With what could be described as a bone-jarring wreck by William Byron on Lap 310 of the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race delivered an even bigger shockwave, which resulted in a gut punch to Denny Hamlin, costing him the title he seemed destined to win.
The resulting caution and a gutsy two-tire pit call by crew chief Cliff Daniels allowed Kyle Larson to swipe the Cup Series championship from Hamlin without leading a single lap at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday.
Larson finished third behind race winner Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski to claim his second career title in NASCAR’s top division. He finished as the highest of the four Championship 4 drivers – Hamlin, Byron and Chase Briscoe, securing the 15th Cup championship for team owner Rick Hendrick.
The championship was decided by a major plot twist in the final stage. With the scheduled 312 laps winding down, Hamlin had a near three-second lead over Byron and appeared headed for his first Cup title in his 20 full-time seasons behind the wheel of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
Hamlin had dominated the day, leading seven times for 207 laps. Despite battling a balky clutch and rallying from a flat left-rear tire after winning the second stage, he failed to win the championship for the fifth time under the elimination Playoff format.
Instead, a stunned Larson found himself hoisting the Bill France Cup.
“Honestly, I can’t believe it,” Larson said. “Like, we didn’t lead a lap today. Somehow won the championship. I mean, really, I’m just speechless. I can’t believe it. We had an average car at best.”
After Byron’s wreck, which sent the race to overtime, Daniels gambled and opted for two right-side tires for the second straight pit stop. Hamlin pitted from the lead and took four fresh tires.
But with Keselowski, Ryan Preece and Alex Bowman staying out on old tires, and Blaney, Larson, Joey Logano, Josh Berry, Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott taking only right sides, Hamlin lined up 10th for the overtime restart – five spots behind Larson – and chose the bottom row.
From the outside lane, Larson charged through the first two corners, maintaining a crucial gap between his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and Hamlin’s Camry. On the final lap, Hamlin lost momentum on the bottom in Turns 1 and 2 and couldn’t recover.
Hamlin finished sixth, as Blaney edged Keselowski for the win by a razor-thin 0.097 seconds for the race win.
Larson credited the confidence he gained from an earlier two-tire call under caution on Lap 281.
“We had the right front go down (earlier), lost a lap,” Larson recalled. “Got saved by the caution. Did the wave-around. Was really bad that run. We took two tires. 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.”
“We got lucky with the final caution,” he added. “I was really hoping we were going to take two again. I felt like I learned a lot on that restart, bombing (Turns) 1 and 2 really hard. Thought I could do the same thing if we got another one.”
Doubtless, Hamlin would agree with Larson’s assessment that the finish was unbelievable. Hamlin and his team brought the fastest car and executed a nearly flawless race, overcoming early challenges, but the championship once again eluded him.
“Did the best I could,” a deflated Hamlin said. “Everything I really prepared for happened today. I felt like we responded… The team brought a great championship car. I felt like I drove it just right up until two laps to go. Yeah, this is the part that stinks.”
The Chesterfield native continued with his comments in the post-race press conference telling the media that of his immediate feelings saying, “In this moment, I never want to race a car ever again. My fun meter is pegged.“
Hamlin again reiterated that he felt he and his team were well-prepared and had a “fantastic car,” but the circumstances, including a late caution and strategy calls by other teams, didn’t work in his favor.
For Ryan Blaney, the win was almost an afterthought, a consolation prize after he finished second last Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, one spot shy of qualifying for the Championship 4.
“It’s just cool to end it on a good note,” Blaney said. “Those other guys (Hamlin and Byron) were just kind of faster getting going. It was a really good call for two (tires) there and keeping track position. I got a decent restart, and I was able to kind of roll the bottom in (Turns) 3 and 4 and eke the 6 (Keselowski) out at the line.”
Blaney led 20 laps in securing his fourth win of the season and the 17th of his career. The win was his first at Phoenix after three straight runner-up finishes in the Championship Race.
Byron, who finished 33rd after leading 52 laps and winning the first stage, expressed sympathy for his rival despite his accident giving his teammate the title.
“I’m just super bummed that it was a caution, obviously,” Byron said. “I hate that. Hate it for Denny. I hate it for the 11 team. I’m happy for Kyle, for Mr. Hendrick, they deserve it.”
Briscoe rallied from flat tires twice on Sunday, restarted 15th in overtime and finished 18th.
In a race that featured nine cautions for 65 laps, Logano finished fourth, followed by Busch and Hamlin. Berry, Michael McDowell, Preece, Elliott and Christopher Bell completed the top 10.
NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race
Phoenix Raceway
Avondale, Arizona
Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025
- (5) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 319.
2. (19) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 319.
3. (3) Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, 319.
4. (10) Joey Logano, Ford, 319.
5. (11) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 319.
6. (1) Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 319.
7. (7) Josh Berry, Ford, 319.
8. (37) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 319.
9. (21) Ryan Preece, Ford, 319.
10. (17) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 319.
11. (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 319.
12. (9) Chris Buescher, Ford, 319.
13. (13) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 319.
14. (29) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 319.
15. (8) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 319.
16. (15) Erik Jones, Toyota, 319.
17. (16) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 319.
18. (12) Chase Briscoe (P), Toyota, 319.
19. (14) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 319.
20. (26) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 319.
21. (25) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 319.
22. (30) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 319.
23. (32) Riley Herbst #, Toyota, 319.
24. (31) Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 319.
25. (27) Cole Custer, Ford, 319.
26. (24) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 319.
27. (18) Noah Gragson, Ford, 319.
28. (6) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 319.
29. (22) Zane Smith, Ford, 319.
30. (33) Cody Ware, Ford, 319.
31. (28) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 319.
32. (35) JJ Yeley(i), Chevrolet, 317.
33. (2) William Byron (P), Chevrolet, 317.
34. (4) Austin Cindric, Ford, 301.
35. (34) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 296.
36. (36) Casey Mears(i), Ford, 284.
37. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, Brakes, 165.
38. (38) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, Accident, 146.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 97.711 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 15 Mins, 53 Secs.
Margin of Victory: .097 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 9 for 65 laps.
Lead Changes: 16 among 6 drivers.
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