The 2025 NASCAR season culminated in a dramatic, three-day Championship Weekend at Phoenix Raceway, delivering some crazy finishes and emotional outbursts across all three national series. The action began on Friday with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series finale, where Corey Heim clinched his first career title on a thrilling double-overtime finish. Heim, fighting the defending champion Ty Majeski, led a race-high 100 of 161 laps. A late race caution forced the overtime restart, where Heim’s crucial decision to take four fresh tires proved pivotal, allowing him to win from 10th place.

The drama continued in the NASCAR Xfinity (to be O’Reilly Auto Parts) Series on Saturday night as Jesse Love secured his first championship against his friend and title favorite Connor Zilisch. Love made the winning pass with 24 laps remaining, ultimately beating veteran Aric Almirola for the checkered flag and the series crown by a margin of 0.861 seconds. Both finishes were razor-thin, setting an incredibly high bar for Sunday’s premier event.

But the climax of the season arrived in a stunning flurry of events at Phoenix Raceway that simultaneously cemented a champion and marked a legend’s heartbreak. Denny Hamlin had been light-out dominant, leading a commanding race-high 208 of 319 laps and building a lead of over two-and-a-half seconds with just three laps to go. However, the script was violently ripped up when his title rival and Hendrick Motorsports teammate, William Byron, suffered a left-rear tire failure, sending his car into a wall and triggering the race-changing caution.

Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing team opted for four fresh tires under the caution, while Kyle Larson’s crew chief, Cliff Daniels, made the aggressive, championship-winning call for just two tires. This strategic difference relegated Hamlin to 11th for the final overtime restart, while Larson shot up to 5th, ultimately securing the title by finishing third in the race. The crushing finality of the loss left the perennial contender in a state of emotional devastation, as well as his fans.

Stepping out of his car, Hamlin, who had just led the most laps of any Championship 4 driver in the race’s history, was visibly numb and offered little comfort to his crying daughters on pit road. In his post-race press conference, he reflected on the cruelty of the sport, saying, “I really don’t have much for emotion right now. Just numb about it ’cause just in shock… This sport can drive you absolutely crazy ’cause sometimes speed, talent, all that stuff, just does not matter.” Adding to the personal weight of the defeat, Hamlin revealed the title chase held a deeply personal significance involving his father, who was battling illness.

Prior to the race, Hamlin had candidly spoken about the emotional gravity, saying, “I know for a fact this is my last chance for my dad to see it. I don’t want him going and never getting to see the moment.” The loss, therefore, felt not just like a professional failure but a deeply personal missed opportunity, and needless to say, the “A11 Aboard” fandom woke up ‘depressed’ the next morning.

NASCAR fans debate Denny Hamlin’s fate as the uncrowned king

One fan wrote, “I’m heartbroken as an 11 fan. If we are moving in the direction of legitimatizing the champion. It’s time to move away from GWCs too. This race should have ended like the 98 Daytona 500. Celebrating a driver who spent 20 years trying to get the ultimate prize.” Dale Earnhardt‘s iconic win, which ended his 20-year pursuit of the “Great American Race” trophy, concluded under a local caution on Lap 198 for a minor spin. But since the leaders took both the white flag and the yellow flag simultaneously as per the rules of that era, the race finished under caution on Lap 200, allowing Earnhardt to parade slowly to the checkered flag unchallenged after leading the final 61 laps.

Another fan added, “Sad. Depressed. Numb. Defeated. Something along those lines. The sport I used to love for badass cars and superhuman drivers has lost both of those, and now we can’t even crown a champion the proper way. The lack of post-race coverage was telling, but it didn’t bother me. I had no interest in watching any of it. I just walked to the local bar.”

This sentiment is rooted in the widely discussed issues with the Next Gen car, which many drivers, including Hamlin, have criticized for having too little horsepower and creating excessive “dirty air,” making overtaking difficult and thus prioritizing parity and strategy over “superhuman” driver skill. Hamlin’s partner in his Actions Detrimental podcast, Travis Rockhold, also commented, “OSU/Texas in 2005, Clemson in 2019 and then Georgia in 2022. Phoenix 2025. The morning after feels the same for all.”

For the 2005 Ohio State Buckeyes, the feeling of utter disbelief came after a season of promise was derailed not by a loss, but by a late-season stumble that ultimately kept the heavily favored team out of the BCS National Championship game. Similarly, the 2019 Clemson Tigers were on the cusp of an unparalleled dynasty, having been overwhelmingly favored in the College Football Playoff National Championship, only to be completely dismantled by a historically great LSU team.

Finally, the 2021 Georgia Bulldogs were widely seen as the best team in the league, but were stunned in the SEC Championship game by an Alabama team, creating a terrifying ‘morning after’ feeling for fans, similar to Hamlin’s loss at the Phoenix Finale 2025.

Another fan added to that sentiment, saying, “Very heartbroken 11 fans here. Flew across the country on short notice and was sure this was Denny’s moment. Tough to rationalize it. Trying not to overreact on GWC because I typically enjoy them. But oof. Just hurts.”

But more than the Championship win, it was the personal angle that moved fans, saying, “Torn. When I met my wife she lit the NASCAR fire in me again that had been gone for so long. I’ve been a Larson fan since that first race I watched with her. But dang I wanted Denny to win so bad this year even more so for his dad. So torn. That’s the word.” 

Now, as the dust settles on Phoenix, one thing is clear: Hamlin’s heartbreak has left an entire sport feeling hollow.