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NASCAR Cup Series Fans Respond To Kyle Larson Rallying, Denying Denny Hamlin Of Drivers’ Championship

Jeff Hawkins Written by Sports EditorJeff Hawkins
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NASCAR Cup Series Fans Respond To Kyle Larson Rallying, Denying Denny Hamlin Of Drivers’ Championship

With eight laps remaining, NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin pulled out to a 2.87-second advantage over Championship 4 contender Denny Hamlin.

The field’s sentimental favorite appeared to be cruising to his first circuit championship, a long-awaited goal for a driver with 60 career wins.

With three laps to go, Byron suffered a flat tire, bringing out a caution flag that changed Hamlin’s 2025 destiny. At the time, Hamlin paced eventual championship race winner Ryan Blaney by 1.101 seconds, forcing overtime.

Brad Keselowski paced the OT restart from the outside lane, next to Ryan Preece. Keselowski gained an early advantage along Turn 4 as Larson moved past Hamlin and into third position, securing his second title as a member of the No. 5 Chevrolet team.

“Just not meant to be,” Hamlin told NBC Sports.

Added Larson: “Honestly, I can’t believe it. Like, we didn’t lead a lap today. Somehow won the championship. I mean, really, I’m just speechless. I can’t believe it. We had an average car at best.”

Hamlin didn’t. He thought it was his time.

“Yeah, the team brought a great championship car,” he said. “I felt like I drove it just right up until two laps to go.

“Yeah, this is the part that stinks.”

X (Twitter) users responded to the goal for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race pilots …

Taking a final look at the desert venue before NASCAR starts rotating the national series’ Championship 4 weekend in 2026 …

The stars came out to the desert for Championship 4 weekend …

Hamlin clearly was the pre-race fan favorite …

In preparation for the final four, the underdog spoke about his recent journey …

Firing it up for the Championship 4 race …

Going green for the 2025 drivers’ championship …

Through the opening 30 laps, Hamlin maintained a 0.8-second lead over Byron …

Twenty-three laps later, Byron outmuscled Hamlin along Turn 2 …

Byron earned the Stage 1 win …

Hamlin returned serve in Stage 2 …

The Championship 4 drivers were joined by others experiencing tire wear issues Sunday …

Correct, Carson Hocevar? …

Right, Noah Gragson? …

With 27 laps remaining, Briscoe led the field to green and Byron made his bid to capture his first title. The effort fell short …

The Championship 4 contenders went four wide on Lap 289 …

Byron became the first to bow out …

A similar four-tire change strategy worked for Corey Heim in the Truck Series race Friday night. Hamlin’s team gamble fell short …

The strategy worked for the No. 5 Chevrolet team …

By the way, 2023 Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney took the checkered flag Sunday …

Hamlin, who led more laps than any previous Championship 4 driver, took the outcome hard …

Briscoe admitted things “just didn’t have it go our way” …

Larson rallied from a lap down to earn his second title since 2021. Kudos …

Championship family time …

Jeff Hawkins Written by Sports EditorJeff Hawkins
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry, in both print and digital media. He joined the Sportscasting team in 2021 following a decade of freelancing. He spent his early career as a reporter for various newspapers in Illinois, New York, Florida, North Carolina, and Michigan, with a particular emphasis as a beat reporter for the Chicago Blackhawks. Jeff earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from Oakland University. Over the course of his career he earned several sports writing awards, including two national awards from the Associated Press Sports Editors for column writing and news reporting. One of the five prized columns included a commentary on NASCAR's increasing corporate influences, particularly in northern racetracks — commentary which you might find Jeff building on as part of the Motorsports writing team at Sportscasting now.  
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