Ryan Blaney Wins at Phoenix, Kyle Larson Takes Cup Title

Ryan Blaney won the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix, but Kyle Larson won the championship. (Photo: Peter Casey | Nigel Kinrade Photography)

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Even though he was not a part of the Championship 4, Ryan Blaney still went for it and won the NASCAR Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway as Kyle Larson claimed his second title with a third-place finish.

The victory was the fourth of the season for Blaney, ending his 2025 campaign on a high note.

“Obviously, we would have liked to have been in the championship,” said Blaney. “But, our goal this weekend was just to go and try to win the race, end on a high note and do the best we can.”

After the final caution came out with just three laps remaining, Blaney’s No. 12 team elected to put two tires on during the final pit stop cycle, which gave Blaney the opportunity to make the pass for the lead on Brad Keselowski off the exit of Turn 4 to claim the victory.

“The last restart, Jonathan (Hassler, crew chief) made a good call putting two (tires) on it,” Blaney said. “I just tried to back up (Turn) 3, just wrap the bottom and I had enough drive to get under Brad (Keselowski) at the finish line.”

Even after missing out on the Championship 4 for the first time since 2022, Blaney was still happy to end the season right by winning his first career race at Phoenix Raceway.

“Everyone wants to end the year on a high note, and with not being a part of the championship, this is the way to end it on a high note,” Blaney said. “It’s to try and win the race, and luckily, we were able to accomplish that today.”

The main beneficiary of the final restart was Larson, who also used the final pit stop to take two tires and jump ahead of the dominant title contender of the race, Denny Hamlin, and hold him off to become a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion.

“Honestly, I can’t believe it,” said Larson. “We didn’t lead a lap today and somehow won the championship. I’m just speechless. I can’t believe it.”

The strategy for Larson on the final restart stemmed from the second-to-last restart, where the No. 5 team also elected to take two tires during the pit cycle. At first, Larson said he was worried about the call but knew if he had another shot on a restart, he felt good about it.

Kyle Larson rallied from 32nd, a lap down inside the final 100 laps, to win his second NASCAR Cup Series championship at Phoenix. (Photo: Danny Hansen | Nigel Kinrade Photography)

“We took two tires, and I was like, ‘oh god, here we go. We’re going to go to the back now,'” Larson said. “It had a lot more grip than I anticipated. We got lucky with that final caution there. I was really hoping we were going to take two (tires) there again because I felt like I learned a lot on that restart.”

On the other side of the final caution was Hamlin, who suffered a heartbreaking defeat with his sixth-place finish in the race and runner-up championship position.

“Nothing I could do differently,” said Hamlin. “Prepared as good as I could coming into the weekend, and my team gave me a fantastic car. Just didn’t work out. I was just praying for no caution and had one there.”

When the final caution came out with three to go, Hamlin said he still felt good about his chances until exiting pit road and restarting in Row 5 due to the number of cars that either stayed out or took just two tires compared to his four.

“I thought we were still ok,” Hamlin said. “We took four tires, and I thought that was definitely the right call. Just so many cars took two (tires) there and obviously put us back. The team did a fantastic job. They prepared a championship car, but it just didn’t happen.”

Hamlin dominated the afternoon, leading 208 laps, but came just short of the elusive NASCAR Cup Series title once again. When asked about another shot at the championship, he knows he will have another shot driving for Joe Gibbs Racing but acknowledged the painful loss.

“I’ll try,” he said. “I got a couple more shots at it. Man, if you can’t win that one, I don’t know which one you can win.”

The reason for the final caution was William Byron, who hit the wall in Turns 3 and 4 after a tire failure.

“Yeah, it stinks, right?” said Byron. “I don’t know, three laps to go, I’m thinking, ‘let me get to the end.’ I felt something funny off of (Turn) 2 and thought it might be a flat. I thought at the time, if it’s left rear, you can kind of get back, but it just went straight into (Turn) 3. It laid down on the right rear and went straight (into the wall). I hate that.”

After the incident, Byron ultimately finished in 33rd place, last of the Championship 4 drivers. Even with losing the championship, Byron was more upset about bringing out the final caution and felt he had directly impacted the end result.

“I’m just super bummed it was a caution, I hate that,” said Byron. “I hate it for Denny and the (No.) 11 team. I’m happy for Kyle (Larson) and Mr. Hendrick. They deserve it.”

It was an eventful day for Chase Briscoe, who finished in 18th place in his first-ever Championship 4 appearance. Despite the loss, Briscoe was still proud of the fight his No. 19 team showed during the race.

“Certainly eventful, right?” said Briscoe. “But we never gave up and that’s kind of been the story of my whole career. Just wasn’t our day.”

Briscoe battled tire issues throughout the race, forcing him to climb through the field multiple times, never allowing him to battle it out for an extended period of time with the other three title contenders.

“I felt like we were good enough,” said Briscoe. “We came from the front to the back two or three different times. Just wish we could’ve been on an even playing field at some point. We kind of got up there and were about to pass William (Byron) and then blew another tire.”

Joey Logano and Kyle Busch finished in fourth and fifth place, respectively. Rounding out the top 10 behind Hamlin for the final time this season were Josh Berry, Michael McDowell, Ryan Preece and Chase Elliott.

Stage 1 Top 10 Results

1. William Byron
2. Ryan Blaney
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Austin Cindric
5. Kyle Larson
6. Carson Hocevar
7. Alex Bowman
8. Joey Logano
9. Chris Buescher
10. Chase Briscoe

Stage 2 Top 10 Results

1. Denny Hamlin
2. Ryan Blaney
3. William Byron
4. Kyle Larson
5. Christopher Bell
6. Ross Chastain
7. Chase Briscoe
8. Joey Logano
9. Carson Hocevar
10. Chase Elliott

Kyle Larson celebrates his second NASCAR Cup Series championship in the past five years. (Photo: Nigel Kinrade | Nigel Kinrade Photography)

NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway Finishing Results