Denny Hamlin has two years left on a NASCAR Cup Series contract extension he signed with Joe Gibbs Racing over the summer but the 'deep cut' of how he was denied his first championship on Sunday makes it hard for him to envision coming back.

Denny Hamlin was on the verge of finally winning a NASCAR Cup Series championship until contender's tire issue changed everything.

When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it,” Paulo Coelho famously once wrote in The Alchemist. And for Denny Hamlin, the 2025 NASCAR season felt like living proof of that idea.

Kyle Larson won the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series title without leading a lap Sunday at Phoenix Raceway. Here's how it all shook out.

Kyle Larson stood tall at the end of the Championship 4 in Phoenix last Sunday, clinching his second title, which came at the cost of heartbreak for Denny Hamlin.

Denny Hamlin says he’s doing as well as one would expect two days after losing the NASCAR Cup Series championship at Phoenix Raceway.“There is not a whole lot of second-guessing, I would say,” Hamlin said.