is a two-time NASCAR Cup Sequence champion, is left to face the hardest lack of his whole profession, and tire points wreak havoc on championship Sunday. Phoenix actually delivered a present, and but, there was merely disappointment and disbelief from many followers after the checkered flag.
The 2025 season is formally over, inspection is evident, and now we’re left to select aside 319 wild laps of racing in what is probably going the ultimate 12 months of this present playoff format.
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And since it’s the finish of the NASCAR season, we have determined so as to add a ‘bonus’ winner and loser that appears past simply the Cup race from the weekend. For one ultimate time, the most important winners and losers from NASCAR at Phoenix:
WINNER: Kyle Larson snatches title away in time beyond regulation stunner
Watch: Kyle Larson left speechless after incomes title No. 2
Larson hasn’t received a race since Could, did not lead any laps on Sunday, and wasn’t even the quickest of the Hendrick drivers. However when the chance offered itself, he was able to capitalize. He even moved ahead on the ultimate restart and had a shot on the win earlier than ending third and changing into a two-time NASCAR Cup Sequence champion. It was maybe probably the most sudden triumph of Larson’s whole NASCAR profession, and it follows months of whispers that Larson wasn’t fairly the identical for the reason that Indy 500/Coke 600 double.
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LOSER: Heartbreak for Denny Hamlin as one other championship slips away
Watch: Denny Hamlin shares how this loss stings in a different way to prior years
What a brutal finish for Denny Hamlin. He led over 200 laps from pole place and dominated Sunday’s title race. After 20 years of making an attempt, it seemed as if he would possibly lastly do it. However in the long run, the choice to decide on tires over monitor place was a horrible mistake, as Hamlin solely moved from tenth to sixth on the ultimate restart and by no means reached Larson. Hamlin has been shut earlier than, however by no means fairly this shut. The scene was extremely emotional across the No. 11 post-race, and nobody may imagine it. A number of folks had been crying, and everybody felt for NASCAR’s most polarizing determine in that second.
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WINNER: refuses to have a look at Phoenix triumph as ‘bittersweet’Ryan Blaney, Crew Penske Ford, Brad Keselowski, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford, Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Joey Logano, Crew Penske Ford
Ryan Blaney, Crew Penske Ford, Brad Keselowski, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford, Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Joey Logano, Crew Penske Ford
Two years in the past, Blaney received the NASCAR Cup title, however he was additionally the primary champion within the historical past of this format to not additionally win the race. The story of that race was how he could not cross for the lead, changing into irate contained in the race automotive. However this time, he bought to play spoiler, profitable the race with a last-lap cross. And when you assume he can be upset over the truth that he simply missed out on being a part of the Championship 4 after that win, you’ll be mistaken. Blaney does not assume like that, and was solely completely satisfied to have captured his fourth checkered flag of the 12 months.
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LOSER: laments that he was the race-altering warning
Watch: Byron reacts to late-race warning: ‘Felt like a passenger’
Byron apologized to Hamlin after the race, and appeared fairly bothered by the truth that he was the race-altering warning that pushed the finale into time beyond regulation. Overlook the truth that the blown tire derailed his whole race and dropped him from second to fourth within the championship, Byron was simply pissed off that he was the warning and altered the end result of the title race. And whereas the title nonetheless went dwelling to Hendrick, it is must be an odd feeling for Byron when he was clearly quicker than Larson for many of the race.
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WINNER: Cliff Daniels makes the correct name in high-pressure momentCrew chief Cliff Daniels, Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Crew chief Cliff Daniels, Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Larson was at finest the third quickest of the Championship 4 drivers on Sunday, however his crew chief was the perfect when it mattered most. Whereas the JGR drivers each sacrificed monitor place for 4 tires, the No. 5 took recent right-sides in time beyond regulation. Much more impressively, they did that in back-to-back pit stops, ending the race with older left-side tires than anybody else round them.
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LOSER: RFK practically snaps winless streak, solely to lose it within the ultimate nook
Watch: Excessive 5! Kyle Larson clinches Cup Sequence title; Blaney wins finale thriller
They nearly did it. This 12 months, all three RFK drivers missed the playoffs, and all three have been inside arm’s attain of Victory Lane. And at Phoenix, got here out of nowhere to almost win at Phoenix. He stayed out on previous tires, and did a formidable job sustaining a bonus. He even bought a push from Larson on the ultimate lap to clear Blaney, however he overdrove the ultimate nook, and Blaney with recent proper sides minimize beneath them as they had been seconds away from crossing the end line. And so, RFK ends the 12 months with three winless drivers.
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WINNER: ends troublesome 12 months along with his solely oval high fiveKyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Whereas everyone seems to be being attentive to the championship and the race winner, let’s give a spherical of applause to Kyle Busch. 2025 was a 12 months to neglect for the two-time sequence champion, ending it twenty first within the standings (the worst exhibiting of his profession). And but, he nonetheless managed to finish it on a excessive notice. Busch held on with a two-tire name to safe his one and solely high 5 on an oval this complete season. He scored two different high fives, however they had been on the COTA highway course and the Chicago Road Course. He now seems to be to 2026 with a brand new crew chief and hopefully, a recent begin.
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LOSER: A playoff format that creates drama, however frustrates a disillusioned fanbaseDenny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
This weekend’s championship finale had an odd vibe round it, and there have been emotions of anger, frustration, and disbelief from these watching. There is not any query that the present format delivers on the spectacle, however what concerning the substance? Larson may have been champion with a full-season format if you take a look at complete factors scored over the course of the 12 months, and but, all of it feels odd. He was nowhere on Sunday, after which grew to become the one champion to ever win on this format with out main a lap within the finale. He’s additionally the primary champion since within the ultimate 12 months of the Winston Cup (2003) to have their final win come so early within the 12 months. Individuals had been holding their breath on Friday and Saturday hoping the ‘proper’ driver would win, and the championship now feels extra about who was robbed than who prevailed. It is time for a change, and a clear slate in the case of awarding NASCAR’s largest prize.
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BONUS WINNER: Heroics from Heim in Friday evening showdown
Watch: Seven-wide! Heim goes from tenth to second on time beyond regulation restart
On that very same notice, nobody may deny Corey Heim is the king of Vehicles in 2025. His stats weren’t simply much better than his rivals — they had been unprecedented. He was breaking data left and proper, and but, he restarted tenth in time beyond regulation as a result of a late-race warning. Whereas everybody ready for the inevitable, Heim dug deep, made a shocking seven-wide cross on the restart, and took the crown by drive in the preferred end of all the weekend. The one destructive is that he does not have a full-time experience lined up for subsequent 12 months, regardless of being one of the vital promising skills in NASCAR.
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BONUS LOSER: Zilisch in tears as his historic season ends in defeatConnor Zilisch, JR Motorsports Chevrolet
Connor Zilisch, JR Motorsports Chevrolet
This was brutal. Zilisch wasn’t fairly on the degree of Heim, however the 19-year-old rookie nonetheless dominated the NASCAR Xfinity Sequence with ten wins. Nobody else had greater than three! However he merely did not have the automotive, struggling to carry onto the lead earlier than he was handed by his finest good friend Jesse Love with 24 laps to go. Including to that, then handed Zilisch as properly, denying JRM the proprietor’s championship. Zilisch simply sat beside his automotive on pit highway, in tears as he confronted the bitter actuality, and there was this somber cloud over the championship celebrations.
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