NASCAR season all comes down to 2025 championship race at Phoenix
The guys review William Byron’s Martinsville domination and preview the NASCAR Cup Series championship race at Phoenix. Which driver will win?
- Kyle Larson won his second NASCAR Cup Series championship despite not leading a lap in the final race.
- A late-race caution flag spoiled Denny Hamlin’s commanding lead, costing him his first career title.
Even Kyle Larson couldn’t believe it.
In the final laps of the 2025 NASCAR title race Sunday, Nov. 2, Denny Hamlin was authoring a Hollywood movie script.
The 44-year-old trying to win his first championship in his 20th Cup Series season, a man hoping to score one for his dying father while also in the midst of suing NASCAR as a team owner, sat three seconds in front of the field with three laps to go at Phoenix Raceway.
But then the one thing Hamlin didn’t want to happen did.
William Byron blew a tire. The ninth caution flag of the day flew.
After an overtime restart, Ryan Blaney took the checkers and Larson sped to third, best among the championship four drivers, clinching his second crown. Hamlin placed sixth, Chase Briscoe 18th and Byron 33rd.
“Honestly, I really can’t believe it,” Larson said on the NBC broadcast. “We didn’t lead a lap today and somehow won the championship. Really, I’m just speechless.”
Let’s break it down.
1. Kyle Larson claims 2nd NASCAR championship
Not only did Larson not lead a lap at Phoenix, his last victory occurred nearly six months ago, May 11 at Kansas.
But Larson hung around, doing what he needed to do to advance to the final four. Even Sunday, he rebounded from a tire issue earlier in the race.
Overall, the 33-year-old driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet won three times in 2025. He rattled off 15 top-five finishes and 22 top-10s.
“What a year by this Hendrick Motorsports team,” Larson said. “This is insane.”
Adding this trophy to the one he secured in 2021, Larson became just the 18th multi-time champion in Cup Series history. He is the third racer to lock down multiple titles for Hendrick Motorsports, joining Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.
2. Will Denny Hamlin ever win NASCAR championship?
Hamlin wore a blank stare after the race. This hurt will linger for a while.
“Nothing I can do different,” he said. “Prepared as good as I could coming into the weekend, and my team gave me a fantastic car. Just didn’t work out. I was just praying that no caution (came out), and had one there. What can you do? It’s just not meant to be.”
No one has ever led more laps in a championship race than Hamlin’s 208. Byron was the next closest Sunday with 52.
Hamlin had jumped in front of Briscoe and Byron with 27 laps to go. He remained ahead until the final caution.
During that yellow, he changed four tires on pit road while most teams replaced only two.
“I thought that was definitely the right call,” he said. “Just so many cars took two there, and it obviously put us back.”
Hamlin closed the campaign with a series-leading six trips to Victory Lane. He posted 14 top-fives and 18 top-10s.
But the obvious question looms: Will he ever snatch that elusive title?
“I’ll try,” he said. “I’ve got a couple more shots at it. But man, if you can’t win that one, I don’t know which one you can win.”
3. NASCAR offseason lasts until 2026 Daytona 500 — kind of
It’s 105 days.
From Sunday to Feb. 15 — the date of the 2025 championship race to the date of the 2026 Daytona 500 — it’s a span of 105 days. That’s the NASCAR offseason.
But not all will go completely quiet during that time.
On Nov. 4, the annual NASCAR Awards ceremony will take place in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The federal antitrust case with 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports suing NASCAR is also still ongoing and is sure to make headlines in the coming weeks.
Plus, 14 days before drivers flip the ignition at Daytona International Speedway, they’ll head to the preseason Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium.
