Kyle Larson outlasts Denny Hamlin to win second career NASCAR Cup Series championship

By Jacob Lev, CNN

(CNN) — The final race of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season came down to the wire with Kyle Larson beating out Denny Hamlin to secure his second career Cup Series championship at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona on Sunday.

Larson was one of the four drivers including Hamlin, Chase Briscoe and William Byron in contention for the title, but Larson managed to finish in third position, ahead of the other three contenders to claim the championship.

The race came with some drama as a late caution sent the finale into overtime.

The 44-year-old Hamlin, who was looking to finally achieve glory after making his NASCAR debut in 2004, found himself three laps away from the win when Byron got a flat tire and hit the wall alongside the track to bring out the caution.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver, Hamlin, then went to pit for four new tires while Hendrick Motorsports’ Larson only got two which placed him in fifth position ahead of Hamlin, who was in 10th.

With not enough time in the race, Hamlin finished in sixth as Ryan Blaney, who was eliminated from title contention last week, took the checkered flag.

It is the second championship for the 33-year-old in 11 seasons. Larson won his first title in 2021 when he joined Hendrick Motorsports.

“Honestly, I can’t believe it. We didn’t lead a lap today and somehow won the championship,” Larson told the NBC broadcast after the race. “Really, I’m just speechless. I can’t believe it. We had an average car at best.”

An emotionless Hamlin sat in his car, wiping his face with a towel as Larson celebrated with his team. After some time, Hamlin emerged from his car and was greeted by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, relishing the fact his sixth attempt at a title wasted away despite leading 208 of the 319 laps after starting on the pole.

“Nothing I could do different. I mean, prepared as good as I could coming into the weekend and my team gave me a fantastic car,” Hamlin said. “Just didn’t work out. I was just praying ‘no caution’ and we had one there. What can you do? It’s just not meant to be.”

Hamlin said his crew chief made the right call with the tires and reiterated that the team did a “fantastic job” while sounding defeated on his future chances.

“I’ll try. I 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,” Hamlin added.

Larson, the only Asian American to race full-time in NASCAR, has not won a race since May, totaling 24 consecutive races but thanked his crew chief Cliff Daniels for keeping the team together.

“Unbelievable! What a year by Hendrick Motorsports team. Cliff Daniels, everybody,” Larson said. “His leadership – his complete leadership just showed that whole race. Keep us all motivated. Always having a plan and all that. So, thats the story of our season.”

Briscoe finished in 18th with Byron coming in 33rd after the late issue.

This article has been updated with additional information.

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