Rick Hendrick’s message to Denny Hamlin after – Sports News
The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series championship race at Phoenix Raceway had every thing — dominance, chaos, heartbreak, and celebration. For most of the afternoon, it regarded like Denny Hamlin was lastly going to seize his elusive first title.
The veteran, who had a message to his terminally in poor health father after lacking out on the title, led 208 of the 319 laps and appeared in full control heading into the closing stretch. But a late warning with simply 4 laps to go, triggered when William Byron blew a tire and hit the wall, flipped the race on its head.
That yellow flag set up a two-lap time beyond regulation shootout that modified every thing. Kyle Larson, who had spent most of the race combating back from a lap down after a flat tire, took a daring two-tire call from crew chief Cliff Daniels, prompting a win that Bubba Wallace predicted practically two years in the past.
That determination vaulted him forward of Hamlin, who took 4 tires and restarted deeper within the area. Larson didn’t win the race outright however completed third total, the best among the many Championship 4, enough to clinch his second NASCAR Cup Series title.
After the checkered flag, the contrasting feelings couldn’t have been starker. Larson celebrated wildly along with his Hendrick Motorsports crew, spraying champagne as confetti crammed Victory Lane.
Across pit street, Hamlin sat immobile in his car for practically two minutes, surprised at how shortly his dominant day had unraveled.
Rick Hendrick, the Hall of Fame staff proprietor who has now gained 15 Cup titles, admitted that even amid his staff’s pleasure, he felt real sympathy for Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing.
“Well most of the time I have a little bit of a warning that it’s going to happen,” Hendrick mentioned after the race. “This time I had no warning, and I almost went to my knees. I feel bad for Denny and Joe (Gibbs), but that’s the way it happens. I’ve lost some that way.”
Hendrick acknowledged the chaotic nature of the race and mirrored on how unpredictable NASCAR championships could be.
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“Can’t believe it’s been 30 years since we did the first one, but now 15 (winners), that’s a pretty good ratio,” he mentioned. “So guys worked hard. It was an unbelievable race. I’ve never seen a race that had that much action with tires and so forth.”
He additionally credited Larson’s resilience and his staff’s late-season turnaround after a turbulent summer time.
“They had a rough summer and the Indy thing and we came back to Charlotte and crashed in the first lap,” Hendrick mentioned.
“It just wasn’t the 5’s kind of year. Then toward the end of the year we started running really good and our guys did a lot of work on the short tracks and the flat tracks and it started showing up. … This is a crazy sport. It’s not over till it’s over. And that proves it today.”
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