A Crown for Larson, a Long-Awaited Honor for Kyle Busch: NASCAR's Champions Night in Miami Puts Family and Fans First

NASCAR's 2026 season closed the way it was lived: with champions celebrating, a garage still grieving, and a family accepting an award on behalf of a man who should have been there to receive it himself.

The NASCAR Awards, held Tuesday night in a downtown Miami theater, crowned Kyle Larson as Cup Series champion, Justin Allgaier as O'Reilly Auto Parts Series champion and Kaden Honeycutt as Craftsman Truck Series champion, Jayski reported ^[5]. It was the first Cup Series awards ceremony ever held in Florida ^[5]. The show reached most fans Friday night, when it aired at 8 p.m. Eastern on the NASCAR Channel, according to Yahoo Sports ^[6].

But the moment many fans will carry into the offseason belonged to Kyle Busch.

A First, and a Farewell

Busch, who died unexpectedly in May at 41 after pneumonia progressed into sepsis, was named the 2026 National Motorsports Press Association Most Popular Driver, Racer reported ^[4]. It was the first time in his long career that he won the fan-voted award, and the first time since Darrell Waltrip in 1990 that a driver not named Elliott or Earnhardt took it home ^[4].

His widow, Samantha, accepted the honor on his behalf, Fox Sports reported ^[3]. It was the first time the Cup award had been presented posthumously since 2001, when the late Dale Earnhardt received it ^[3].

The award came with an act of sportsmanship that deserves its own headline. Chase Elliott, who had won the honor eight straight years from 2018 through 2025, asked the press association to remove him from consideration this season, according to Fox Sports ^[3]. Samantha Busch thanked Elliott and the drivers who encouraged their fans to vote for her husband ^[3].

Busch and the late Greg Biffle were also recognized during the evening for the work they did in their communities away from the track, Jayski reported ^[5].

Larson's Unlikely Third

The champion's spotlight belonged to Larson, who completed one of the more improbable title runs in recent memory. He clinched his third Cup championship, and his second in a row, on Nov. 8 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, finishing 12th in a finale won by Ryan Blaney and taking the title by 49 points over Christopher Bell and 56 over Denny Hamlin, NASCAR.com reported ^[1]. Larson went the entire 26-race regular season without a victory before getting hot in the Chase ^[1].

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On stage, Larson admitted he had not believed a title was possible during a rough early season, when Hendrick Motorsports was still adapting to the new Chevrolet body, Motorsport.com reported ^[2]. He opened by joking that his toughest critic is his eight-year-old daughter, Audrey, then spent much of his speech thanking the people of Hendrick Motorsports ^[2]. He gave special credit to crew chief Cliff Daniels, saying that without him he "wouldn't have a single championship" ^[2].

Allgaier and Honeycutt rounded out the night's champions, each honored for a title run in NASCAR's two national feeder series ^[5].

Why It Matters

A sport that lives at full speed does not often slow down. On Tuesday night it did, and what showed up in the quiet said a lot about the people in it.

Elliott had every right to keep his streak alive. He chose instead to step aside so the fans could give one last cheer to a rival who is gone. That is the kind of humility you cannot coach, and it is the kind of example parents can point to when they tell their kids that winning is not the only thing that counts.

Larson, standing at the top of the sport, used his moment to talk about his little girl and the man on the pit box who believed in him. Champions who point to family and teammates instead of themselves are the ones worth cheering.

And Samantha Busch, carrying an award that had eluded her husband through two decades in the Cup Series, reminded everyone that behind every helmet is a family that waits at home and prays every Sunday that the car comes back in one piece.

The cars go quiet now for the winter. When they fire up again, the garage will be missing two of its most familiar faces. Tuesday night in Miami, NASCAR made sure they were not forgotten.