Kyle Larson poised for NASCAR championship while training for debut marathon

Homestead-Miami Speedway (Homestead, Fla.) — Kyle Larson has plans before he climbs into his NASCAR Cup Series car for Friday’s critical practice session, a key preparation race week.

He will spend the day running 15 miles along the Florida coastline.

Larson will not interrupt his marathon training as he makes a final push to secure a potential third NASCAR Cup Series championship on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Kyle Larson has more than one kind of race on his mind. (Getty Images)

He needs only nine additional points on Sunday to wrap up the championship, a scenario that would require Christopher Bell—currently 67 points behind—or Denny Hamlin—70 points behind—to post exceptional race results.

Four weeks after the 2026 season finale, Larson will contest a very different race when he runs the California International Marathon from Folsom to Sacramento, just miles from his hometown of Elk Grove.

Is his marathon training helping Larson in a postseason that has produced three wins, an average finish of 6.2 (Hamlin next at 11.2), and a 47.1‑point average (Bell trailing at 特别是39.1 points)?

Training for another sport has helped Kyle Larson as he drives toward his third NASCAR title. (Getty Images)

The 34‑year‑old Hendrick Motorsports driver signed up for the marathon to run alongside California friends, including sprint‑car mechanic Trevor Canales.

He will race a midget car at Ventura (Calif.) Raceway on Thanksgiving weekend and then remain in his hometown for a week before the marathon.

“Doing my first marathon in the town I was born in is cool,” he said. “It’s a favorable course, net downhill. … It’s just my friends were doing it together and that’s where they live.”

Crew chief Cliff Daniels believes the marathon regimen has boosted Larson’s performance.

“I think it has to,” Daniels said. “His physical capabilities are as high as they’ve ever been.

Working out does a lot of good things for you mentally as well, and keeps him focused on the discipline in his weekly process and what it takes to work towards the end of a Cup season and what it takes to work towards a marathon. That’s a pretty high level of prep, and it takes a special individual to do that.”

Crew chief Cliff Daniels (L) believes Larson’s “capabilities” are as high as they’ve ever been. (Getty Images)

That level of preparation differs from Larson’s previous schedule, which has lacked the rigorous sprint‑car workload of past seasons and has allowed him more time with his children, including their racing activities.

“I would say it hasn’t hurt me,” Larson said of the marathon training. “I don’t know if it’s helped me, but I do think it’s kept my mind off racing, which has been good because I just have this other thing that I’m equally committed to.

I probably, honestly, put way more thought behind this marathon than I do The Chase, which I think has kept a lot of pressure off of me. 

I’ve definitely felt pressure, but I’ve felt more pressure in other years, and I think a lot of it has just to do with just my mind is on something else. But I’m not distracted from it, either, because I think it’s all kind of benefiting Sundays in a way.”

Larson runs solo and listens to music.

When Larson is marathon training, it’s just him and his music. (Getty Images)

“I don’t feel like I’m a great runner, so I don’t want to feel like I’m limiting anybody that’s going with me,” Larson said. “It’s peaceful. I just put my headphones in and go log miles. It’s fun. … [The music] could be anywhere from country to EDM, some rap, classic rock, alternative.

You’ve got to change it up. For as long as you’re out there on the road, you can get bored of hearing the same music every day.”

Running 15 miles in Miami’s humidity on Friday, however, may not appear to be the smartest move on a crucial NASCAR weekend. He admitted he isn’t looking forward to it but feels prepared for practice.

“I haven’t had a Friday practice while I’ve been training,” Larson said. “As long as you stay fueled, you feel fine afterwards. I thought when you train for endurance stuff, I thought you train at a higher heart rate or whatever you’re supposed to do, but the majority of it is low heart‑rate stuff. So staying fueled during it is the biggest piece to not feel like crap afterwards.”

While some drivers run, others choose different types of physical and fitness training. William Byron, a Larson teammate and winner last weekend at Martinsville Speedway, isn’t interested in a marathon.

“I just feel a little bit miserable when I run, so I don’t know if that would change [because] 26 [miles] seems like a lot,” Byron said. “Three is a lot for me.”

Larson can relate. He said he found running hard in the past, but this training started at a slower pace and hasn’t caused much pain.

“[Byron] was how I was and then I think you turn early 30s and your priorities change, and you get into this stuff,” Larson said. “It’s like what all 30-year-olds do. … I used to golf all the time. And now I don’t golf and do this.”

As for his marathon goals, Larson hopes to finish better than three hours, 30 minutes. He expects to hit a wall at some point—something he knows from actual racing.

But to hear him speak, it almost sounds like he’s more nervous about the marathon than the upcoming NASCAR race.

“I just don’t know what my body’s going to feel like at mile 18 or 20 after running that pace,” Larson said. “I could be faster, but I just don’t want to … be walking across the finish line.

I just don’t want my body to freak out, and then I’m like just limping home. I think that’s where I would get disappointed in myself. … I don’t know. Man, it’s nerve‑racking.”

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