• Kyle Larson won his second NASCAR Cup Series championship despite not leading a lap in the final race. • A late-race caution flag spoiled Denny Hamlin's commanding lead, costing him his first career title.

Even Kyle Larson couldn’t believe it.

In the final laps of the 2025 NASCAR title race Sunday, Nov. 2, Denny Hamlin was authoring a Hollywood movie script.

The 44-year-old trying to win his first championship in his 20th Cup Series season, a man hoping to score one for his dying father while also in the midst of suing NASCAR as a team owner, sat three seconds in front of the field with three laps to go at Phoenix Raceway .

But then the one thing Hamlin didn’t want to happen did.

William Byron blew a tire. The ninth caution flag of the day flew.

After an overtime restart, Ryan Bl

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