Two weeks ago, Denny Hamlin flipped his ‘villain’ reputation. The customary boos of the grandstands turned into roaring cheers as fans celebrated his Martinsville win. The teardrops rolling down his face symbolized two decades of struggle and a year’s worth of lawsuits and family crisis. So people wanted him, the championship-less 60-time Cup race winner, to get it.

On Sunday, amidst a pompous evening, they masked the boos with cheers during introductions, while detractors declared maybe it was time. Perhaps Hamlin believed it himself, bringing in 30 friends and family, in a week that had seemed to be his. Turned out it was almost his.

The crown feels a little heavy for Kyle Larson

With bated breath and pounding hearts, fans watched as drivers fired up engines at Phoenix Raceway for one last time this season. Denny Hamlin started steadily on the pole, with William Byron and Kyle Larson close behind, and Chase Briscoe a little back in 12th. For the next 312 laps, Byron emerged as a big contender, with commentators tagging his car as one of the fastest. He hounded Hamlin’s rear bumper for the longest time. Yet the Joe Gibbs Racing driver went against obstacles like slow tires and a poor clutch to lead for a race-high 208 laps. But Hamlin could only hold until the 309th lap.

With three laps to go, William Byron suffered a tire failure, pounded the wall, and brought out a caution. Most drivers pitted, but Kyle Larson came out ahead of Denny Hamlin on the restart. And that was all the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports driver needed to upset Hamlin’s ambitions and power ahead to the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series championship. But in the post-race interview, Larson chimed with the popular sadness gripping fans’ hearts. “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t sad for him.” 

“We did the best we could today,” Kyle Larson said. He let slip his surprise: “I couldn’t believe it. We didn’t lead a lap today, and somehow won the championship.” 

Contrary to Denny Hamlin’s 6-win season, the now two-time Cup Series champion hadn’t won a race since May, stopping his tally at three. He had multiple upsets in 2025, the most prominent one being his Double efforts – both the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 races ended in crashes.

However, it all turned into gold by the end of the season. The main turning point came when Kyle Larson pitted – the two fresh tires, as opposed to Hamlin’s stop for four, gave him more advantage than he could anticipate. This was despite his tire issue earlier on lap 194, when he fell 18 laps. “We had a tire go down, lost a lap. Got saved by the caution, did the wave-around. And was really bad that run…we took two tires, I was like, ‘Oh god, here we go. We’re gonna go back now.’ And it had a lot more grip than I anticipated. So we got really lucky with that final caution.”

Evidently, the NASCAR Cup Series finale ended in a way none of the fans expected. The one-race championship format that Hamlin has so often criticised was yet again in the spotlight. In the biggest heartbreak since Carl Edwards in 2016 — where a late-race caution had crushed his championship hopes before retirement — the JGR driver was left shattered. A fifth shot at the championship had passed him by.

He showed no emotions, staying in his car a while longer, visibly numb, as the celebrations kicked off. But he left it all in there. After all was said and done, the fire inside him stayed unabated.

Lady Luck, just you wait

2025 marked Denny Hamlin’s 19th full-time Cup Series season. And it also marked a turbulent season filled with changes. Ranging from a nerve-racking NASCAR lawsuit jeopardizing 23XI Racing’s future to dealing with his father’s ailing health, Hamlin had a lot on his plate. Also, he adjusted to a new crew chief, Chris Gayle – although the result of that was heartening. Amidst this rollercoaster ride, it just seemed like Hamlin’s year. But Lady Luck came in his way and robbed the glory yet again. “Just not meant to be,” Hamlin said post-race.

Denny Hamlin further shed light on the proceedings of the race. “Nothing I can do different. 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. We took four tires. I thought that definitely was the right call. Just so many cars took two there. Obviously, put us back. The team did a fantastic job. They prepared a championship car. Just didn’t happen.”

Nevertheless, Denny Hamlin is still determined. This marked Hamlin’s fifth appearance in the Championship 4. But the No. 11 driver exits Phoenix still pursuing his first Cup Series title. His second-place finish in points ties his career best, first set in 2010 when he fell short to Jimmie Johnson. “I got a couple more shots at it,” he said. “Man, if you can’t win that one, I don’t know which one you can win.”

The Phoenix showdown ended in revelry and heartbreak, with the latter bearing too heavily on NASCAR. Now, all we can do is wait for another season of Denny Hamlin’s magic.