Kyle Larson captured his second NASCAR Cup Series championship on November 2 at Phoenix Raceway, securing the 2025 title with a third-place finish as championship contenders William Byron and Denny Hamlin faced late-race setbacks.
Tire management was a major story throughout the race, with more than 11 drivers suffering flat tires, including all four championship contenders at one point or another.
Hamlin and Byron set the pace early, leading the first 65 laps and establishing themselves as the class of the field. Hamlin led a race-high 208 of 312 laps, including a 109-lap stretch in the middle of the race, despite radioing early about clutch issues that affected both pit-stop performance and engine cooling. He regained the lead easily on each restart, as Byron kept pace in second place most of the day.
Midway through Stage 2, tire problems reshaped the race. Shane van Gisbergen spun on Lap 106, bringing out the caution. As van Gisbergen had his issue, championship contender Chase Briscoe suffered a right-front tire failure, narrowly avoiding the wall. Briscoe recovered to climb as high as second place, trailing Byron. On Lap 215, Larson blew a tire, and Briscoe would experience the same fate a lap later. Both drivers managed to reach pit road without causing a caution, and were aided by Carson Hocevar spinning out shortly afterward, preventing the duo from going a lap down.
Other non-playoff drivers, including John H. Nemechek, Todd Gilliland, Ty Dillon, A.J. Allmendinger, Austin Cindric, and J.J. Yeley also suffered tire-related incidents, creating multiple cautions that influenced the strategy outcome of the race.
After Yeley’s crash, the race resumed on Lap 284, with Hamlin quickly moving past Byron. By the closing laps, Hamlin led the field and looked positioned to capture his first Cup Series championship after 20 years of trying.
That all changed with three laps remaining, when Byron suffered a right-front tire failure and crashed, bringing out the caution and sending the race into overtime. On the ensuing pit stops, Hamlin’s team took four tires, while Larson’s crew opted for a two-tire stop, giving him the track position advantage.
Three drivers stayed out, but Larson started fifth on the restart and was able to capture a third-place finish. Hamlin, starting 10th on the restart, could not recover and finished sixth. Briscoe and Byron finished 18th and 33rd, respectively.
“Golly, this was a tough day,” Hamlin told reporters after the race. “In this moment, I never want to race a car ever again.”
The 44-year-old driver, who has competed in five Championship 4 races without a title, showed visible emotion following the event.
For Larson, the third-place finish was enough to clinch his second Cup Series championship, with his first coming in 2021. Briscoe’s third-place finish in the season standings marks a strong first year with Joe Gibbs Racing, while Byron experienced his third consecutive Championship 4 appearance without a title.
Featured Image Photo by Oleksandr Baiev on Unsplash
Originally Published at: https://www.fsuthevoice.com/kyle-larson-clinches-second-nascar-cup-series-championship/
Cameron Bebeau 
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