Denny Hamlin reflects on 'shock' of losing NASCAR championship, believes he did 'exactly' what playoffs asked him to do

Denny Hamlin spent nearly the entirety of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series championship race at Phoenix Raceway racing with Kyle Larson in his rearview. It wasn’t until the white flag came out in overtime when he first saw Larson in front of him.

At that point, Hamlin knew he was out of time. Larson was going to win the 2025 championship. In Hamlin’s mind, he did “exactly what the playoffs asked me to do.” He dominated the race and wound up with nothing to show for it.

“In my mind, I did exactly what the playoffs asked me to do,” Hamlin said, via Jeff Gluck of The Athletic. “I can’t remember, I think the first time — and no disrespect to them — I don’t think I saw them [Larson and No. 5 team] until the white flag lap. I can’t remember a lap where he was ahead of me at any point in the race. I remember seeing them for the very first time right after we took the white and the dogleg, I went down, I looked up and because they told me on the backstretch with two to go that the 5 is pinned on the outside. I thought he was one of the cars I was clearing in [Turns] 3 and 4.

“So, when I saw him, that’s when I knew then that it was over. I only had three-quarters of a lap to say, ‘Oh my God, he’s gonna win.’ I think that’s where the shock came from is just doing all the right things. I felt like I did my job everywhere and even beat everyone for most of, if not all, of the scheduled distance. But it just went longer, and unfortunately, on that last lap, I saw my fate right in front of me.”

Denny Hamlin sparks speculation on NASCAR future with comments after championship race heartbreak

Hamlin started on the pole at Phoenix, leading a championship race record 208 laps. He was well on his way to his first championship before one final caution changed everything.

William Byron blew a tire and hit the wall, forcing NASCAR to throw the caution. Hamlin and the field came down pit road, the No. 11 team opting to give him four fresh Goodyear tires. Larson and five others went with two tires while others stayed out, creating a sizeable gap between the Championship 4 competitors. Hamlin didn’t have enough time to catch Larson, who won his second championship.

Where does Hamlin, who turns 45 later this month, go from here? He is under contract to race in 2026 but before he can even think about getting back inside a race car, he must first find a way to move on from this latest championship race heartbreak.

“I plan to, I have a contract to, but at this point, there’s just absolutely no way that I would even… I don’t even think about race car, right now,” Hamlin said. “Yeah, I’m going to need some time on this one.”