Kevin Harvick knows a thing or two about what makes a good victory burnout. Sixty NASCAR Cup Series wins means a lot of burnouts, and Harvick saw plenty this season that caught his eye.

One stuck out more than the others, however. Harvick, speaking on Tuesday’s “Happy Hour” podcast, awarded Kyle Larson with the 2025 Best Burnout award for his celebration after winning the championship race at Phoenix Raceway.

“There were a lot of elements to this particular burnout,” Harvick said. “I think being the surprise winner at the end with all the strategy and not being in contention all day and then Cliff [Daniels] making a great call at the end and Kyle Larson keeping that car ahead of Denny Hamlin and the rest of them that were still racing for the championship. This burnout right here, getting out of the car, car against the fence, waving the flag, on the gas, team standing against the wall and the celebration afterwards, to me, definitely was one of the top moments.”

Kyle Larson breaks down NASCAR championship race on ‘The Tonight Show’

It’s hard to go against a championship burnout, and that’s what this was for Larson. He proudly waved the flag as a two-time champion, which seemed unlikely for much of the championship race at Phoenix.

Larson didn’t lead a single lap. At one point, he blew a tire and went a lap down. Larson and the No. 5 team kept battling and by the start of overtime, Daniels had Larson in front of Hamlin, who dominated the race up to that point.

Larson appeared last week on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.” He admitted he got “lucky” at Phoenix, though he certainly won’t be giving the trophy back to NASCAR.

“Yeah, I got pretty lucky. The way our format is, you know, it comes down to one race, four drivers,” Larson said. “We’re competing with the other drivers, too, but you just have to beat the other three, and I was not going to do that until we got a late caution. Our team gambled, took two tires, and… yeah, I had a flat tire with under 100 laps to go, it was crazy. … I thought it was close to over. I tried to stay somewhat motivated and confident, but never in a million years did I think it would actually pay off.”