Kyle Larson takes Cup title as Ryan Blaney wins shocker in Sonoran Desert: When William Byron hit the Turn 3 wall with bone-jarring impact on Lap 310 of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race, the gut punch it delivered to Denny Hamlin was exponentially more painful. The resulting caution and strategic call by crew chief Cliff Daniels allowed Kyle Larson to snatch the Cup Series championship from Hamlin without leading a lap at Phoenix Raceway.[Read More]
#12-Ryan Blaney wins at Phoenix; Kyle Larson wins Championship: Ryan Blaney won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway. The win is his fourth win of the year, first at Phoenix and 17th career win.
#6-Brad Keselowski finished 2nd followed by #5-Kyle Larson, #22-Joey Logano, #8-Kyle Busch, #11-Denny Hamlin, #21-Josh Berry, #71-Michael McDowell, #60-Ryan Preece, and #9-Chase Elliott
Larson’s third place finish was enough to capture the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Championship. The second of his career.
Pole sitter and playoff driver Hamlin dominated most of the race, leading 208 laps. He had a lead of three seconds with three laps remaining when the caution came out. He pitted for four tires while three drivers stayed out and six, including Larson, took only two. Hamlin could not get around Larson during the overtime finish.
#19-Chase Briscoe suffered a couple cut tires during the race and finished 18th.
#24-William Byron lead 52 laps, and was running third late in the race when he cut a tire down and got into the wall. He finished 33rd.
Blaney restarted fourth during the overtime attempt, the highest driver with only two tires. He passed Keselowski on the final lap to take the win.
Stage 1 was won by #24-William Byron. Stage 2 was won by #11-Denny Hamlin.
The fastest lap was run by #11-Denny Hamlin
There were 16 lead changes among 6 drivers and 9 cautions for 65 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 97.711mph.
See race details at: Race Results, Driver Points Standings, Owner Points Standings, Cumulative Report, Penalty Report.
Where the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff drivers finished at Phoenix:
#5-Kyle Larson, 3rd
#11-Denny Hamlin, 6th
#19-Chase Briscoe, 18th
#24-William Byron, 33rd
Race Fast Facts – Phoenix:
Ryan Blaney won the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race, his 17th victory in 378 Cup Series races. Blaney is the fourth non-Playoff driver to win the Championship Race in the Playoff Era (2004-2025); joining Greg Biffle (Homestead: 2004 and 2006), Denny Hamlin (Homestead: 2013) and Ross Chastain (Phoenix 2023)
This is his fourth victory and 19th top-10 finish in 2025.
This is his first victory and 14th top-10 finish in 20 races at Phoenix Raceway.
Brad Keselowski (second) posted his 15th top-10 finish in 33 races at Phoenix Raceway. It is his 13th top-10 finish in 2025.
Kyle Larson (P) (third) posted his 15th top-10 finish in 23 races at Phoenix Raceway.
Riley Herbst (23rd) was the highest finishing rookie.
Kyle Larson (P) wins the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Championship, his second series title (2021, 2025).
Shane Van Gisbergen wins the 2025 Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors.
Chevrolet has won the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturers Championship.
(NASCAR)
Final 2025 Cup Series Playoff Standings:
4) #5-Kyle Larson, 5034
3) #11-Denny Hamlin, 5031
2) #19-Chase Briscoe, 2019
1) #24-William Byron, 5004
See the Driver Points Standings and Owner Points Standings.
Race updates:
Checkered flag for Blaney. Larson is the champion, finishing 3rd. Hamlin was 6th.
White flag for Keselowski. Larson up to third, Hamlin to 8th.
Lap 318 – Green flag for the first overtime attempt.
Lap 317 – Restart waved off due to debris on the track.
Lap 315 – Larson will restart 5th, Hamlin 10th, Briscoe 15th, Byron 32nd (and 2 laps down).
Lap 314 – On the restart it will be Keselowski, Preece, Bowman [they stayed out], Blaney, Larson, Logano, Berry, Busch, Elliott [they took two tires] and then Hamlin.
