Heartbreak for Hamlin in NASCAR Cup title bid with finality

AVONDALE, Ariz. — With biting irony and a sense of finality, Denny Hamlin left yet another NASCAR Cup Series season as the runner-up driver in the championship.

20 seasons. Five Championship 4 bids. A close second-place points finish in 2010. Another one to add in 2025. Still no championship.

Heartbreak had been shaping up to be a hard-earned breakthrough just a few minutes before. Denny Hamlin led William Byron in the championship with a few laps to go.

“I was about ready to jump off the box and congratulate Joe [Gibbs, team owner],” Rick Hendrick said in his championship press conference.

All of a sudden, Byron blew a tire and brought out the caution just laps before Hamlin could get the white flag to virtually seal the deal.

Ahead of an overtime restart, Hamlin’s No. 11 team took four fresh tires while Larson’s No. 5 team took two. Larson was just a few positions ahead of him, driving Hamlin to put his whole heart into two perfect laps that would crown him Cup champion.

When the checkered flag flew, Hamlin settled for second in the championship. Four tenths was the difference between Sunday being the best day of his racing career — and Sunday arguably being the worst day of his racing career.

The finish harkened to the last time the NASCAR Cup Series championship race went into overtime.

After years of coming so close but falling short, Carl Edwards had everything going his way with the championship lead in the closing laps of the 2016 championship race.

Then, a tire issue caused a caution and a restart where Edwards crashed out in the final moment as a NASCAR driver.

Edwards had to watch his most fierce competitor (Jimmie Johnson) win another Cup while he walked away empty-handed — much like Hamlin had to watch Kyle Larson win under similar circumstances Sunday.

Both drivers walked away knowing they did everything they could — whether through some fortunate breaks or 260-some laps for Carl Edwards or a season worth of work and hype for Denny Hamlin.

“In this moment I never want to race a car ever again. I mean, my fun meter is pegged,” Hamlin said.

The defeat was gutting for Hamlin, maybe more than Edwards. Hamlin came into the weekend telling everyone about his father, the man who meant everything to his racing career and was ready to smoke a celebratory cigar with his son to celebrate — finally.

The man who was also going to watch his son race for the championship one last time in his life.

“Shock but also sad too,” Larson said about his emotions after winning the championship over Hamlin.

Much like Edwards and Johnson, Hamlin and Larson have a good relationship away from the track that transcends racing and connects to life.

“He’s a great competitor and great friend. In 20 years of trying. There’s a part of me that feels mad and sad but a part of me that’s happy. You watch a guy, 20 years, who had it in his grasp and then you win. It’s a weird feeling,” Larson said.

Life ultimately transcending racing for Hamlin and Edwards — the latter of whom stepped away from racing after his 2016 defeat upon grappling with the prospect of going through the same circumstances again in 2017 with the one-race championship.

Instead of entering 2026 triumphant, Hamlin enters 2026 with unknowns. How will the lawsuit go with his team and Front Row Motorsports against NASCAR? What is next for Hamlin as he has two more chances at a championship?

Will there be another chance at a championship for Hamlin?

The unknowns go beyond Hamlin and connect to the championship format, which faces a change — much like what happened in 2017 after Edwards’ defeat.

This time around, it is likely a move away from the one-race championship that caused so much heartbreak for Edwards and Hamlin.

Hamlin has nothing left to prove in his Cup career. A championship ultimately won’t make a difference in a legacy of longevity, versatility and ability to show up in events where the lights are truly the brightest.

Someday, a championship could be the cherry on top — but it remains to see what seeds have been sown with a storybook ending no one got to see.