“I can’t believe it. We didn’t lead a lap today and somehow won the championship.” – Kyle Larson to Marty Snider on winning the 2025 Cup Series Championship
“The 33-year-old from Elk Grove, California, Kyle Larson comes to the line and is a two-time champion! He just had the drive of his life.” – Leigh Diffey
“Nothing I could’ve done different. Prepared as best as I could coming into the weekend and my team gave me a fantastic car. Just didn’t work out…What can you do? It’s just not meant to be.” – Denny Hamlin to Snider
AVONDALE, Ariz. – Nov. 2, 2025 – Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports won the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Championship this afternoon on NBC and Peacock – his second career Cup Series title. Larson outdueled fellow Championship 4 contenders Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (sixth place), who led 208 laps and had the lead with three laps to go before a caution; Chase Briscoe of Joe Gibbs Racing (18th place); and William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports (33rd place) at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Ariz.
RACE RESULTS | ||
| Position | Driver | Car # |
| 3 | Kyle Larson | 5 |
| 6 | Denny Hamlin | 11 |
| 18 | Chase Briscoe | 19 |
| 33 | William Byron | 24 |
21-time Cup Series race winner and “The Mayor” of NASCAR Jeff Burton and Daytona 500-winning crew chief Steve Letarte served as analysts for the Cup Series Championship race from Phoenix Raceway with NBC Sports’ lead NASCAR race announcer Leigh Diffey. Marty Snider, Kim Coon, Dave Burns, and Parker Kligerman provided reports from pit road.
NBC Sports’ Countdown to Green pre-race coverage was hosted by Marty Snider alongside Hall of Fame driver Dale Jarrett, Letarte, and Hyak Motorsports co-owner Brad Daugherty.
POST-RACE QUOTES
Kyle Larson to Marty Snider on winning his second career Cup Series championship: “I can’t believe it. We didn’t lead a lap today and somehow won the championship. We had an average car at best, we had the right front go down, lost a lap, got saved by the caution, did the wave-around, and was really bad that run…Unbelievable. What a year from this Hendrick Motorsports team.”
Hamlin to Snider on coming in second after leading 208 laps: “Nothing I could’ve done different. Prepared as best as I could coming into the weekend and my team gave me a fantastic car. Just didn’t work out…What can you do? It’s just not meant to be.”
STAGE 3 QUOTES
Diffey as Kyle Larson crossed the finish line for his second Cup Series championship: “The 33-year-old from Elk Grove, California, Kyle Larson comes to the line and is a two-time champion! When the day looked done, he never gave up. He just had the drive of his life.”
Burton on Hamlin’s race strategy: “As a racecar driver, how do you want to win a championship race? You want to be faster than everyone else…From a speed standpoint, there is no question who has been the fastest today. It’s Denny Hamlin.”
Diffey on Hamlin: “With three Daytona 500 wins, 60 Cup Series wins, he wants to have at least one championship. He wants to do it for himself, he wants to do it for Coach Joe Gibbs, he wants to do it for his family, and especially under the circumstances with his ill father, he wants to do it for his dad.”
Burton on Hamlin maintaining his lead with 22 laps to go: “Races aren’t always won with aggression. They’re won with your mind. Denny Hamlin, a great move.”
Letarte with 29 laps to go: “We’ve run 283 laps and we’ve had a clutch issue, four flat tires, a free pass, a wave-around, two bad pit stops, and now they run 1-4. I mean, could you imagine this?”
Diffey: “This is going to set up for an unreal final 50 laps.”
Letarte during a caution with 52 laps to go: “Is it speed or durability? What’s going to win this championship with 52 to go?”
Burton on Byron knowing the tire issues that have plagued the field: “There is a championship ahead of me and the guy behind me is trying to take it away from me but how hard can I push it?”
Diffey: “It’s going to be the story of the day, who can hang in there without any issues?”
Burton on Hamlin and Byron strategies: “Your competition has had issues. Are they going to be more conservative? If they do, that will take some speed out of the cars.”
Diffey: “William Byron is the only one who hasn’t had a tire issue.”
Letarte on simultaneous tire issues for Larson and Briscoe: “Chaos erupts here.”
Letarte on Briscoe moving to second place after being back-of-the-pack after a tire issue: “You talk about the resilience of the year, it’s really been the resilience of the day for Chase Briscoe.”
STAGE 2 QUOTES
Letarte on Hamlin’s clutch issue: “I don’t love anything about what I’m hearing about this.”
Letarte on Briscoe: “Something is amiss on this car…the car shouldn’t vibrate this consistently at all these various speeds.”
Burton on Briscoe’s right rear tire failure happening under caution: “In a bad situation, a lot of good things happened.”
Burton on Hamlin’s one-second lead: “It tells me he is learning and pushing his race car. He wants to know what it can and can’t do…The other guys aren’t doing that.”
Letarte on Hamlin’s clutch problem: “Normally it wouldn’t concern me, but this team has been plagued by mechanical issues…It’s not an issue during the race but it is in the pits.”
STAGE 1 QUOTES
Snyder: “It’s become very clear to [the teams about today’s race]. How good are you going to be on older tires?”
Diffey at green flag: “Here in Pheonix. It’s championship day. Let’s go!”
PRE-RACE
Jarrett: “This is a moment they will remember for the rest of their lives.”
Daugherty: “How you perform in these moments will define your legacy.”
Pre-race coverage on NBC and Peacock included:
- Special interviews with all Championship 4 drivers, including:
- William Byron and a feature narrated by seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson;
- Denny Hamlin with Joe Gibbs Motorsports founder and co-owner Joe Gibbs;
- A feature on Chase Briscoe, focusing on his relationship with his family;
- A segment on Kyle Larson, featuring his son, Owen, and daughter, Audrey, who provided him with bracelets live on air;
- NBC Sports NASCAR analyst and Daytona 500-winning crew chiefs Steve Letarte with all four Championship 4 crew chiefs;
- Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time and Arizona resident, voicing the opening tease for the Cup Series Championship race;
- NBC Sports’ NASCAR studio analysts take a look at their favorite moments of the 2025 season;
- And a live performance by Country Music Association Award-winning artist Jordan Davis, performing his song, “Bar None.”
- Actress Sydney Sweeney brought out the checkered flag during pre-race ceremonies.
--NBC SPORTS--
