Denny Hamlin Processes Championship Loss
The post Denny Hamlcom. Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Progressive Toyota, exits his car after the NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway on November 02, 2025 in Avondale, Arizona. I just need a break to reset.” Those were some of Denny Hamlin’s comments just days after a heartbreaking loss in the Nascar Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 2. One cannot blame Hamlin, who won a series-best six races in 2025 and led 208 of 319 laps in the season finale, for feeling this way. “It’s about what you would think, as good as it could be,” Hamlin said last week, less than four full days after his disappointing loss. “I’ve had a lot of different things that have happened over the course of my career. I’ve been knocked out or lost championships in different kinds of ways. That was certainly the closest we have been. “It’s just a life lesson. Sometimes, life’s not fair, even though you feel deserving. Still, circumstances have to fall your way. There’s nothing I could have done behind the wheel to change the result. It’s just the way races play out, and that’s the format.” Hamlin, now a grizzly veteran at 44 years old, had arguably his best chance at winning a championship end in a way that reminded Nascar fans of Carl Edwards’ 2016 loss and complete departure from Nascar racing. Hamlin spoke to Edwards the week after Phoenix. With three laps remaining at Phoenix, less than one minute before taking the white flag, William Byron had a tire woe and clobbered the outside wall entering Turn 3. Hamlin and No. 11 crew chief Chris Gayle pitted for four tires, while Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson took two tires. Larson restarted on. Continue reading Denny Hamlin Processes Championship Loss