Denny Hamlin was about 40 seconds from his long-awaited NASCAR championship when it all went away at Phoenix. Kyle Larson gets another.

Despite leading 208 of the overall 319 laps, Hamlin was unable to rally in the overtime with the four fresh tires. He came up short behind his good friend Larson, who was able to use the momentum of the outside lane to remain a few spots ahead of Hamlin. Hamlin, instead, dove to the inside on the restart but couldn't get clear of several cars.

When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it,” Paulo Coelho famously once wrote in The Alchemist. And for Denny Hamlin, the 2025 NASCAR season felt like living proof of that idea.

Denny Hamlin seemed destined for his first NASCAR Cup Series Championship on Sunday at Phoenix Raceway until a caution with three laps to go.

Everything was lining up for Hamlin to claim his elusive first NASCAR Cup Series title. Then came another cruel twist of fate.

Kyle Larson stood tall at the end of the Championship 4 in Phoenix last Sunday, clinching his second title, which came at the cost of heartbreak for Denny Hamlin.