[Editor’s note: This article is from Athlon Sports’ 2025 “Year in Review” magazine, which celebrates the year’s champions and relives the biggest moments from across the world of sports. Order your copy online today, or pick one up at retail racks and newsstands nationwide.]
The ultimate compliment in racing is to be called a “racer.” It signifies a rare blend of natural talent, resilience and relentless determination. Kyle Larson earned that title long before claiming his second NASCAR Cup Series championship in 2025.
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The 33-year-old driver from Elk Grove, Calif., is one of those stars who has never forgotten his roots. It’s why grassroots racers across America see him as one of their own — a Cup champion who still shows up on dirt tracks in Late Models and High-Limit Sprint Cars between NASCAR weekends.
That dual life — short-track grinder and big-league star — is part of what makes Larson unique. He races for trophies, yes, but more than that, he races because it’s who he is. And that identity was tested like never before during his 2025 campaign.
Yes, because of his raw talent, Larson is a perennial favorite to contend for the championship at NASCAR’s top level. But even he admits that this title felt far different from his dominant 2021 run.
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Driving for Hendrick Motorsports, he secured the crown in dramatic and unexpected fashion at Phoenix Raceway, capping a wild and unpredictable season.
For much of the finale, Larson’s championship hopes looked dim, with Denny Hamlin in control and seemingly on his way to his elusive first title. Hamlin led 208 laps and was out front with four to go before a late caution changed everything. His team pitted for four fresh tires, while Larson took only two — a gamble that gave Larson just enough track position to stay in the fight.
Larson finished third behind winner Ryan Blaney and second-place Brad Keselowski, while Hamlin fell to seventh. As the highest finisher among the four drivers competing in the Championship, Larson clinched the crown.
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He later reflected on the improbable win. “We didn’t lead a lap,” he said. “Somehow, we won the championship. We had an average car at best.”
Crew chief Cliff Daniels always had a plan, even in seemingly dire circumstances. He was the steady hand behind a turbulent championship run. “That’s just the story of our season,” Larson said.
Indeed, a racer never gives up, and Larson lived up to that reputation in 2025.
His first championship in 2021 was total domination: 10 wins in 36 races, including the finale, and a remarkable 2,581 laps led in his debut season with Hendrick Motorsports.
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Kyle Larson wins at Bristol Motor Speedway.Randy Sartin-Imagn Images
In 2025, the numbers told a different story. Larson won just three races and led 1,106 laps. His last victory came in mid-May at Kansas Speedway. Two weeks later, he attempted the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day — and crashed in both.
His 37th-place finish at Charlotte marked the start of a long summer slump that didn’t turn until he finished second to Bubba Wallace in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis. Even that spark faded with subsequent finishes of 28th at Iowa and 39th at Watkins Glen.
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“You think about the double, the month of May, the 600, it’s the first time I saw his confidence get brought down a notch,” said NASCAR legend and Hendrick Motorsports Vice Chairman Jeff Gordon. “I think it was a humbling experience.
“Through all that I never saw him stop being aggressive. To me, when Kyle Larson has a shot at a checkered flag or a championship, he’s going to give 110 percent.”
As the playoffs unfolded — likely for the final time under NASCAR’s current format — Larson stole a page from a different sport: He survived and advanced. He found speed in the middle rounds, finished second at both the Charlotte Roval and Las Vegas, and reached the Championship 4 as the highest-finishing non-winner.
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Few gave Larson much of a chance against Hamlin, Chase Briscoe and teammate William Byron. But he’s made a career out of proving that heart outlasts hype.
Larson overcame adversity in the finale, going a lap down with a tire issue midway through the race. But he clawed back, regained the lead lap and his crew nailed the call that set up overtime.
Larson didn’t win the final race, but it didn’t matter. He won something bigger: the championship itself.
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“I still wanted to win [the race] really badly,” Larson admitted. “It’s been a while. I was trying what I could to win. But we did what we had to do to win the championship. Just insane circumstances to get us to this point.”
Larson’s second Cup Series championship made him the 18th driver to win multiple titles — and the third Hendrick Motorsports driver to do so, joining NASCAR Hall of Famers Jimmie Johnson (seven) and Gordon (four).
“The first championship, we dominated,” Larson recalled. “Everything kind of came easy back then. This one was way more challenging. Hopefully I’m fortunate enough to win more, but this one was such a team win — I’ll never forget it.”
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The season carried milestones beyond the trophy. Larson became the first driver to compete in the Indianapolis 500 and win the NASCAR Cup Series championship in the same year — a crossover feat that underscored both his versatility and ambition. (He has since said he doesn’t plan to return to Indianapolis in 2026.)
The path may have been different in 2025, but the theme remained the same — Larson and Hendrick Motorsports once again proved that grit and determination still win championships. That’s what racers do.
“Cliff kept saying, ‘We ain’t dead yet,’” Larson said of his crew chief. “It was hard to believe him, but we weren’t dead.”
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Related: 2025 Year in Review: IndyCar Series
NASCAR Season in Review
The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series was a season of superlatives — filled with surprise moments, tense finishes and the sport’s greats rising to meet the moment.
