Hamlin dominated the championship-deciding race at Phoenix, leading the most laps of any driver – 208 of 319, all told.

Larson, meanwhile, didn’t lead a lap.

Ironically, it was Larson’s teammate, William Byron, who brought the #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro back into the contest.

Hamlin, in the #11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry, led with three laps to go before second-placed Byron suffered a right front puncture on the #24 Hendrick Camaro and hit the wall to bring out the caution.

That set up an overtime finish. The majority of cars pitted, headed by Hamlin, who took four tyres while Larson only took two. Larson lined up fifth while Hamlin restarted 10th.

Track position proved the difference. Despite having a tyre advantage, Hamlin couldn’t make up enough ground on the low line while Larson ripped around the outside to finish third, just behind race winner Ryan Blaney (#12 Team Penske Ford Mustang) and Brad Keselowski (#6 RFK Racing Ford Mustang).

“We did the best job we could,” said Larson.

“Honestly, I can’t believe it. Like, we didn’t lead a lap today. Somehow won the championship.

“It had a lot more grip than I anticipated,” Larson said of the final restart.

“We got lucky with the final caution. I was really hoping we were going to take two (tyres) again.

“I felt like I learned a lot on that restart, bombing (Turns 1 and 2) really hard. I 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.”

Larson’s win came despite his own issues.

He suffered a puncture on Lap 215 and fought his way back from being a lap down, electing to take two tyres on the second-to-last pit stop of the race to surge back in contention.

“I’m just speechless,” he added.

“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 tyres. I was like, ‘Oh, God, here we go. We’re going to go to the back now’.”

Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson gets it done at Phoenix! https://t.co/6E6sxn6Cfs pic.twitter.com/Wk6Io6vG0R

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) November 2, 2025

Stage 1 of the race was largely dominated by Hamlin. He led the first lap over Byron, Blaney, and Larson and established a one-second lead before hitting lapped traffic.

Two-thirds of the way into the 60-lap stage, the gap to Byron began to shrink. What was a small buffer became just a few car lengths inside 10 laps to go in the stage.

With eight laps to go, Byron got to Hamlin’s outside at the final turn and took the lead exiting the dog leg.

Hamlin struggled to keep pace with Byron, and soon enough had to contend with Blaney, who took second place away with just a few laps before the green-chequered flag.

Byron took Stage 1 and led the field to the pit lane for the first round of pit stops.

Blaney left the pit lane first ahead of Byron, Hamlin, and Larson. Briscoe improved his position from 10th to sixth, just behind Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar.

On the Lap 70 restart, Blaney led the first green flag lap. Hamlin rounded up Byron for second place while Larson settled into fourth.

It was a short green flag run. John Hunter-Nemecheck spun the #42 Legacy Motor Club Camry off the nose of Todd Gilliland’s #34 Front Row Motorsports Mustang.

Hamlin was fast away on the Lap 80 restart and blitzed Blaney on the restart. The #12 Team Penske Mustang fluffed the start, dropping from first to fourth in a lap. Larson rose to second while Byron remained third.

Thirty laps into the stage, Hamlin held a 2.5-second lead over Larson.

Drama struck on Lap 46 when van Gisbergen spun on his own.

“What the hell man,” van Gisbergen radioed to his team, having earlier bemoaned a lack of grip.

“Just have no grip and then it just spun on me. I didn’t hit anything. Just have no grip, really tight, really tight, and then loose.”

Simultaneously, Briscoe suffered a right rear tyre puncture while running fifth. Van Gisbergen’s spin was Briscoe’s saving grace, meaning he avoided going a lap down.

That eliminated Hamlin’s advantage of 3.3 seconds. He led the field to the pits on Lap 111 and came out ahead of Laron and Byron. Briscoe, meanwhile, restarted a lowly 32nd at the tail of the lead lap. He languished at the back with a significant vibration.

Byron fell to fourth on Lap 131 when Blaney got by, and it wasn’t long after that that Blaney got by Larson for second.

The third caution of the day came on Lap 149 when AJ Allmendinger suffered a right front puncture and slammed his #16 Kaulig Racing Camaro into the Turn 4 wall.

Hamlin’s advantage to that point was 2.2 seconds over Blaney. The top four came to the pits on Lap 151 and rolled off the way they rolled in – Hamlin ahead of Blaney, Larson, and Byron.

Briscoe made something of a recovery from his puncture to sit just outside the top 10 in 13th on the Lap 156 restart with 30 laps to go.

For the first time since Stage 1, Hamlin found himself fighting for the lead – this time, with Blaney. Briscoe, meanwhile, cracked the top 10 and was just a few seconds away from the top five as the end of Stage 2 approached.

