From the drop of the green flag, the air around Phoenix Raceway carried a sense of inevitability that this was Denny Hamlin’s day. The veteran looked ready to finally give his ailing father the long-awaited tribute of a Cup championship.
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But a late restart and a gamble from the No. 11 crew’s pit box unraveled a season’s worth of work, handing Kyle Larson a golden opportunity he didn’t expect. In the blink of an eye, Hamlin’s title hopes slipped through his fingers, and Larson walked away with the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series crown, one even he admitted he couldn’t quite believe.
The #5 HMS driver crossed the line third in Sunday’s finale, winning his second Cup championship after surviving a chaotic overtime finish at Phoenix Raceway. Ryan Blaney won the race itself, outdueling Brad Keselowski in a two-lap shootout to earn his fourth win of the year, but Larson’s focus was on the bigger prize.
Hamlin had been in control of the 312-lap event until disaster struck with three laps remaining. Larson, running P8, had clawed his way back from P17 as teammate William Byron blew a right-front tire, triggering the late caution, and ending his championship hopes in the process.
In the ensuing pit sequence, Hamlin’s team opted for four fresh tires while Larson’s crew rolled the dice on two. That split-second decision made all the difference. Larson restarted ahead and hung on by three positions as Hamlin faded to sixth.
“I guess. We did the best job we could,” Larson said, glancing at the bracelet his son Owen had made for him before the race.
“Honestly, I can’t believe it. Like, we didn’t lead a lap today. Somehow won the championship. I’m just speechless. I can’t believe it. We had an average car at best. We had the right front go down, lost a lap. Got saved by the caution. Did the wave-around. Was really bad that run. We took two tires, and I was like, ‘Oh, God, here we go.’ We’re going to go to the back now.”
“It had a lot more grip than I anticipated,” quipped Larson.“We got lucky with the final caution. I was really hoping we were going to take two again. I felt like I learned a lot on that restart, bombing one and two really hard. I thought I could do the same thing if we got another one. Just unbelievable.”
He credited his crew chief, Cliff Daniels, for keeping the team grounded. “His leadership, his complete leadership, just showed that whole race. Keeping us all motivated. Always having a plan. That’s just the story of our season. Again, just unbelievable. I cannot believe it. This is insane,” he continued.
On the other side, the rest of the Championship 4 contenders endured their share of heartbreak. Chase Briscoe limped home 18th after battling multiple tire issues, while William Byron’s hopes went up in smoke early on, setting up the race’s final restart.
Briscoe’s troubles began earlier when his right-rear tire failed on Lap 106, coinciding with a caution for Shane van Gisbergen, who had a similar issue. The timely yellow spared Briscoe with major damage, but lingering vibrations after double-stopping for fresh tires pushed him out of contention. Another failure late in the race sealed his fate.
Larson, meanwhile, capped his year with three victories, his last coming in May at Kansas Speedway. And although he did not win the race that decided it all, his composure under pressure once again proved why he remains one of NASCAR’s most complete drivers, always ready to turn chaos into opportunity.
