Dale Earnhardt Jr. Sends A Stern Warning Kyle Larson Over 2026 Championship Chase

With four more races left in the 2026 NASCAR Cup championship chase, Kyle Larson founds himself in a delicate position. With an average finish of 2.8 in the lasts six races, the defending champion has built 49 points lead on Denny Hamlin at P2. But it might not be enough to stop the Joe Gibbs Racing trio challenging him.

According to Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hamlin, Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe has the history in the upcoming three races, making them tough challengers in the next two weeks. The three alongside the Team Penske duo of Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano seems to have a better shot at victory in Phoenix, Talladega and Martinsville.

Now, 49 points ahead, I don’t think it’s a big deal. I mean, you got Denny Hamlin at 49, Christopher Bell at 51, Chase Briscoe 65 back. And then Ryan Blaney is 85 back, Joey Logano 92 back…You’re coming up on Phoenix, Talladega, and Martinsville. That’s a chance for Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano to throw their final Hail Mary. This is it.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said on his podcast.

The five drivers can easily close the gap on Hendrick Motorsports defending champion Kyle Larson, if they can stitch together two good weekends, while the No:5 fails to execute one week. One bad stop or one mistake is enough to kill all the momentum HMS has built so far this season, according to Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Well, I just feel like Blaney and Logano have a shot at running well at those three racetracks and stringing three solid races together to get themselves, at least numerically, maybe 15 or 20 points out going into Homestead…That’s a real possibility. Denny, Christopher Bell, and Briscoe sitting there 49 to 65 out. They’re right back in it in one week… You know, if Larson just has a bad stop. Right now, they’re perfect. Their pit stops are great. Everything’s great.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. added via Dale Jr. Download.

Further talking about the point, Junior asserted that Talladega is going to be a serious problem for the No:5 team, hence they have to maximize their points haul next week at Phoenix. Martinsville is also going to be a bigger challenge considering the other five have better Next-Gen era record at the venue. These factors make 2026 championship anybody’s game.

He wants to go to Phoenix and extend that because Dega is a problem… When I think about Martinsville, I think about Christopher Bell. I think about Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney. I don’t think about Larson. It’s very compelling; it looks like it’s a runaway for Larson, but it’s still, to me, when I look at these numbers, this is a tight race to me. It looks like it’s still anybody’s.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. asserted.

NASCAR rivals have only three more races left to beat Kyle Larson

Ex-champion Kevin Harvick also talked about the challenges ahead of Larson in the 2026 chase on his podcast. He highlighted how the only track the No:5 HMS driver has an advantage in the remaining four weeks is Homestead and if the contenders can’t beat him in the coming three weeks, he would walk away with the title.

Here’s the thing, though. There’s really only three left for everybody else. Those guys, I just don’t see them beating Kyle Larson by much at Homestead, if at all. I think that the main player at Homestead is going to be Tyler Reddick…. if he needs to and needs to do what he needs to do and their car is performing, like they’re performing right now, it would really surprise me.

Kevin Harvick said on his podcast.

The comments from the former champion are on point and shows how the three remaining races of the season going to be the biggest challenge the veteran is going to face this season. It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for the star driver in the upcoming weeks.

Also Read: Denny Hamlin Exposes Kyle Larson’s Secret Advantage in the 2026 Title Fight Against JGR