Lap 312 – Pit road is open. Most lead cars come in. Off pit road: Blaney, Larson, Logano, Berry, Busch, Elliott, and Hamlin. Everyone ahead of Larson took two tires. Staying out was Keselowski, Preece, and Bowman.
Lap 310 – CAUTION is out for Byron into the wall with a tire down. There will be an overtime finish.
Lap 307 – 6 laps remaining and Hamlin now ahead of Byron by 3 seconds. Blaney is challenging Byron for second.
Lap 303 – 10 to go. Hamlin by 2.45 seconds.
Lap 301 – 12 to go. Hamlin now 2.38 seconds ahead. He continues to pull away.
Lap 298 – 15 to go. Hamlin by 2 seconds over Byron. Behind them it remains Logano, Blaney, Larson, Briscoe, Berry, Bell, Busch and Keselowski.
Lap 296 – Hamlin’s lead is now 1.7 second with 17 to go.
Lap 293 – Twenty laps to go. Hamlin leads Byron by 1 second. Logano remains third. Blaney up to fourth. Then Larson and Briscoe but they are already more than 3 seconds back.
Lap 288 – Hamlin with a .45 second lead over Byron with 25 laps remaining.
Lap 287 – Hamlin, Byron, Logano, Larson, Briscoe.
Lap 286 – Hamlin is back to the lead with Byron second. They have fresher tires. Briscoe back to third and Larson fourth.
Lap 285 – Green flag with 28 laps remaining.
Lap 281 – Pit road is open with 32 laps remaining. Leaders came back in for tires. Off pit road: Briscoe, Larson, Hamlin, Byron, Logano, Blaney, Berry, Bell, Keselowski. Briscoe and Larson took just two tires. The four playoff drivers are now 1-2-3-4.
Lap 279 – CAUTION is out for Yeley. He had a right front tire down and got into the wall.
Lap 275 – NBC reports that Briscoe’s tire was ok during the last pit stop. It was slightly low but it may have been something else he was feeling. He’s currently 6th, 3 seconds off the lead.
Lap 273 – Hamlin’s lead over Byron is .86 second.
Lap 270 – Briscoe is up to 6th. Larson is 14th.
Lap 269 – Hamlin now clears Byron for the lead.
Lap 268 – Hamlin is the leader at the line. 45 to go.
Lap 267 – Green flag with 46 laps remaining. Byron and Hamlin are first and second. Briscoe is back up to 9th. Larson is 18th.
Lap 263 – Elliott was too fast on pit road and will have to restart at the rear. That will move Hamlin up to second.
Lap 262 – Pit road is open again. Lead lap cars come in. Off pit road it is: Byron, Elliott, Hamlin, Blaney, Berry, Bell, Logano, Keselowski, Chastain.
Lap 259 – CAUTION is out. It’s Cindric spinning and hard in the wall in turn 3. He reportedly had a tire go down.
Lap 258 – Hamlin takes second from Elliott. He’s 1.1 second behind Byron.
Lap 255 – Briscoe says his right rear tire is low. He is up to 14th.
Lap 254 – Byron takes the lead from Elliott with 59 laps remaining. Hamlin remains third, .7 second back.
Lap 250 – Elliott continues to lead but Byron is now just .2 second back. Hamlin is .74 seconds off the lead. Gragson pits with a tire issue.
Lap 245 – Bowman comes to pit road with a tire down.
Lap 238 – Just 75 laps remaining in the season. Elliott leads Byron by .97 second. Then Blaney. Hamlin is 4th 1.8 second back. Briscoe is up to 20th, Larson 24th.
Lap 229 – Byron up to second, Hamlin down to 5th.
Lap 227 – Green flag with 86 laps remaining. Playoff drivers: Byron 3rd, Hamlin 4th, Briscoe, 28th, Larson 30th.
Lap 222 – Pit road is open. Leader come in. Off pit road: Elliott, Blaney, Bryon, Hamlin, Chastain, Berry, Logano, Bell, Bowman, Chastain.
