Denny Hamlin’s pursuit of his inaugural NASCAR Cup Series Championship took an unexpected turn at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, as Kyle Larson swooped in to clinch his second season title amid controversy.

The twist unfolded with a late caution flag prompted by William Byron, altering the race’s final moments. Hamlin, leading at the time, opted for four fresh tires on his Toyota during the pit stop. In contrast, Larson decided on only two tires for his Chevrolet, a strategic move that placed him in fifth position for the two-lap dash to the finish line, while Hamlin fell back to 10th.

With precious little time to close the gap, Hamlin couldn’t catch Larson, ultimately finishing in sixth place as Larson secured third. Ryan Blaney, no longer in the championship running, took the race victory.

Upon exiting his car, Hamlin shared a somber embrace with his crew, surrounded by a scene of disbelief within the Joe Gibbs Racing camp. Team members were visibly emotional, some in tears, others sitting in stunned silence. Even Joe Gibbs, the former Super Bowl-winning coach, stood with a hand on his hip, a silent witness to the unfolding drama.

“I really don’t have much for emotion right now. Just numb about it ’cause just in shock,” a crestfallen Hamlin expressed after comforting his daughters on pit road. “We were 40 seconds away from a championship. This sport can drive you absolutely crazy because sometimes speed, talent, none of that matters.”

Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 champion, already bore the tag of being the most successful driver never to secure a Cup Series title, a label once associated with Hall of Famer Mark Martin.

Hamlin is seen with his long-time partner, Jordan Fish, following his sixth-place finish

Hamlin reacts after climnbing out of his car following the NASCAR Championship race

The three-time Daytona 500 winner was already regarded as the most accomplished driver to never win a Cup Series title – an unwanted moniker previously held by Hall of Famer Mark Martin.

Unfortunately, Sunday’s final laps were a new degree of pain, not only for Hamlin, but for seemingly every NASCAR driver and fan.

Without that caution, which came with three laps to run, Hamlin had it locked up and was ready to finally shed the label of greatest NASCAR driver to never win a championship. But Byron got a flat tire and hit the wall to bring out the caution, and a few minutes later, it was over.

‘Just unbelievable,’ Larson said. ‘I cannot believe it.’

‘You do have to feel for that group and Denny. Doing a good job all day, it not playing out for him. But that is racing. It sucks sometimes,’ Blaney said. ‘They can hang their head about it, but they should be very proud about the effort. They had the fastest race car here. Just one of those things where it doesn’t work out. Looked like it was going into his favor, unfortunately for him, it didn’t.’

It is the second championship for Larson, who won his first title in 2021 when he joined Hendrick Motorsports. It is the 15th Cup title for the organization and came on the 30th anniversary of Jeff Gordon giving Hendrick its first championship in 1995.

Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, celebrates with his crew and family in victory lane after finish first of the NASCAR Cup Series Championship

Hamlin pits during the NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway

Team owner Rick Hendrick, Gordon and Larson crew chief Cliff Daniels all said they did not believe Larson still had a chance at the championship after so many problems during the race.

‘I have to acknowledge that it was a pretty ugly day for us,’ Daniels said. ‘I think we were beat on raw pace, and after we had the flat tire, there wasn’t a lot of good things coming our way. The way the team stuck together and continued to believe in each other, Kyle continued to believe if we just had a shot we could close it out.’

It is the sixth shot at a title to slip away from Hamlin in his 20 years driving for Gibbs. He led 208 of the 319 laps and started from the pole.

‘Nothing I could do different. I mean, prepared as good as I could coming into the weekend and my team gave me a fantastic car,’ Hamlin said. ‘Just didn’t work out. I was just praying ‘no caution’ and we had one there. What can you do? It’s just not meant to be.’

He said crew chief Chris Gayle made the correct call with four tires, but too many others only took two, which created too big of a gap for Hamlin to close on Larson in so little time.

The 44-year-old Virginia native had been extremely jinxed in five previous championship finales, with bad luck, bad strategy and bad cars breaking his heart in 2010, 2014, 2019, 2020 and 2021. Sunday marked his first time eligible in the winner-take-all race in four seasons.