Cup Series title emotions range from hot dog debates to despondence and zero optimism

For the three NASCAR Cup Series title contenders heading into Sunday’s finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, their moods couldn't be more different.

“I would say it’s extremely loose,” Kyle Larson said of his Hendrick Motorsports team. “They were debating if a hot dog is a sandwich and if cereal is a soup. So, I would say they’re pretty relaxed. I was surprised by all that.”

Larson has taken a business-as-usual approach to the race weekend and has refused to crown himself champion for the last two weeks, despite putting the championship nearly out of reach with his victory at Talladega Superspeedway (Oct. 25), when he extended the gap to 73 points. Now, at 67 points with one race to go, Larson needs only eight stage points to lock up the title before the checkered flag.

“No, I don’t have any anxiety,” said Larson after practice and qualifying. “I don’t know; I just want to be fastest every time I hit the track, and I haven’t felt like I’ve been that fast on the track yet. I just have high expectations when I come here and want to do a really good job.

“No anxiety.”

Larson qualified fourth for the finale. All three title contenders qualified inside the top six.

“I’m still not completely happy with my car, but we qualified well, and it’s a long race,” Larson said. “We have time to stay up there and give ourselves a fighting chance. We haven’t had the best handling or fastest car at any of these races, and we’ve been able to do a good job with it.”

Christopher Bell, the second-place driver in points, qualified sixth. Bell has been realistic and despondent about his chances the last few weeks.

“It was certainly not ideal,” Bell said of his Chase. “We had the car performance, had the speed, and yeah, execution – lack of it – is the reason why we’re not in a better spot than we are. I don’t know what else to say.”

Bell needs to score 13 stage points to stay in contention for the title and finish eighth or better in the first stage. Denny Hamlin needs at least 16 stage points to stay in contention, which means finishing fifth or better in the first stage.

Or, simply put: Bell and Hamlin need to win the race to have enough points to have a chance to overtake Larson.

It is a 70-point gap to Hamlin.

“I don’t have any optimism,” Hamlin said with a small laugh. “I don’t. I’m here to try to have fun and try to win the race, if possible. There is obviously a chance you can win the lottery as well. But do you really count on that?”