AVONDALE, Ariz. — Eight-year-old Molly Hamlin cried uncontrollably. Her 12-year-old sister Taylor wept.
Shortly after the heartbreaking finish that denied Denny Hamlin a long-sought Cup championship, he comforted his daughters amidst his own shock.
Hugs did not ease this pain. Tears washed away nothing.
Hamlin’s father, though, was not at Phoenix Raceway to comfort his son Sunday. Hamlin’s father, Dennis, is terminally ill. Hamlin saw this race as his last chance to win a championship while his dad is alive.
It was his dad who got Hamlin into racing, taking him to a track when Hamlin was 5 years old. As Hamlin raced and the bills mounted, his father pushed to keep going to the point it almost cost the family their home.
Without that support, Hamlin likely would not have worked his way to Joe Gibbs Racing — the only team he’s raced for in Cup since making his series debut in 2005.
Hamlin had tears when he won at Las Vegas three weeks ago for his 60th career victory, a milestone he had long set. As he celebrated on the track, he made sure to say hi to his father in his interview on USA Network.
Sunday, when asked by Jeff Burton on the NBC broadcast before the race what it would mean to get a championship for his family and that of team owner Joe Gibbs, Hamlin was nearly speechless.
“It’s hard …’’ Hamlin said his voice quivering. “I’m trying. I’m trying my best” as his voice cracked.
Hamlin emotional when discussing Gibbs family
Denny Hamlin shares his emotions after hearing words from Joe Gibbs ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race.
He regained his composure and was “locked in” by the time he strapped into his No. 11 car.
Hamlin had the strongest car Sunday, leading 208 of the 319 laps.
Hamlin was poised to win the title. Friend and fellow championship contender Kyle Larson later said that “I was going to be happy for him to win. That’s kind of what I was thinking about, like, man, I can’t wait to go tell him ‘Good job.’”
“Then the caution came out and the script flipped.”
Analyzing how Hamlin handled Cup Championship race
The NASCAR on NBC crew unpack the Cup Series Championship race and discuss how Denny Hamlin could have handled things differently down the stretch.
Hamlin was three laps away from the championship when fellow title contender William Byron had a flat right that brought out the caution and sent the race to overtime.
When Byron saw Hamlin in the media center after the race, he put his hand on Hamlin’s shoulder.
“Sorry, man,” Byron said.
Hamlin raised his hands and said: “It happens.”
The 2025 season came to a dramatic finish in Avondale, Arizona.
Three cars did not pit during that final caution. Larson and race winner Ryan Blaney were among those who took two tires. Hamlin’s team changed four tires, and he restarted 10th.
Larson, who had been a lap down in the final stage after a flat tire, finished third to win his second Cup title. Hamlin placed sixth and saw another title get away.
“I really don’t have much for emotion right now,” Hamlin later said. “Just numb about it because just in shock.”
Hamlin’s history is littered with playoff woes. Sunday’s late caution brought back memories of the 2014 season finale at Homestead when two cautions in the last 15 laps doomed Hamlin and led to Kevin Harvick winning the championship.
The late caution also reawakened horrors for Hamlin from 2021 at this track. Martin Truex Jr. led entering pit road on a late caution. Hamlin got by him on pit road, but Larson used the No. 1 pit stall to go from fourth to first among the title contenders, take the lead and win that championship.
The statistical rundown from an eventful season finale.
It’s not just been cautions that have thwarted Hamlin in the postseason. He lost the 2019 crown due to an oversized piece of duct tape that overheated his engine at Homestead. In 2015, he failed to advance in the playoffs after a cantankerous roof hatch that the team struggled to repair at Talladega. His 2010 title hopes were hurt by a carburetor issue at Phoenix, back when it was the penultimate race of the season.
While Hamlin has hardened himself to these scars, Larson feels for him, and that makes this championship different for Larson.
“It does feel a little awkward because he has put so much time and energy, has been so close to winning so many championships,” Larson said of Hamlin. “This is as close as he’s ever been. Sure he’s a competitor, but he is a friend.”
One that was hurting.
But when his children approached him with tears, he hugged them.
The message to them?
“Something we can’t control,” he said. “You know, certainly unfortunate circumstances. One of those life lessons years down the road.”
As for his father, what will he tell him?
“Did the best I could.”
