A very classy response.
Over the weekend, Kyle Larson became the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series champion, after a late-race caution shuffled the field and left Hamlin stuck back in traffic on the final restart after having the dominant car all day long.
Larson entered Phoenix as the only one of the championship four to have won a championship in the past, while Denny Hamlin, William Byron and Chase Briscoe were all hoping to take home their first trophy.
The story of the race was all of the tire problems. All four drivers racing for the championship suffered flat tires at some point throughout the day, but luckily for Hamlin his happened right as the caution came out and he was able to pit with the rest of the field for fresh rubber.
Hamlin led much of the race, though Byron managed to pass him towards the end of stage one to win the first stage. And the #11 car got shuffled back in the field when he suffered the flat tire at the end of stage two, but it didn’t take long for him to make his way back to the front of the field.
A caution came out with just 40 laps to go in the race, allowing all of the championship drivers to come to pit road for one last set of tires. But Briscoe and Hamlin opted for two tires, putting them at the front of the field for the restart as Hamlin and Larson lined up directly behind them after changing four tires. On the ensuing restart, the four contenders were four wide racing for the lead, and it was ultimately Hamlin who was able to get to the front of the field. And as he did on most restarts, Hamlin quickly jumped out to a 3-second lead as Byron tried to find something to help him catch the #11 car.
But with just 3 laps to go, Byron blew a tire and brought out a caution, setting up a green-white-checkered overtime finish (and no doubt frustrating Hamlin).
The three remaining contenders came down pit road for fresh tires, and Larson chose to take two tires while Hamlin took four. The pit stop shuffled Hamlin back to 10th with just two laps to go and fresher tires than all of the cars in front of him, while Larson restarted in 5th.
On the restart, Hamlin managed to get even with Larson, but the #5 car was able to pull away and finish third to take home the championship trophy – without leading a lap in the race.
As Larson celebrated, Hamlin sat in his car, clearly heartbroken over coming so close to winning his first championship after 21 seasons in NASCAR. And he wanted this one especially bad, after revealing earlier in the week that his father is dying and won’t be around to see him win another one:
“Obviously my dad has been a huge fan of mine… Realistically, I know this is his last chance to get to see it if it does happen. They’re the ones that made the sacrifices, ultimately. I’m the one who said, ‘This is what I want to do,’ and they just had to figure out what all were they willing to sacrifice to make that happen.
This is the chance. If we’re going to do it and he’s going to see it, it’s going to have to happen now.”
I’m not even a Denny Hamlin fan, but I was really pulling for him to finally get his championship… it was incredibly sad to see how this season, which has been so great for Hamlin and his team, end like it did.
Denny’s fiancée Jordan Fish shared a lengthy post on Instagram shared how disappointed she is for Denny and his entire team too. It clearly meant a lot to his entire family, team and friends:
“Words can’t really express how I feel right now. Numb may be. My heart and body physically ache for Denny and his entire team. Watching him put in countless hours, years and two decades worth of hard work and dedication for a sport he loves so incredibly much, just to fall short once again, is absolutely heart wrenching.
This sport can really make you feel on top of the world one second, and in the bottom of the trenches in the other. I’m tired, I’m sad, I feel defeated. I wish the outcome was different. I’m confident Denny did all he could yesterday, and for that I am so proud of him. I’m sad for his dad, who probably won’t get to witness his son accomplish his dream.
However, I am faithful that God has a plan, even though it may be hard to see. The story isn’t over, it’s just still being written. Thank you for your messages, thank you for your kindness, and thank you for always supporting our family.”
Losing always sucks, but this one feels a little bit different…
And Larson stopped by the Dale Jr. Download this week to talk about winning his second championship, but of course, everyone is wanting to know his thoughts on the whole Denny situation, and he gave an extremely classy response.
Larson shared that he was “super happy” to see Denny down there after the race, and they spoke about the season, though he admitted that he really didn’t know what to say, calling it a “weird” feeling, which is completely understandable. Larson went onto call Denny a “true champion” and “big person” for handling himself the way he did in the midst of soul-crushing defeat:
“I was super happy to see him there. Because I wasn’t expecting to see him out, right, like, he just went through one of the toughest moments of his life, and for him to come up to where we all were was cool. Got a chance to just hug him, really, I didn’t know what to say.
I don’t think there was anything to say. It was such a weird feeling for me, because I was obviously happy about winning the championship, but also, bummed for him. Weird to say I’m sorry to him, and just kind if talking through it and talking about the season and the formats and all of it. It meant a lot to me, it really did, to have him come out, because I wasn’t expecting him to be out.
I wouldn’t have wanted to be out, but again, it just shows how big of a person he is. No matter the result from Sunday, I’m proud of him. I’m proud of him as a driver and the true champion that he is. It meant a lot, though, to see him.”
Larson had a great season and deserves to celebrate his accomplishments, but for him to acknowledge Hamlin and that disappointment in such a kind way is impressive and really winning with class. Rumors have been swirling for a while now that Hamlin might retire after this season, especially if he had won the championship, but only time we’ll tell if he will want to return in 2026 to try for it one more time.
You can watch Larson’s response here:
The full podcast is available below.
