3 big questions ahead of Championship Race at Homestead-Miami

Even after going a lap down at Martinsville and pocketing zero stage points, Larson still finds himself in the driver's seat as the championship leader. That is even after he took a five-point lead into the chaotic Talladega Superspeedway and came away with the clutch win to put the pressure back on the competition.

It just so happens that Homestead-Miami returns as the title race after previously serving as the title-decider from 2002-19. With two wins in the last four races there, this is simply Larson's title to lose if he keeps his nose clean on Sunday.

Do Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin have a shot?

Technically, Bell (-67) and Hamlin (-70) have a chance considering the maximum points awarded for a race is 76. However, they are going to need to put together a perfect race and hope some adversity trips Larson up, as it did at Phoenix three weeks ago.

For Bell, his Chase could not have started better with a Southern 500 win at Darlington. That said, it has been a season of near-misses for the Norman, Oklahoma, native, and that has especially been the case the last two weeks with a spin coming to pit road at Talladega and a costly speeding penalty that put him behind at Martinsville.

Hamlin, meanwhile, has seen his advantage coming into the Chase completely disappear due to numerous mistakes from the driver and team. He has not been bad, but the season-long dominance has completely disappeared following a "killer" first stage that took him out of contention at Martinsville.

Both drivers are mathematically alive for the title, but it is going to take a lot of help if they are going to have a shot at their first Cup Series championship. 

Who can finish the season strong?

While all the focus will be on Larson trying to close out his third title and whether Bell or Hamlin can catch some breaks in their pursuit of him, let's not forget about the rest of the field in the final race of the season.

Just 49 points separate fourth-place Chase Briscoe from seventh-place Ryan Blaney, while 63 points are between fifth-place driver Joey Logano and ninth-place William Byron. Farther down the standings, only 11 points separate Chase Elliott (10th) and Bubba Wallace (13th), while 15 points stand between the bottom three drivers, Ryan Preece, Daniel Suarez and Chris Buescher.

As important as the championship fight is, the rest of the Chase field can still make one last statement to end the season and improve their final position in the standings.