Over 36 races, the storylines came fast and loud. But a few stood out — the kind that defined the year and reminded us why the sport never runs short on drama.
William Byron’s Daytona Double
Already the 2024 Daytona 500 champion, William Byron joined an elite group in 2025 by winning “The Great American Race” for the second straight year.
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The Hendrick Motorsports star became just the fifth driver to go back-to-back, joining legends Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Sterling Marlin and Denny Hamlin.
Byron’s win wasn’t just historic — it was improbable. On the final lap, he was ninth coming out of Turn 2. Then chaos struck.
As Hamlin, Cole Custer and Briscoe tangled for the lead, “The Big One” unfolded on the backstretch. NASCAR didn’t throw a caution, and Byron threaded through the wreckage, surging to the front and holding off Tyler Reddick to take the checkered flag.
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“Some good fortune, but I just trusted my instincts,” Byron said. “They were getting squirrelly, and I went high. Crazy — it worked. I still can’t
believe it.”
From “The Big One” to “The Big Won,” Byron made history again.
NASCAR Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace (23) kisses the bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.© Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Bubba’s Brickyard Moment
Bubba Wallace’s triumph in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was the defining win of his career — and it came the hard way.
Before he could celebrate by kissing the bricks at the world’s most storied track, Wallace endured an 18-minute rain delay, two rounds of overtime and a fuel strategy that would lead to him finishing the race on fumes.
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The 23XI driver held off defending Brickyard winner Kyle Larson in a tense final lap to claim his third career Cup victory — and his most meaningful yet.
“To win here at the Brickyard, knowing how big this race is, knowing all the noise that’s going on in the background, to set that all aside is a testament to these people here on the 23 team,” Wallace said. “To beat the best, we had to be the best.”
With the win, Wallace joined the legends who have conquered Indianapolis — and earned his place among them.
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Christopher Bell’s Three-Peat
Winning one NASCAR Cup Series race requires a perfect blend of performance, strategy, and precision. Winning three in a row? That’s rare air.
In early 2025, Christopher Bell did exactly that — sweeping Atlanta (Feb. 23), the Circuit of the Americas (Mar. 2), and Phoenix (Mar. 9) in a stunning three-week run.
“It was special, for sure,” Bell said. “Even Denny Hamlin told me he’s never done it. That’s cool. But really, it’s a credit to the team — pit crew, crew chief, mechanics. I just had to maximize the car and avoid mistakes.”
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Bell’s run was a reminder that in NASCAR, perfection — even briefly — is possible.
Chase Briscoe’s Emergence
Chase Briscoe is carrying on Indiana’s proud racing legacy, following in the tire tracks of his former team owner and three-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart.
Briscoe, from Mitchell, Indiana — the hometown of NASA astronaut Gus Grissom — made his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing one to remember.
Driving the No. 19 Toyota, Briscoe turned in the best year of his Cup career, collecting three wins before the Championship Race at Phoenix — more than his previous four seasons combined. His victory at Talladega in October clinched a Championship 4 berth, joining teammate Denny Hamlin, who’d won a week earlier in Las Vegas.
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“In the Cup Series, this is the most consistent I’ve ever been running up front,” Briscoe said. “At Stewart-Haas Racing there were flashes, but never this steady. This year really established me as a contender.”
Stewart, from Columbus, Ind., won Cup titles in 2002, 2005 and 2011, and another as a team owner in 2014 with Kevin Harvick. After Stewart’s team shut down following 2024, Briscoe was the natural choice to replace the retiring Martin Truex Jr. at Gibbs — and he made the most of it.
Winningest International Racer
Shane van Gisbergen arrived in NASCAR as a superstar from Australian Supercars — and quickly showed he belonged. In his debut race on the streets of Chicago in 2023, he became the first driver since 1963 to win his Cup debut.
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Two years later, in his first full season, the New Zealander dominated every street and road course on the schedule except COTA. He scored victories in Mexico City, Chicago, Sonoma, Watkins Glen and the Charlotte Roval — six Cup wins in all.
Add four NASCAR Xfinity Series victories, and van Gisbergen’s 10 total wins make him the most successful foreign-born driver in NASCAR history, surpassing Mexico’s Daniel Suárez.
Other international standouts — Marcos Ambrose, Ron Fellows, Juan Pablo Montoya and Mario Andretti — paved the way. Van Gisbergen just took it to another level.
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Rookie of the Year
No surprise here — Shane van Gisbergen also claimed Rookie of the Year honors.
Though he is still seeking his first oval win, his steady progress and adaptability have impressed even the veterans.
“This is what I’ve grown up doing,” he said. “On a road course, I’m comfortable right away. These guys are the same on ovals. It’s all about experience — I look at them on ovals the way they look at me on road courses.”
In a season dominated by stars, van Gisbergen shone brightest as the sport’s newest global ambassador.
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Related: Athlon Sports Commemorates the Champions of 2025 With ‘Year in Review’ Magazine
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This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Jan 2, 2026, where it first appeared in the Racing section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
