutt's Truck Series lead to 20 points. 34
All three national-series titles are decided at Homestead-Miami Speedway this week, Friday through Sunday. Results below cover Oct. 26-Nov. 1, and the watch list covers Nov. 2-8 in UTC. 5
Cup: Byron leads 362 laps, Larson survives a lap down
Denny Hamlin started from the pole and led the first two laps. He missed a shift on Lap 3, Ty Gibbs took the lead through Turn 3, and Hamlin grabbed it back on Lap 45. 1
Most of the field pitted during the opening stage. Hamlin, Larson and Ryan Preece stayed out on old tires, and the cars with fresh Goodyears drove past them. 6
Byron took four tires in that cycle and passed Preece with six laps left in the stage. He led 362 laps in all, swept both stages and put all but seven cars a lap down. 1
Larson went a lap down in Stage 1 and got it back on the Lap 215 caution. The points leader had entered the day 73 ahead of Hamlin. 1
Bell had the loudest afternoon of the three title contenders. A speeding penalty on pit exit under the Lap 199 caution dropped him from what would have been the lead to 14th. 1
Sixteen laps later, Logano got into Bell entering Turn 1. Bell slid into his teammate Hamlin and both Gibbs cars spun, with no serious damage to either. 1
Two Team Penske cars left with wrecked front ends. Carson Hocevar brake-checked Austin Cindric on an earlier restart and sent the No. 2 Ford to the garage for 278 laps. 1
Ryan Blaney shoved Josh Berry with eight laps left in Stage 2. Berry braked to gather his car, Blaney took heavy nose damage on contact and spun in the next corner, finishing 35th. 1
Ryan Preece lost a right-rear wheel and spun on Lap 225 while running inside the top five. He had led 41 laps earlier and finished 23rd, two laps down. 6
The last 230 laps ran green, the longest green-flag stretch in nearly 40 years. Post-race inspection found no issues and confirmed Byron as the winner. 1
| Finish | Driver 6 |
|---|---|
| 1 | William Byron |
| 2 | Chase Elliott, 2.049 behind |
| 3 | Ty Gibbs, 13.102 |
| 4 | Josh Berry, 14.088 |
| 5 | Shane van Gisbergen, 16.265 |
| 6 | Denny Hamlin, 19.185 |
| 7 | Austin Dillon, 21.181 |
| 8 | Bubba Wallace, 1 lap down |
| 9 | Kyle Larson, 1 lap down |
| 10 | Christopher Bell, 1 lap down |
Larson heads to Homestead with 2,469 points and three drivers still alive for the title. Briscoe is fourth, 84 points back, outside the mathematical window. 2
| Pos. | Driver | Behind Larson 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle Larson | Leader |
| 2 | Christopher Bell | −67 |
| 3 | Denny Hamlin | −70 |
| 4 | Chase Briscoe | −84 |
| 5 | Joey Logano | −103 |
| 6 | Tyler Reddick | −125 |
| 7 | Ryan Blaney | −133 |
| 8 | Ty Gibbs | −160 |
| 9 | William Byron | −166 |
| 10 | Chase Elliott | −201 |
| 11 | Austin Cindric | −206 |
| 12 | Carson Hocevar | −210 |
| 13 | Bubba Wallace | −212 |
| 14 | Ryan Preece | −255 |
| 15 | Daniel Suárez | −259 |
| 16 | Chris Buescher | −270 |
O'Reilly: Kvapil wins, Allgaier takes the points lead
Carson Kvapil started on the pole, lost the lead in the middle of the race and won it back from Corey Day with about 75 laps left. He finished 0.434 seconds ahead of Justin Allgaier. 3
Allgaier won the first stage and Anthony Alfredo won the second. Alfredo led Stage 3 early before pitting, and with 47 laps left Allgaier was the fastest car on the track. 3
Points leader Jesse Love lost his brakes with 31 laps to go and slammed the outside wall. He finished 31st, nine laps down, and lost the championship lead. 3
An early Stage 1 crash into Turn 1 collected Brent Crews, Corey Day, Sammy Smith and Lavar Scott. All four kept going, and Day salvaged third. 3
| Finish | Driver 3 |
|---|---|
| 1 | Carson Kvapil |
| 2 | Justin Allgaier, 0.434 behind |
| 3 | Corey Day, 4.377 |
| 4 | Brandon Jones, 4.597 |
| 5 | Sam Mayer, 6.466 |
| 6 | Sheldon Creed, 6.716 |
| 7 | Sammy Smith, 8.733 |
| 8 | William Sawalich, 9.176 |
| 9 | Brent Crews, 9.975 |
| 10 | Taylor Gray, 10.624 |
Allgaier takes a 22-point lead into the last race, with Love second, Day third at 23 back and Kvapil fourth at 31. 3
| Pos. | Driver | Behind Allgaier 3 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Justin Allgaier | Leader |
| 2 | Jesse Love | −22 |
| 3 | Corey Day | −23 |
| 4 | Carson Kvapil | −31 |
| 5 | Sheldon Creed | −42 |
| 6 | Sam Mayer | −97 |
| 7 | Sammy Smith | −107 |
| 8 | Taylor Gray | −159 |
| 9 | Brandon Jones | −183 |
| 10 | Austin Hill | −197 |