Lap 221 – Briscoe and Larson are a lap down but Briscoe will get the free pass. Larson is 33rd but will likely take the wave-around here.
Lap 220 – CAUTION comes out for Hocevar with a tire down and into the wall in turn 4. Byron continues to lead.
Lap 216 – Larson to pit road with a tire down. Right after him Briscoe with another tire down. He comes to pit road as well.
Lap 213 – 100 laps remaining. Byron leads Briscoe by .7 second. Hamlin is 6th, 3.2 seconds back. Larson is 8th, 4.7 seconds out of the lead.
Lap 208 – Briscoe has moved to second. He’s 1.46 second out of the lead.
Lap 201 – 112 laps remaining. Byron leads Chastain by .15 second. Briscoe is up to third. Hamlin is now 7th, Larson 10th.
Lap 195 – Byron takes the lead from Blaney. He is out front for the second time today.
Lap 194 – Green flag back out. 119 laps to go.
Lap 188 – Pit road is open. Leaders back in. Off pit road: Blaney, Byron, Chastain, Elliott, Briscoe, Bell, Logano Berry Bowman, and Hocevar. Hamlin reported a tire going down just before the pit stops. The crew had trouble getting the driver’s side of the car up and he falls to 11th. Larson also had a slow stop and is now 18th. His crew had trouble getting a lug nut off.
Lap 186 – End of stage 2. Hamlin wins it over Blaney, Byron, Larson, Bell, Chastain, Briscoe, Logano, Hocevar, and Elliott.
Lap 183 – CAUTION is out. TDillon turned around in turn 2 after a tire went down. Stage will end under caution.
Lap 181 – Five to go in stage 2. Hamlin leads Blaney by .2 second. Byron remains 2 seconds back. ADillon cut a tire down and limps to pit road.
Lap 171 – Fifteen laps left in stage 2. Hamlin leads Blaney by .3 second. Third place Byron is 1.9 seconds back. Briscoe is up to 8th.
Lap 161 – Hamlin with a half second lead over Blaney. Briscoe has moved to 10th.
Lap 157 – The race is now halfway complete. Elapsed time: 1 hour, 34 minutes.
Lap 156 – Back to green with 30 laps remaining in stage 2. Hamlin still out front. He has led 129 laps so far.
Lap 151 – Pit road is open. Leaders are back in. Off pit road: Hamlin holds the lead. Then Blaney, Larson, Byron, Bell, Chastain, Hocevar, Elliott, Berry. Briscoe jumps up to 14th.
Lap 149 – CAUTION out for Allmendinger. He blew a right front tire and wrecks. Heavy damage to the car.
Lap 146 – Briscoe says he feels like he may have a tire going down again. Busch just had to pit with a tire down.
Lap 138 – Hamlin’s lead is 2.2 seconds over Larson, and 4.1 seconds over Bryon, who is running 4th. Briscoe had only moved up to 27th.
Lap 125 – Hamlin quickly back out to a 1.5 second lead over Larson.
Lap 116 – Back to green flag. Briscoe restarts 32nd, the last car on the lead lap.
Lap 115 – Briscoe comes back to pit road, reporting a vibration.
Lap 113 – Hamlin says the clutch is no better. It’s close to not engaging now. Briscoe currently in 29th place.
Lap 111 – Pit road is open. Leaders are all back in. Off pit road: Hamlin, Larson, Byron, Blaney, Chastain, Hocevar, Logano, Berry, Elliott, Bell.
Lap 110 – Briscoe tells the team that he doesn’t know what caused the flat but he had a vibration since the restart.
Lap 106 – CAUTION is out SVG losing an engine and going up in smoke. Briscoe has a right rear tire go down as the caution comes out and he limps to the pits.
Lap 101 – Hamlin leads by 3.4 seconds. Then Larson, Byron, Blaney, and Briscoe. 28 drivers on the lead lap.
Lap 98 – Wallace finally comes to pit road.
