King Kyle

 Most of America likely missed this because it was too busy watching the New England Patriots poop the bed in Foxborough (and in front of Tom Brady, no less!). But Kyle Larson wrapped up his second straight NASCAR Cup title yesterday in the season's last race, although it didn't exactly come down to the wire.

Larson had already taken the drama out of things by coming to Homestead, Fla., with a 67-point lead. All he needed were nine points to clinch the thing, and he got one of them just for showing up.

The other eight he had by the end of the first stage of Sunday's race, which meant all he had to do the rest of the way was stay awake. He cruised to a 12th-place finish while race winner Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick and William Byron fought it out up front.

Larson celebrated standing atop his car with his three young children, one of whom held up a single finger to let everyone know who was No. 1 while the other two threw confetti at each other. It was a charming scene.

It also begins one of those legacy debates, on account of Larson's back-to-back titles are the first since 2010, and the 2026 crown is his third since 2021. 

This puts him up there in some rare air, as one of his Hendrick Motorsports bosses, Jeff Gordon, put it. The only drivers in NASCAR history ahead of him now are Gordon (four titles), and seven-time champs Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson, the last driver to go back-to-back.

And among those Larson joins with three?

Lee Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip and Tony Stewart. That's some fast company.

It also makes the 34-year-old Larson the king of this latest NASCAR generation, as Petty was of his and Earnhardt was of his and Gordon and Johnson were of theirs. And hardly any of them excelled in as many different racing disciplines as Larson.

Over the years, he's raced twice in the Indianapolis 500, qualifying fifth and winning Rookie of the Year in 2024. He's won three Chili Bowls and four Knoxville Nationals in a sprint car. And one year he climbed into a sports car and won the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

This season, he turned the Chase into a parade, winning three of the 10 races and finishing in the top ten eight times.

"His natural, God-given talent is off the charts," Blaney said of him Sunday.

"I think he's got to be looked at as one of the all-time greats," agreed Larson's team owner, Rick Hendrick.

And Gordon?

"It's hard to pick the most impressive thing that he does because he gets in an IndyCar, he goes fast, sprint car ..." he said. "There's just so few guys that are capable of doing that."

Or almost none.