Central Plains FFA Chapter

11/08 18:35 CST Kyle Larson wins 2nd consecutive Cup Series title, becomes the 11th NASCAR driver with 3 Kyle Larson wins 2nd consecutive Cup Series title, becomes the 11th NASCAR driver with 3 By MARK LONG AP Sports Writer HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) --- With the NASCAR Cup Series championship flag flying from a car window, Kyle Larson's youngest child stood atop the No. 5 Chevrolet and signaled to everyone what had been known for hours. Three-year-old Cooper held up a single finger. Yep, his dad was No. 1 again. Larson clinched his third Cup Series title in six years early in the 400-mile season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday. He became the first back-to-back champion since Jimmie Johnson in 2010; Johnson won five in a row beginning in 2006. The 34-year-old Larson also became the 11th driver in NASCAR history with three Cup titles, joining a list that includes seven-time champs Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Johnson. Jeff Gordon has four. Lee Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Tony Stewart and Joey Logano have three. "This was statistically probably one of our worst years," Larson said. "To still come away with the championship shows how resilient everybody at the race shop is, everybody on my 5 team, all my teammates." Ryan Blaney won the race for Team Penske, passing Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing with a little more than a lap to go and with NBA legend Michael Jordan watching from pit road. "Congratulations to Kyle Larson ... championship No. 3, two in a row," Blaney said. "Those guys are awesome. Hopefully we can race with them next year." Reddick finished second, followed by William Byron, Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin. The real celebration awaited Larson, who finished 12th. He immediately stopped near the start-finish line for a smoky burnout and then exchanged high-fives and hugs with his team, his wife and his kids. He climbed atop his car with all three children. Owen, 11, grabbed the flag and started waving it through the air. Audrey, 8, picked up a handful of confetti and started throwing it at her brothers. Cooper posed for pictures before eventually sliding down the windshield and into a pile of confetti. It was a family affair for sure. Larson was the overwhelming favorite to hoist the Bill France Cup in Homestead long before the green flag dropped. He entered the weekend with a 67-point lead over Bell and needed only nine points to wrap up the title. He got one point for starting the race and seven more by finishing fourth in the opening stage. But because Bell didn't win the opening stage, he had no path to catch Larson the rest of the day. Larson responded to crew chief Cliff Daniels dropping the news over the radio by saying, "That was anticlimactic." Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick, who notched his 16th Cup title, radioed Larson to congratulate him during the caution following the stage. "Now you can go ride the wall," Hendrick joked. Larson did and ended up cutting a right-rear tire and having to pit out of sequence. It cost him any chance he had of winning the race. "Got the word that we had clinched it, and I started driving like an idiot," Larson said. "I'm more mad at myself." Regardless, Larson put himself in position for the title with a historic postseason, dubbed NASCAR's Chase for the championship. He ended a 51-race winless skid by winning three times in the 10 playoff events and finishing in the top 10 in eight of them. "They deserve everything, the spoils of victory," Hamlin said. "They performed absolutely incredible during these last 10 races." Larson enjoyed a similar finish while winning it all in 2021, his first season at Hendrick. He won four of the last five races --- including the finale at Phoenix Raceway --- while still dealing with questions about how his time ended at Chip Ganassi Racing. His second title came in stunning fashion last year at Phoenix. He took advantage of a late caution --- his crew put on two new tires instead of four --- and leaped sentimental favorite Hamlin on pit road with two laps to go. Hamlin didn't have enough time to catch Larson. Larson's third title was far less shocking. Securing the title was so much of a slam dunk that Larson was the only Cup driver invited to NASCAR's championship media day Thursday, leading to a parade event that Larson called awkward. Now, with three Cup titles and a chance for more, he's sure to face what might be awkward comparisons to some of the greatest drivers in motorsports history. Parnelli Jones, Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt and Tony Stewart are widely regarded as the best of the best, guys who proved their worth by winning across varying racing series. Jones won in sprint cars and stock cars around the same time he won the 1963 Indianapolis 500. Andretti won four IndyCar titles, the 1967 Daytona 500 and the 1969 Indianapolis 500. Foyt won four Indy 500s and the 1972 Daytona 500. Stewart won the 1997 IndyCar championship, three Cup Series titles and is currently racing dragsters at the top level, the NHRA. Larson raced twice at the Indy 500 and has won the Rolex 24 at Daytona, three Chili Bowls and four Knoxville Nationals. ___ See AP's full auto racing coverage here