Lap 92 – Wallace slowed on track a couple laps ago. Possibly a throttle issue. He stays on track for now.
Lap 91 – Hamlin now with a 2.6 second lead over Larson. Byron remains third, Briscoe 6th.
Lap 85 – Hamlin quickly out to a 1.8 second lead over Larson.
Lap 81 – Hamlin takes the lead back. Larson moves to second and Byron third.
Lap 80 – Back to green. Blaney over Hamlin, Byron, Logano, Hocevar, Logano and Briscoe.
Lap 77 – Hamlin still reporting problems with the clutch.
Lap 73 – CAUTION on the backstretch for a spin by Nemechek
Lap 72 – Hamlin gets around Byron for second. Mears has gone behind the wall.
Lap 70 – Back to green for the start of the second stage.
Lap 65 – Pit road is open. Leaders are in. Off pit road: Blaney, Byron, Hamlin, Larson, Hocevar, Briscoe, Logano, Buescher, Bowman and Bell.
Lap 64 – Hamlin reports that his clutch pedal is “long”.
Lap 61 – CAUTION for the end of stage 1. Byron wins it over Blaney, Hamlin, Cindric, Larson, Hocevar, Bowman, Logano, Buescher, and Briscoe. 28th place Custer is the free pass.
Lap 60 – Blaney around Hamlin for second.
Lap 58 – Three laps left in stage 1. Byron leads Hamlin by 1.1 second. Blaney up to third.
Lap 54 – Byron takes the lead from Hamlin.
Lap 52 – Larson has fallen to fifth as Blaney passes him.
Lap 46 – As the leaders start to work through slower cars, Hamlin’s lead is down to .3 second over Byron. Larson still 4th, Briscoe is 9th.
Lap 41 – Twenty laps to go in stage 1. Hamlin leads Byron by .43 second. Yeley and Mears have been put a lap down.
Lap 31 – The first stage is already halfway complete, less than 15 minutes into the race. Hamlin and Byron out front. Third place Cindric is two seconds back.
Lap 28 – Lap times are already falling at tire wear continues.
Lap 11 – With 10 laps complete, Hamlin leads Byron by 1 second. Larson is 4th, 1.9 seconds back. Briscoe has moved up to 10th.
Lap 2 – Hamlin leads the first lap over Byron. Larson falls to 4th on the start.
• 3:35pm/et – Green flag. The season finale at Phoenix is underway.
• 3:25pm/et – Engines are fired.
• 3:15pm/et – Pre-race ceremonies are underway.
• 2:00pm/et – NBC now has pre-race coverage.
• 1:00pm/et – Allmendinger is still the only driver falling to the rear for the start.
• 10:00am/et – The Cup Series garage is now open.
• NASCAR will wrap up the season without a single race being postponed by rain this year. The National Weather Service forecast for today: Sunny, with a high near 90. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the afternoon.
Race details:
Broadcast: NBC, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 312 laps / 312 miles
Stages: 60 / 185 / 312
Average time of race: 2:55:40
Pit road speed: 45 mph
Caution car speed: 50 mph
Fuel Window: 98 laps
Timing (all times local & subject to change)
Invocation: 1:15:40 p.m.
National Anthem: 1:16:30 p.m.
Command: 1:25:00 p.m.
Green Flag: 1:34:00 p.m.
Paint Schemes
Cars to the rear: #16-A.J. Allmendinger (backup car)
Pit Stall Selections: The selections of pit stalls for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway have been made.
Pole winner #11-Denny Hamlin chose pit stall 1.
Outside pole sitter #24-William Byron took the sixth stall, with an opening in front of it.
The Championship drivers selected first. #5-Kyle Larson has the 29th stall, with an opening in front of it. #19-Chase Briscoe has the 38th pit stall.
See all pit choices on the Phoenix Pit Stall page.
#11-Denny Hamlin won the Busch pole for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway with a speed of 133.759mph for his fifth pole of the year, fourth at Phoenix and 48th of his career.
