Kyle Larson clinched the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series championship with a dramatic overtime finish at Phoenix Raceway, benefiting from a late caution that completely altered the outcome. It was not his race, just as it was not his year. And for Denny Hamlin, it had been his year, but it just couldn’t be his race. And that one race, in fact, just the final 40 seconds, stole that title away from him, the season’s most consistent driver with six wins.

This outcome didn’t feel right for many, and the scrutiny that the playoff system has been facing post the finale has just skyrocketed. Rick Hendrick has seen nearly every era of NASCAR championship racing, from season-long points battles to the win-and-you’re-in playoff chaos of today. And after watching Denny Hamlin’s title hopes evaporate once again at Phoenix, the legendary Hendrick Motorsports owner made his stance crystal clear.

Hendrick misses the old chase

“I look at Denny and have to feel for him. He’s had good runs and just hasn’t got one. These things are really hard under these rules. You can win all the races, get here, and then have a flat tire; things can happen.” Hendrick said post the victory.

His words cut to the heart of a debate that has lingered since the modern playoff system began: the balance between season-long consistency and the single-race shootout that decides everything.

Hendrick’s reflection was rooted in painful recent history. Denny Hamlin entered the 2025 Championship 4 with one of the fastest cars all season, posting multiple victories and the second-best average finish in the Cup Series. Yet, much like 2014, 2019, 2020, and 2021, Hamlin’s bid unraveled in the finale, this time after a late-race vibration forced an unscheduled pit stop. Under NASCAR’s elimination-style format, such misfortune can instantly erase a year of excellence.

As Hendrick noted, “It’s just a lot of these things that are kind of out of your control.” Since the format’s inception in 2014, every championship has been decided by a single race at Phoenix or Homestead, turning one mechanical issue or pit-road mistake into a season-defining moment.

“I like the old system,” Hendrick admitted, pointing back to the pre-2004 era when drivers accumulated points across the full schedule to determine the champion. “I like locking it down before you go to the finals, you sleep a lot better, a lot more fun.”

His sentiment echoes the frustration of many longtime fans and veterans who grew up watching methodical title chases from legends like Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon. Before the Chase and playoff eras, a dominant season could be rewarded early, as Gordon famously clinched his 1998 championship with a race to spare, while Earnhardt sealed multiple titles before the finale. Under today’s rules, however, dominance guarantees nothing unless it comes on the final Sunday.

Even with Hamlin’s heartbreak, Hendrick’s outlook remains grounded in optimism for his own stable. “Denny had tremendous speed today, and it just didn’t work out,” he said. “I think Kyle can win, I think William’s gonna win a lot, I think Chase is coming, he’s really coming along well.”

That confidence is well-founded. Hendrick Motorsports drivers combined for double-digit victories in 2025, with William Byron and Kyle Larson both leading over 1,000 laps apiece. Chase Elliott’s four top 5s in the playoffs showed his returning form. Statistically, it marked one of Hendrick’s most consistent years since the organization’s record-setting 2021 campaign.

“I think we’re bringing four really good cars to the track every week,” Hendrick continued. “We’re there every week running in the top five, gonna win races, and we’re much better at Phoenix than we have been in the past.” Indeed, Hendrick’s progress at Phoenix has been measurable.

In 2023, Larson fell just short of Ryan Blaney, but by 2025, both Byron and Larson entered the finale as legitimate favorites. Hendrick’s engineering group invested heavily in short-track performance under the Next Gen car, with clear gains in braking stability and tire management, areas that previously plagued their desert efforts.

According to data from NASCAR’s loop statistics, Hendrick cars posted an average running position of 5.8 at Phoenix in 2025, their best since the track became the championship venue.

Ultimately, Hendrick’s reflections capture both nostalgia and realism. He understands that NASCAR’s playoff system has brought unpredictability and drama, but also that it can unfairly punish the very consistency that built the sport’s legends.

“You can win all the races and still not sleep at night,” he quipped, half in jest but wholly sincere. For a team owner who’s seen his drivers crowned under every possible format, Hendrick’s message was clear: championships may now come down to luck as much as legacy, and he still prefers the days when the best season, not the best Sunday, decided it.

Just like Hendrick likes the old ways, Larson also treasures an old tradition.

Larson honors Johnson

The NASCAR Champion’s Journal is a book that every Cup Series champion passes on to his successor after each season. Kyle Larson, who won the 2025 title at the Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, has got his hands on it.

During a conversation on NASCAR’s The Day After, Larson was asked if he had taken a look at its pages which was the first entry he went through. He revealed that he has started going through it right from the very beginning.

The tradition was started by the seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson in 2005. The journal’s supposed to have all kinds of insights by the championship winner to pass on to the next one. Over the years, it has become one of the most cherished practices in NASCAR. After all, it is a privilege that comes with winning the ultimate prize in the sport.

“It’s just really cool to see how long it’s kind of gone on, and it’s definitely the most special piece of winning the championship,” Larson said. “It’s really cool that I’ll be in there a couple times now, and I get to read what Joey [Logano] wrote to [Ryan] Blaney and then what Blaney wrote back to Joey. I think that is what I’m most excited to see now,” he added.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver spoke further, giving credit to Johnson for beginning the tradition in the first place. Larson hoped that he could keep it in his hands for as long as he could. Well, to keep it for more than a year at a stretch, he has to win the title again next season.

“I’m so thankful that Jimmy started that because I think it’s going to continue for who knows how long, and it’s going to be pretty amazing to see someday. I guess I won’t be able to see it at some point, but hopefully, yeah, I get to keep my hands on it for a while,” he concluded.