AVONDALE, Ariz. — The final championship race at Phoenix ended in a similar manner to the one in 2023. A non-playoff driver won the race while a Championship 4 contender captured the championship with a top-five finish.
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Ryan Blaney took the lead from Brad Keselowski in overtime, and he captured his first career win at Phoenix Raceway. He closed out the most successful season of his career in terms of wins (four).
MORE: Phoenix Raceway results
Meanwhile, Kyle Larson crossed the finish line in third place to win his second Cup Series championship. Larson did not lead a lap all day, and he actually fell outside of the top 30 after a flat tire. Yet, he ultimately recovered and got back into contention when it mattered most.
He used a two-tire stop to get ahead of Denny Hamlin, who had led a race-high 208 laps, and he remained in the championship race during a two-lap overtime shootout. This performance was enough to secure the title.
THE TIRE STRATEGY PAYS OFF!
KYLE LARSON IS THE 2025 NASCAR CUP SERIES CHAMPION! pic.twitter.com/O3eNtB7IrL
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 3, 2025
"Honestly, I can't believe it," Larson said after the race. "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. We had the right front go down, lost a lap. Got saved by the caution. Did the wave-around. Was really bad that run. We took two tires. I was like, 'Oh, God, here we go. We're going to go to the back now.'
"It had a lot more grip than I anticipated. We got lucky with the final caution. I was really hoping we were going to take two again. I felt like I learned a lot on that restart, bombing 1 and 2 really hard. Thought I could do the same thing if we got another one. Just unbelievable."
Larson now joins an exclusive club. He is one of three active drivers with at least two Cup Series championships. He joins two-time champion Kyle Busch and three-time champion Joey Logano. He is the 18th driver to win multiple championships.
"I mean, Kyle deserves it. He's a fantastic racer," Logano told FanBuzz on pit road after the race. "He does it a lot different than me, so it's interesting to see how they do it. But they obviously have a great team. They have their motorsports style.
"Larson's a great driver, so it's a great, great team, and they show up when it matters. They do that really well. They were down and out today and figured out a way to win a championship. So, kudos to them, good job to them, and that's that."
