Daytona 500 date on move in 2027 due to NFL Super Bowl. NASCAR podcast
Before breaking down the latest with the NASCAR playoffs as they head to Martinsville, the guys discuss the 2027 Daytona 500 date announcement.
Phoenix Raceway put on the spectacle of a lifetime for the sell-out crowd on hand, who witnessed arguably the wildest NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race in the sport’s history. Ryan Blaney finally broke through for his first win at the 1-mile track, but Kyle Larson stole the show in surviving an exhilarating overtime finish to become a two-time champion.
Larson lined up fifth for the two-lap dash to the finish, courtesy of a gutsy call by crew chief Cliff Daniels to put two tires on his No. 5 on the final pit stop of the race. Restarting four spots ahead of the next Championship 4 contender, Denny Hamlin, the driver for Hendrick Motorsports, surged to the outside lane and put enough distance between himself and the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to secure third-place and his second championship.
“Honestly, I can’t believe it,” Larson said. “Like, we didn’t lead a lap today (and) somehow won the championship. I’m just speechless … We had an average car at best … We took two tires and I was like, ‘Oh, God, here we go.’ It had a lot more grip than I anticipated.
“We got lucky with the final caution … I felt like I learned a lot on that restart, bombing (turns) one and two really hard. Thought I could do the same thing if we got another one. Just unbelievable … I cannot believe it. This is insane.”
Despite not leading a single lap in the finale, Larson now becomes the 18th driver to own multiple championships at NASCAR’s top ranks, courtesy of a playoff format that will be abolished in 2026.
While he may not have been the dominant driver at Phoenix, he earned every bit of his second title, rallying from being one lap down with less than 100 to go for a flat tire. Larson still put together an incredibly successful 2025 campaign with three wins and the second-most laps led, also tied for the most top fives (15) and top 10s (22).
Hamlin appeared well on his way to a date with destiny in the desert, following an unbelievable four-wide pass for the lead with 27 to go between all four drivers vying for the Bill France Cup. Starting from the pole, he led a race-high 208-of-319 laps, won Stage 1, and persevered through a lingering clutch issue, a flat tire and a slow pit stop late.
Unfortunately, he was unable to rebound from a caution that flew with two laps remaining that set up overtime.
At 44 years old, Hamlin put together one of his most successful seasons in 20 years of full-time competition by racking up a series-best six wins – the latest being No. 60, which tied him for 10th on the all-time list. Following one of the best performances of his career, in a race that appeared all but won, the driver for JGR was left with yet another notorious heartbreak that left him and the entire organization visibly dejected after the race.
“I really don’t have much emotion right now,” Hamlin said. “Just numb about it … Just in shock. That’s about it.
“Did the best I could. Everything I really prepared for happened today. I felt like we responded. Even losing track position at one point, just battling back. Did really well on restarts. Hadn’t been good on restarts for the bulk of the year.
“The team brought a great championship car. I felt like I drove it just right up until two laps to go.”
Fellow title contender William Byron, who led the second-most laps of the race with 52 and won the first stage, was the catalyst for the untimely caution for Hamlin. The driver of the No. 24 was the final casualty of tire issues that plagued the competition for the entirety of the event. In an effort to make a statement in the sport’s finale, teams tested the boundaries by running aggressively low air pressures, which aided in nine yellow flags throughout the afternoon.
“I don’t know all the details,” Byron said of his tire failure. “I’m just super bummed that it was a caution, obviously. I hate that. Hate it for (Hamlin). I hate it for the 11 team.
“I’m happy for (Larson), for Mr. Hendrick, they deserve it … I don’t know, three laps to go, I’m thinking, ‘Let me get to the end.’ I felt something funny off of (turn) two, thought it might be a flat … It just went straight into (turn) three … Just felt like a passenger at that point.
Proud of the team. We had a good day going, had a shot to win it there. Just didn’t quite have enough. Just regroup, go to next year, I guess.”
The final title contender, Chase Briscoe, put forth an admirable effort in his Championship 4 debut, overcoming a pair of tire issues to position himself inside the top-five with two to go in the scheduled distance. However, the caution that bit his teammate Hamlin also affected him, resulting in an 18th-place finish.
“We never gave up,” Briscoe said. “That’s been the story of my whole career – never giving up. You never know what can change at any point. Felt like we were good enough. We came from the front to the back two or three different times … Wish we could have been on an even playing field at some point.
“Obviously, thankful for the opportunity. So excited to be at Joe Gibbs Racing, (to) be able to compete for wins and compete for championships. Hate that one of us didn’t get it. I thought we were both certainly capable. This wasn’t our day.”
After finishing runner-up four times over his last six starts entering Phoenix, Blaney finally broke through for his first win at the one-mile track, optimizing two fresh tires on the restart to beat Brad Keselowski by 0.097 seconds at the finish line for the second consecutive photo finish in Avondale.
While this may have been Phoenix Raceway’s final race as the series finale for the time being, it went out with an emphatic bang, giving fans one of the most memorable and exciting races in NASCAR history.
(This story has been updated to add new information.)