With three laps to go in Stage 2, Ty Dillon in the #10 Kaulig Racing Camaro spun on his own with a left rear puncture and slapped the wall, bringing an early end to the stage.

Under the yellow, Hamlin reported the left rear tyre going down. He led the field to the pits on Lap 188 and suffered a slow stop, needing a second jack to lift the car up.

Blaney was first off the pit lane ahead of Byron, Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott, and Briscoe. Hamlin, meanwhile, was down in 11th. Larson also suffered a slow stop, coming out 18th after the left front lug nut came loose.

That marked a major momentum shift. Byron was the highest-placed Playoffs driver in second, Briscoe was fifth, Hamlin 11th, and Larson 18th.

Blaney suffered another slow restart, conceding the lead to Byron.

It wasn’t long before all four championship contenders were inside the top 10. On Lap 200, Byron was first, Briscoe third, Hamlin seventh, and Larson 10th.

Flat Tires for HALF of the Championship 4 🫢

After a climb from 32nd to 2nd in under 100 laps, can Chase Briscoe make another comeback? pic.twitter.com/7Hq2uxGd45

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) November 2, 2025

Incredibly, on Lap 215, Larson’s right front tyre went down while running in eighth, forcing him to the pit lane. Moments later, Briscoe suffered the same fate from second on the road, losing the right rear again.

The third puncture in as many laps brought the caution out when Carson Hocevar in the #77 Spire Motorsports Camaro lost the right front and grazed the wall on Lap 220.

Elliott led the cars off pit lane, ahead of Byron, Blaney, and Hamlin. Briscoe, as the first car a lap down, got the Lucky Dog to get his lap back. Larson, meanwhile, stayed one lap down.

Racing resumed on Lap 227 with Elliott at the point. The top four remained unchanged for the bulk of the green flag run, until Lap 244 when Hamlin rounded up Blaney for third.

On Lap 245, Alex Bowman in the #48 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro was the next driver to suffer a right front tyre failure. On Lap 248, Noah Gragson suffered a right front failure in the #4 Front Row Motorsports Mustang.

Byron cleared Elliott for the lead on Lap 253 with a pass out of the dog leg. Hamlin cleared Elliott for second on Lap 257.

On Lap 259, Austin Cindric in the #2 Team Penske Mustang slammed the wall to bring out another caution. That was the moment Larson got his lap back.

Byron led the field to the pits on Lap 262 with Hamlin on his rear bumper. The #24 retained the lead, Elliott in the #9 got to second, and Hamlin dropped one place in the #11 to third.

Elliott was sent to the rear for speeding in pit lane, and sent to the back of the lead lap as a result. That gifted Hamlin second place and the outside lane for the restart with 46 laps to go.

Hamlin led the first green flag lap and with 44 laps to go finally cleared Byron for the lead. With clear air, Hamlin put half a second on Byron and set the fastest lap of the race.

With 35 laps to go, the #44 NY Racing Team Camaro of JJ Yeley blew the right front tyre and narrowly missed the wall.

Pit stops followed, prompting a gamble. Briscoe was 14th and Larson 22nd entering the pits. After the stops, they were first and second respectively having taken just two tyres. Hamlin was third and Byron fourth, each taking four tyres.

What followed was an incredible sequence. Larson, Briscoe, and Hamlin went three-wide out of Turn 2, which cost them time and allowed Byron to make it four-wide crossing the line with 28 laps to go.

Byron briefly took the lead before Hamlin went to the low line and took first place away. From there, he was untouchable, establishing a 2.5-second lead over Byron.

Then drama struck.

Flat tires for ALL four of the Championship 4 today 🫣

📺 NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/IhjQmVkBDJ

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) November 2, 2025

With four laps to go, Byron’s hopes were dashed. The right front went down and he slammed the outside wall entering the final turn.

Hamlin led the field to the pits for the decisive tyre change. He and Briscoe took four tyres, but Larson only opted to take two.

Brad Keselowski took the lead ahead of RFK Racing teammate Ryan Preece, electing not to pit. Bowman was the only other driver not to pit. Blaney was the first of those on two tyres in fourth, ahead of Larson in fifth. Hamlin, who took four tyres, lined up 10th.

Two tyres proved enough for Larson, who ran around the outside at Turn 2 and 3 and surged to third while Hamlin only got to sixth, and Larson qas duly crowned champion.

“Yeah, nothing I can do different,” said Hamlin.

“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 that no caution. Had one there. What can you do? Just not meant to be.

“I thought still okay. We took four tyres. 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.”

It’s the second time Hamlin has been the runner-up. So can he do it again?

“I’ll try,” he said.

“I got a couple more shots at it. Man, if you can’t win that one, I don’t know which one you can win.”

Results: NASCAR Cup Series Championship, Phoenix Raceway

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