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Denny Hamlin’s emotions poured out after losing the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway. Denny Hamlin led 208 of the 312 laps at Phoenix.Driving the No. 11 Toyota, he stayed ahead of his three Championship 4 rivals and built a lead of more than three seconds over William Byron. But with three laps left, Byron hit the wall after a tire issue, bringing out a caution. That yellow flag changed everything.Kyle Larson, who was running mid-pack, took two tires during the pit stop. Hamlin chose four, which dropped him to 10th for the restart. In NASCAR Overtime, that gap was too much to recover. Larson charged to third, winning his second championship, while Hamlin finished sixth. In a tweet posted by journalist Jeff Gluck on X, Hamlin said,“In this moment, I never want to race a car ever again. My fun meter is pegged.”The Joe Gibbs Racing driver, who had led most of the race and looked set to finally win the championship that has eluded him for years. Speaking to NBC after the race, Denny Hamlin said there was nothing more he could have done.“Nothing I can do different,” he said. “Prepared as good as I could coming into the weekend. My team gave me a fantastic car. Just didn’t work out. I was just praying that no caution. Had one there. What can you do?”The 2025 season had been one of Denny Hamlin’s strongest. He won six races, the most of any driver that year. He even skipped the Mexico City race in June to be there for the birth of his third child. His win at Las Vegas was his 60th career win and secured his spot in the Championship 4 early, giving his team extra time to prepare for Phoenix.As per NASCAR.com, Hamlin raced this season with his father, Dennis, in mind. His father’s health had been declining, and Hamlin dedicated his Las Vegas win to him.This was Denny Hamlin’s fifth time in the Championship 4. He finished second in points, matching his best finish from 2010 when he lost to Jimmie Johnson.“We risked a lot as a family”: Denny Hamlin reflects on the cost of chasing his NASCAR dreamIn April 2025, Denny Hamlin spoke about how his racing career began with family sacrifice. On the On Track with Annie podcast, he shared how his parents worked normal jobs but took big financial risks to support his early racing dreams.“The biggest hurdle that most young kids will find when they get into motorsports is that it costs money,” Hamlin said. “You have to buy a car and the tires and the fuel and the engine when it blows or you crash—you gotta keep fixing it. So it takes a lot of funding.”Denny Hamlin said his father, Dennis, worked at Great Dane Tractor Trailers and his mother, Mary Lou, worked at AAA Travel. Both supported him even when it put a strain on their finances."My parents had very normal jobs… And so it was more me pushing them to keep me going. We risked a lot as a family,” he said.The Hamlins even mortgaged their home to keep his racing career alive. His father worked as his mechanic and crew chief, while his mother handled finances and travel plans. Their hard work paid off when Hamlin started winning races in the Carolinas and Virginia.By 2003, Denny Hamlin had won 25 of 35 Late Model races. That success caught the attention of NASCAR Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs. Joe Gibbs gave him a shot, and by 2004, Hamlin was racing full-time in what is now the Xfinity Series. A year later, he moved to the Cup Series, where he still competes today.
