When William Byron hit the Turn 3 wall with bone-jarring impact on lap 310 of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race, the gut punch it delivered to Denny Hamlin was exponentially more painful.
The resulting caution and strategic call by crew chief Cliff Daniels allowed Kyle Larson to snatch the Cup Series championship from Hamlin without leading a lap at Phoenix Raceway.
Larson finished third behind race winner Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski to claim his second title in NASCAR’s top division and the 15th for team owner Rick Hendrick as the highest finisher among the Championship 4 drivers – Hamlin, Byron and Chase Briscoe.
It was the 15th Cup championship for team owner Rick Hendrick, and it came with a major plot twist in the final stage.
With the scheduled 312 laps winding down, Hamlin led Byron by nearly 3s and appeared headed for the first Cup title in his 20 full-time seasons behind the wheel of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
In dominating fashion, Hamlin led seven times for 207 laps. Though he battled a balky clutch and rallied from a flat left-rear tire after winning the second stage, he failed to win the championship for the fifth time under the elimination Playoff format.
Instead, it was Larson who went to victory lane to receive the Bill France Cup, almost in disbelief.
“H onestly, I can’t believe it,” Larson said. “Like, we didn’t lead a lap today. Somehow won the championship. I mean, really, I’m just speechless. I can’t believe it. We had an average car at best.”
After Byron’s wreck, which sent the race to overtime, Daniels opted for two right-side tires for the second straight pit stop. Hamlin pitted from the lead and took fresh rubber on all four corners.
But with Keselowski, Ryan Preece and Alex Bowman staying out on older tires, and Blaney, Larson, Joey Logano, Josh Berry, Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott taking right sides only, Hamlin lined up 10th for the overtime restart – five spots behind Larson – and chose the bottom row for the final run.
From the outside lane, Larson charged through the first two corners and maintained a gap between his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and Hamlin’s Camry. On the final lap, Hamlin lost momentum on the bottom in Turns 1 and 2 and couldn’t recover.
He finished sixth, as Blaney edged Keselowski by 0.097s for the race win.
Larson got the confidence he needed on the first two-tire call under caution on lap 281. He restarted second beside Briscoe and was able to maintain fifth place before Byron hit the wall.
“We had the right front go down [earlier], lost a lap,” Larson said. “Got saved by the caution. Did the wave-around. Was really bad that run. We took two tires. I was like, ‘Oh, God, here we go. We’re going to go to the back now.’
“It had a lot more grip than I anticipated. We got lucky with the final caution. I was really hoping we were going to take two again. I felt like I learned a lot on that restart, bombing [Turns] 1 and 2 really hard. Thought I could do the same thing if we got another one.
“Just unbelievable. What a year by this Hendrick Motorsports [team]. Cliff Daniels, everybody, his leadership, his complete leadership just showed that whole race, keeping us all motivated, always having a plan. All of that. That’s just the story of our season.
“Again, just unbelievable. I cannot believe it. This is insane.”
Doubtless Hamlin would agree. He and his team brought the fastest car to Phoenix and executed a near-flawless race. The clutch issue and flat left-rear tire were challenges the No. 11 team overcame without panicking.
But the championship eluded Hamlin once again.
“Did the best I could,” Hamlin said. “Everything I really prepared for happened today. I felt like we responded, even losing track position at one point, just battling back. Did really well on restarts. Hadn’t been good on restarts for the bulk of the year.
“Yeah, the team brought a great championship car. I felt like I drove it just right up until two laps to go. Yeah, this is the part that stinks…
“Golly, in this moment I never want to race a car ever again,” Hamlin said with a wry smile. “I mean, my fun meter is pegged.”
Blaney’s win was almost an afterthought, but it also was tantalizingly close to a second championship for the driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford. Blaney finished second to Byron in a must-win situation last Sunday at Martinsville Speedway – one spot away from qualifying for the Championship 4.
“It’s just cool to end it on a good note,” Blaney said. “It’s just cool, and obviously we had a fast car all day. Those other guys (Hamlin and Byron) were just kind of faster getting going, and I could never retain the lead.
“Those guys were just really good, and it took my car a while to come in, but it was a really good call for two (tires) there and keeping track position. I got a decent restart, and I was able to kind of roll the bottom in [Turns] 3 and 4 and eke the No. 6 (Keselowski) out at the line.”
Byron, who finished 33rd after leading 52 laps and winning the first stage, expressed sympathy for Hamlin, even though the lap 310 accident gave his teammate the chance to win the title.
“I’m just super bummed that it was a caution, obviously,” Byron said. “I hate that. Hate it for Denny. I hate it for the No. 11 team.
“I’m happy for Kyle, for Mr. Hendrick – they deserve it. Yeah, it stinks, right? I don’t know, three laps to go, I’m thinking, ‘Let me get to the end.’
“I felt something funny off of [Turn 2], thought it might be a flat. I thought at the time if it’s left rear, you can kind of get back. It just went straight into [Turn] 3, laid down on the right rear, went straight [into the wall]. I hate that.”
Briscoe rallied from flat tires twice on Sunday, restarted 15th in overtime and finished 18th.
