Kyle Larson captured his second Cup Series championship, finishing third on an overtime restart at Phoenix Raceway as Denny Hamlin endured yet another title heartbreaker in NASCAR’s premier series.
Hamlin, who was trying to punctuate his 20th Cup season with the first championship of his career, finished sixth after leading a race-high 208 of 312 laps. He was three laps from winning the title when a yellow flag flew for title contender William Byron, who hit the wall with a flat tire while running second.
“Man, if you can’t win that one,” Hamlin told NBC Sports’ Dave Burns after coming up short in his fifth Championship 4 appearance, “I don’t know which one you can win.”
Watch Cup Series Championship’s dramatic finish
Watch the finish of the NASCAR Cup Series Championship race in Phoenix, where things were decided in dramatic fashion.
Among the rest of the Championship 4 contenders, Chase Briscoe was 18th, and Byron finished 33rd.
Larson, who also won the title in 2021, was crowned for the second time despite being the only title contender who failed to lead a lap Sunday on the 1-mile oval.
In the 11-year history of the elimination playoffs format (which NASCAR likely will be changing for next season), Larson became the first champion to win the title without leading in the season finale. He also became the first champion to win the title without winning during the 10-race elimination playoffs. He ended the season on a 24-race winless streak; his most recent of three victories was May 11 at Kansas Speedway
The Hendrick Motorsports driver is the 18th driver with multiple Cup titles and the third with multiple championships in the elimination playoffs era that began in 2014 (joining Joey Logano and Kyle Busch).
Larson started third but was running behind Hamlin and Byron for much of the championship race. On Lap 216, Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet suffered a flat right-rear tire and briefly fell two laps down in 33rd before taking a wavearound to get back on the lead lap. He still was in 29th for the restart on Lap 227 but worked his way into the top 20 when crew chief Cliff Daniels made a critical call for two tires, catapulting Larson to second behind Briscoe.
“Honestly, I can’t believe it,” he told NBC Sports’ Marty Snider. “Like, we didn’t lead a lap today. Somehow won the championship.
“I’m just speechless. I can’t believe it. We had an average car at best. We had the right-front go down, lost a lap. 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’s the 15th Cup championship in the past 31 seasons for Hendrick.
Ryan Blaney won the season finale by 0.097 seconds over Brad Keselowski, but the championship was the storyline as Hamlin came up short yet again on another brutal twist of fate.
“Yeah, nothing I can do different, Hamlin told NBC Sports’ Dave Burns. “Prepared as good as I could coming into the weekend. My team gave me a fantastic car. Just didn’t work out. I was just praying for no caution. Had one there. What can you do? Just not meant to be.
“We took four tires. I thought that definitely was the right call. Just so many cars took two there. Obviously put us back. Team did a fantastic job. They prepared a championship car. Just didn’t happen. I’ll try (to win a title again). I got a couple more shots at it.”
Trying to shed the label of the best Cup driver in history without a title, Hamlin had rebounded after falling to 11th on a slow pit stop with 140 laps remaining. After seizing the lead from Byron on a restart with 47 laps remaining, Hamlin then fell to third on a yellow-flag pit stop behind Briscoe and Larson (who both took two tires) on Lap 281.
With the four championship-eligible drivers running first through fourth on a restart with 29 laps remaining, Hamlin went from third to first, and outraced Byron for the lead.
The title seemed to be within his grasp when the yellow flag flew for a final time when Byron hit the wall with a flat tire while running second and more than 2 seconds behind Hamlin.
Pitting from the lead under yellow, Hamlin re-emerged in 10th. Larson, among six drivers who took two tires, restarted in fifth.
In the ensuing two-lap shootout, Hamlin briefly pulled even with Larson, who then sailed his No. 5 Chevrolet to the outside and stayed ahead for the final two miles.
“It had a lot more grip than I anticipated,” Larson said. “We got lucky with the final caution. I was really hoping we were going to take two (tires) 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.
“Just unbelievable. What a year by this Hendrick Motorsports, (crew chief) Cliff Daniels, everybody, his leadership, his complete leadership. Just showed that whole race. Keeping us all motivated. Always having a plan. All of that. That’s just the story of our season. Again, just unbelievable. I cannot believe it. This is insane.”
Briscoe, who started last among the Championship 4 contenders in 12th, was dealt a major setback on Lap 107 when his right-rear tire blew just as the yellow flag flew for a spin by Shane van Gisbergen.
Though he was able to avoid losing a lap by pitting during the caution, Briscoe restarted in 32nd and radioed his team about a persistent vibration in his No. 19 Toyota. He rebounded by gaining several spots on his next pit stop under caution on Lap 151, and he climbed from 13th to seventh over the final 30 laps of the second stage.
WILL BE UPDATED
Stage 1 winner: Byron
Stage 2 winner: Hamlin
Next: The 68th running of the Daytona 500 will open the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season on Feb. 15, 2026.
