Kyle Larson’s Marathon Secret to a Third NASCAR Title

Kyle Larson has more than one kind of race on his mind.

He’ll run 15 miles along the Florida coast Friday before getting into his NASCAR Cup Series car for one of the most important practice sessions of the season.

Larson has no plans to interrupt his training for his first marathon as he makes one last push to win an expected third NASCAR Cup Series title Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

He needs just nine points Sunday to clinch the championship.

That’s only if Christopher Bell (67 points behind) or Denny Hamlin (70 points behind) have career race-winning days.

Four weeks after the 2026 season finale, Larson will compete in a very different type of race when he runs the California International Marathon.

It goes from Folsom to Sacramento, just miles from his hometown of Elk Grove.

Has training for a marathon helped Larson in what has been an incredible postseason run?

He has three wins with an average finish of 6.8 (Hamlin is next at 11.2) and an average point total of 47.1 (Bell is next at 39.1).

“It’s been fun to have this sort of going on in the background and fun to be committed to the training of it and to also keep my mind off of racing,” Larson told FOX Sports in an exclusive interview Thursday morning at the track.

“I really think that’s important.

“I’m curious what other athletes would say in other sports, but I think it’s good to have an activity, whatever it may be, to keep your mind off of the sport that you’re into because it can be pressure-packed and you can overthink it a lot of times.”

The 34-year-old Hendrick Motorsports driver decided to do the marathon to run with some California friends, including sprint-car mechanic Trevor Canales.

He will race a midget car as he normally does on Thanksgiving weekend at Ventura (Calif.)

Raceway and then stay in his hometown for a week until the marathon.

“Doing my first marathon in the town I was born in is cool,” he said.

“It’s a favorable course, net downhill.

“It’s just my friends were doing it together and that’s where they live.”

Larson’s crew chief, Cliff Daniels, said Larson is trying to get him to run a half-marathon in Daytona the morning of the preseason Clash.

Larson has been running 40-plus miles the last few weeks.

He is the defending race champion at Homestead, having won the trophy in the March race here last year.

Larson is a two-time Homestead race winner overall.

He rode a 51-race winless streak heading into the Chase, but has answered with three victories and holds a series-best 6.8 place average finish during the nine Chase races to date.

Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 JGR Toyota, is averaging 11.2 during the 10-race Chase.

Bell, driver of the No. 20 JGR Toyota, is averaging 11.5.

Hamlin’s average finish (10.2) is third best all-time at this track.

Larson’s 645 laps out front are most in the field.

However, this season, Hamlin has earned the most points on 1.5-milers by 51 points more than Larson and 84 more than his teammate Bell.

Hamlin also boasts the most wins (16) on that style of venue compared to Larson (11) and Bell (2).

With Larson taking such a commanding points advantage into the race, Hamlin and Bell concede their path is at least straight if not easy.

They must win the race.

“I feel confident that I’ll be able to go there and contend,” Hamlin said.

Both contenders feel plenty of optimistic despite the challenge.

“My team has done a really good job,” Bell said.

“They’re resilient, they’re just really resilient.

“They’ve shown throughout the years that whenever it matters the most, they show up in the biggest ways.”

“I’m proud of where we’re at, and certainly proud that we’ve been so close year in and year out, but we do want to get that golden egg.”

Larson has consistently maintained his focus.

For much of the past decade, NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race Media Day meant taking the remaining contenders and placing them on a stage together.

With the return of the Chase for the Championship, and a points battle that is all but wrapped up, that meant Kyle Larson sitting on a stage taking questions all by himself on Thursday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

As Hamlin said on Sunday night at Martinsville Speedway, all that remains before crowning Larson is a ‘dog and pony show’ in which he would have to stand on stage and act like the one percent odds could actually happen.

He said that on the same day where Bell also said, ‘I think we know,’ when asked, ‘we technically don’t know’ how the championship will play out.

It appears that NASCAR agreed, as they allowed Bell and Hamlin to skip out on media day, entering the weekend with points deficits of 67 and 70 respectively.

Larson could wrap up the championship by merely scoring eight points over the first two stages or finishing 28th or better without stage points.

In other words, barring the most outrageously unlikely scenario, Larson will score his third Bill France Trophy in six years.

That is why he was the only contender invited to Media Day.

“Yeah, it’s definitely been the most unique media day for me,” Larson said.

“In the past it’s been the Final Four and you’re there and you don’t really know — all you know is you just have to beat them on the track, where this you’re still having points involved and all that, it’s different, but then the gap that is there, yeah, I’m solo, which is a great thing.

“But yeah, I’ll be honest, it’s an awkward sort of media day for me but we’ve earned the right for it to be awkward.

“I like awkwardness, or I’m okay with it.

“It’s alright.”

Again, the mathematical probabilities suggest Larson will clinch before halfway, and two stage finishes inside the top five would be enough.

In this scenario, Larson will feel a degree of excitement but also expects Cliff Daniels to keep him focused until the checkered flag.

After all, they also would love to celebrate the championship properly.

The Chase format returned this year with a 10-race playoff.

Drivers accumulate points through wins and stage finishes.

The top four in points entering the finale race for the championship.

But Larson’s lead is so large that the finale is effectively a formality.

His marathon training provides a unique edge.

It keeps his mind fresh and focused on something other than the pressure of a title race.

Larson is not the first athlete to cross-train for mental clarity, but his commitment is unusual for a stock car driver.

Running 40-plus miles per week while competing at the highest level of NASCAR is rare.

Larson’s average finish of 6.8 in the Chase is the best among all contenders by a wide margin.

Hamlin’s average finish is 11.2.

Bell’s is 11.5.

Larson’s average point total per Chase race is 47.1.

Bell’s is 39.1.

Hamlin’s is lower.

The numbers show dominance.

But Larson credits his mental approach, not just his car or crew.

He says having a second pursuit — marathon training — prevents overthinking.

“It can be pressure-packed and you can overthink it a lot of times,” he said.

The California International Marathon is set for December 6, 2026.

Larson will run it four weeks after Homestead.