| 11 | Parker Retzlaff | −210 |
| 12 | Rajah Caruth | −231 |
The finale is the Championship Race at Homestead-Miami on Nov. 7, the last of the nine Chase rounds. 5
Truck: Chandler Smith wins, Riggs closes to 20
Layne Riggs won both stages from the outside of the front row and led most of the way. Chandler Smith went around him on the outside after the final restart and won by 0.574 seconds over Ben Rhodes. 4
Kaden Honeycutt's race went the other way. Christian Eckes clipped his left rear on Lap 37, and Honeycutt slid up the track into Frankie Muniz. 4
He finished 14th, shoved out of the outside lane on the last restart and out of the top 10. Riggs finished third. 4
Tristan McKee led in the middle of the race and finished fifth. 4
| Finish | Driver 4 |
|---|---|
| 1 | Chandler Smith |
| 2 | Ben Rhodes, 0.574 behind |
| 3 | Layne Riggs, 1.102 |
| 4 | Ty Majeski, 1.898 |
| 5 | Tristan McKee, 2.712 |
| 6 | Andrés Pérez de Lara, 3.622 |
| 7 | Tyler Ankrum, 4.635 |
| 8 | Gio Ruggiero, 4.869 |
| 9 | William Sawalich, 5.371 |
| 10 | Christian Eckes, 6.010 |
Honeycutt's lead is 20 points over Riggs with one race left. Chandler Smith is third, 103 back, and Majeski fourth at 128. 4
| Pos. | Driver | Behind Honeycutt 4 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kaden Honeycutt | Leader |
| 2 | Layne Riggs | −20 |
| 3 | Chandler Smith | −103 |
| 4 | Ty Majeski | −128 |
| 5 | Christian Eckes | −140 |
| 6 | Gio Ruggiero | −179 |
| 7 | Ben Rhodes | −186 |
| 8 | Daniel Hemric | −204 |
| 9 | Tyler Ankrum | −210 |
| 10 | Grant Enfinger | −225 |
Three titles, three leaders, one weekend
| Series | Leader | Margin | Decided 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cup | Kyle Larson | 67 over Christopher Bell | Sun, Nov. 8 |
| O'Reilly | Justin Allgaier | 22 over Jesse Love | Sat, Nov. 7 |
| Truck | Kaden Honeycutt | 20 over Layne Riggs | Fri, Nov. 6 |
Larson is the only leader with room to spare. A finish of 28th or better gets him a third championship. 1
Allgaier and Honeycutt each need to beat one pursuer by a handful of positions. In the O'Reilly series, fourth place Carson Kvapil is 31 back and won Saturday's race. 3
ARCA West: Deegan wins, Huddleston takes the title
Hailie Deegan won the NAPA Auto Parts 150 at Kevin Harvick's Kern Raceway on Oct. 31, a race called at lap 42 when rain settled over the track. 7
ARCA officials ended it under Rulebook 9-13-2.C, which allows a race to be called before halfway when restarting is impractical. 7
Deegan passed polesitter Mia Lovell on the opening lap and had checked out before the weather arrived. It was her second win in the last four West races. 7
Trevor Huddleston finished fifth and clinched his second straight West title, at the track his parents own. He won twice this season and took 10 top fives. 7
| Finish | Driver 8 |
|---|---|
| 1 | Hailie Deegan, 42 laps |
| 2 | Mia Lovell |
| 3 | Hudson Sharp |
| 4 | Taylor Mayhew |
| 5 | Trevor Huddleston |
Hudson Sharp took third in his West Series debut. Taylor Mayhew was fourth ahead of Huddleston. 7
IMSA: quiet until the Rolex 24
The WeatherTech SportsCar Championship has not raced since Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta on Oct. 3-4. Its next round is the Rolex 24 at Daytona on Jan. 28-31, 2027. 9
IMSA's news page has carried nothing new since Oct. 19, so there is no sports-car result to report this week. 10
Dirt and short tracks
- Trophy Cup finale, Thunderbowl Raceway, Tulare, Calif., Oct. 31: Tanner Thorson started 15th and won the 50-lap feature, ahead of Jett Barnes and Tanner Holmes. Tim Kaeding and Bud Kaeding flipped together in Turn 1 early, and Justin Sanders and Caeden Steele each went upside down later. 11
- Halloween Nationals, Portsmouth Raceway Park, Oct. 31: Ricky Thornton Jr led from the first lap and collected $50,000, finishing ahead of Tyler Erb and Josh Rice once the track took rubber. Josh Rice started on the front row with Thornton. 12
NHRA: Kalitta keeps his title defense alive in Las Vegas
The Mopar NHRA Las Vegas Nationals ran Oct. 29-Nov. 1 at The Strip, the 19th of 20 races and the fifth of six Countdown rounds. Three of the four professional classes crowned a winner; high winds postponed the fourth final. 13
Doug Kalitta beat Shawn Langdon in the semifinals, then ran 3.658 seconds at 338.60 mph to beat Leah Pruett in the final. It was his fifth win of 2026 and the 64th of his career. 14
Kalitta leaves 107 points behind Langdon, with points and a half on offer at the Pomona finale. 15
Jordan Vandergriff won Funny Car, running 3.873 at 331.36 mph against Ron Capps. J.R. Todd had eliminated points leader Matt Hagan in the second round, and Vandergriff's fourth win cut his deficit to Hagan to 39. 14
Dallas Glenn won Pro Stock with a .002-second reaction and a 6.587-second run against Troy Coughlin Jr. Glenn, who trailed Greg Stanfield by 71 points two races ago, now leads Matt Hartford by 87. 14
The Pro Stock Motorcycle final never ran. High winds forced officials to postpone Richard Gadson against Gaige Herrera to the third qualifying session at Pomona on Nov. 14. Gadson leads by 55. 14
Justin Bond won the JBS Equipment Pro Mod championship, beating Mike Stavrinos in the final, 5.660 to 5.791, after Stavrinos's engine began to expire at half-track. 13
| Class | Leader | Second | Gap 15 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top Fuel | Shawn Langdon, 2,630 | Doug Kalitta, 2,523 | 107 |
| Funny Car | Matt Hagan, 2,563 | Jordan Vandergriff, 2,524 | 39 |
| Pro Stock | Dallas Glenn, 2,556 | Matt Hartford, 2,469 | 87 |
| Pro Stock Motorcycle | Richard Gadson, 2,579 | Gaige Herrera, 2,524 | 55 |
Transfers and team news
- Brad Keselowski is selling his 20% stake in RFK Racing. He said the team agreed to release the restrictions that would have kept him from racing in the Cup Series in 2027, as a driver or as an owner-driver. He has offers in Cup and is not ready to retire. 16
- Shane van Gisbergen says Trackhouse has changes coming. After finishing fifth at Martinsville he said the team has "some big team changes coming" and that all three cars are still experimenting. All three Trackhouse contracts run through the end of 2027. 17
- Timmy Hill stepped back from Truck ownership. He said on Oct. 30 that Martinsville, where he finished 31st, was his last scheduled race as a team owner, and that his focus shifts back to driving. Hill has run the family Truck team for nearly eight years. 18
Rules and the garage
- NASCAR warned the whole Talladega field about minimum speed. Series official Mike Forde said NASCAR messaged all of pit road during Stage 1, telling teams that cars below minimum speed had to pick up the pace or face the black flag. At Talladega the minimum is 12.5% of the pole speed, and no one was black-flagged. 19
- Martinsville's Cup inspection was clean. No penalties followed the race, and Byron's win stood. 1
What to watch: Nov. 2-8
| Date and time (UTC) | Event | Venue | Where to watch 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Nov. 6, 19:30 | Truck Series qualifying | Homestead-Miami Speedway | FS2 |
| Fri, Nov. 6, 21:00 | O'Reilly Series practice | Homestead-Miami Speedway | ESPN Unlimited |
| Fri, Nov. 6, 22:30 | Cup Series practice | Homestead-Miami Speedway | truTV, HBO Max |
| Sat, Nov. 7, 00:30 | Truck Series: Championship Race | Homestead-Miami Speedway | FS1 |
| Sat, Nov. 7, 18:00 | O'Reilly Series qualifying | Homestead-Miami Speedway | ESPN Unlimited |
| Sat, Nov. 7, 19:30 | Cup Series qualifying | Homestead-Miami Speedway | truTV, HBO Max |
| Sat, Nov. 7, 22:00 | O'Reilly Series: Championship Race | Homestead-Miami Speedway | The CW, ESPN Unlimited |
| Sun, Nov. 8, 19:00 | Cup Series pre-race show | Homestead-Miami Speedway | NBC |
| Sun, Nov. 8, 20:00 | Cup Series: Championship Race | Homestead-Miami Speedway | NBC, HBO Max |
The Truck title is settled first, on Friday night in Florida, which is 00:30 UTC Saturday. The Cup champion is crowned Sunday afternoon on the 1.5-mile oval where Larson won in the spring. 1
NHRA is off this week. Its season ends at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at Pomona on Nov. 12-15, where the postponed Pro Stock Motorcycle final will be run during Saturday qualifying. 14
References
- 1
- 2NASCAR standings after Martinsville Speedway
racingnews.co
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8ARCA Race Results: Kern Raceway (October 31, 2026)
racingnews.co
- 9WeatherTech: 2027 Schedule
imsa.com
- 10IMSA News
imsa.com
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 142026 NHRA LAS VEGAS NATIONALS - EVENT RESULTS
competitionplus.com
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18Timmy Hill's NASCAR Ownership Journey
abovetheyellowline.com
- 19
This story was produced automatically by a channel. One sentence is all it takes for Neodrop to keep producing for you.