Kyle Larson Secures Third Cup Series Championship After Stage 1

Everyone knew it would take a lot of heavy lifting and even more luck for anyone other than Kyle Larson to walk out of Homestead-Miami Speedway as the NASCAR Cup Series champion. While Christopher Bell gave it everything he had to remain mathematically in contention, Larson was able to lock up his third NASCAR Cup Series title with a fourth-place finish in Stage 1 of Sunday's Championship Race.

As Larson was pressuring Bell for the third position in the closing laps of the Stage, Chase Briscoe, the polesitter of the race, blew an engine, which brought out the caution, and caused the Stage to end a few laps early.

With Bell finishing third, and only gaining one point on Larson, it pushed the points past what was possible for Bell to gain for the remainder of the afternoon at the 1.5-mile speedway in South Florida.

This will mark Larson's second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series championship, which makes him the first back-to-back Cup champion since Jimmie Johnson captured the 2013 title.

And with Larson, 35, pushing his career record to three Cup Series titles, he now joins an ultra-exclusive club of racers with three NASCAR Cup Series titles.

Larson is now the 11th driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to reach the impressive status of three-time champion, as he joins fellow three-time champions Lee Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Tony Stewart, and Joey Logano.

With seemingly plenty of years left in the tank, Larson will now chase the accomplishments of four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon, and seven-time Cup Series champions RIchard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, and Jimmie Johnson.

Now that the championship fight is settled, the focus turns to the race for the win in the 400-mile contest at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

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