#24-William Byron will start second followed by #5-Kyle Larson, #2-Autin Cindric, #12-Ryan Blaney, #77-Carson Hocevar, #21-Josh Berry, #48-Alex Bowman, #17-Chris Buescher, and #22-Joey Logano.
#19-Chase Briscoe will start 12th.
See the complete qualifying results and the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Starting Lineup.
Where the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff drivers start at Phoenix:
#11-Denny Hamlin, 1st
#24-William Byron, 2nd
#5-Kyle Larson, 3rd
#19-Chase Briscoe, 12th
Phoenix – Qualifying Fast Facts:
Denny Hamlin (P) won the Pole Award for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship with a lap of 26.914 seconds, 133.759 mph.
This is his 48th pole in 721 NASCAR Cup Series races.
This is his fifth pole and 19th top-10 start in 2025. This is his fourth pole in 41 races at Phoenix Raceway.
William Byron (P) (second) posted his 23rd top-10 start of 2025 and his 11th in 16 races at Phoenix Raceway.
Kyle Larson (P) (third) posted his 19th top-10 start at Phoenix Raceway. It is his 19th in 36 races this season.
Shane Van Gisbergen (31st) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
(NASCAR)
Qualifying Order
Pre-race inspection in the NASCAR Cup Series garage is complete. There were no multiple failures. The No. 16 will go to a backup car and continues to prepare that car. It will not qualify today.
Practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway is over. The results:
#54-Ty Gibbs, 131.868
#12-Ryan Blaney, 131.406
#2-Austin Cindric, 131.377
#60-Ryan Preece, 131.353
#11-Denny Hamlin, 131.262
The other playoff drivers: #24-William Byron was 8th, #5-Kyle Larson 11th, #19-Chase Briscoe 16th.
Slowest: #44-J.J. Yeley, 127.618
Most laps run: #5-Kyle Larson, 69 laps.
Best 10 consecutive lap avg (of 32 drivers): #12-Ryan Blaney, 129.331mph.
Notes: Practice was a single 50 minute session. There were a number of drivers that had tire issues, including Briscoe, Bell, Allmendinger, Suarez, Bell, and Herbst. Briscoe’s team had to do some suspension work. Herbst’s flat forced him into contact with the outside wall. Midway through the session, Allmendinger has a second incident and made hard contact with the inside wall. He will have to go to a backup car.Larson made slight contact with the outside wall late in the session, no damage. Due to all the issues, practice was extended by 10 minutes.
See the fastest speeds, best 10 consecutive lap average, laps run on the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Practice speeds page.
Where the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff drivers were in practice at Phoenix:
#11-Denny Hamlin, 6th
#24-William Byron, 9th
#5-Kyle Larson, 11th
#19-Chase Briscoe, 15th
Crew Rosters
The entry list for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway is posted, 38 teams/drivers [for 40 spots] are listed.
Open teams entered: #44-J.J. Yeley, #66-Casey Mears.
See the full entry list on the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Entry List page.
Goodyear Fast Facts — Phoenix: After racing the prime and option tire setups at Phoenix in March, the Cup Series returns to a single tire specification for the season finale on the 1-mile dogleg oval. This tire setup has previously been used at several short tracks this year, most recently at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September. The right-side tire also ran last weekend at Martinsville Speedway, paired with a new left-side tire.
NASCAR Cup Series News & Notes – Championship Weekend at Phoenix Raceway:
Phoenix Raceway Storylines and Insights:
- This weekend marks the 59th running of a NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway.
- 2025 is the sixth season that Phoenix hosted the Championship round (2020-2025)
- Kyle Larson is the only former Cup champion in the Championship 4
- William Byron is the only Championship 4 drivers who also raced for a Championship at Phoenix last year
- Chase Briscoe is the only driver in the Championship 4 for the first time
- Kyle Larson is the only Championship 4 driver without a Playoff win, twice the Champion won the Championships without a playoff win in the first nine races of elimination style playoffs (Kyle Busch in 2015 and 2019 who won both the race of the Championship)
- See much more
Race rules and information:
