Denny Hamlin was denied a first NASCAR Cup Series title, and his family were heartbroken
15:13 ET, 19 Nov 2025Updated 15:13 ET, 19 Nov 2025
Denny Hamlin did his best to hold it together after the Championship race(Image: James Gilbert, Getty Images)
Denny Hamlin struggled to maintain his composure as his partner Jordan Fish and their two daughters were left in tears after the NASCAR Cup Championship.
Earlier this month at Phoenix Raceway, Kyle Larson clinched his second Cup Series championship in a thrilling finish. Despite not leading a single lap, Larson managed to snatch the win in overtime, prolonging Hamlin’s wait for the title.
Hamlin had led for 208 laps and was dominating from pole position until a caution flag was raised with just three laps remaining due to William Byron experiencing a tire issue. Consequently, the seasoned Joe Gibbs Racing veteran lost several spots in the pit lane as his crew changed all four tires, allowing the 33-year-old Larson to secure his second Cup Series championship.
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After the race, an emotional reunion awaited Hamlin as his daughters, Taylor and Molly, along with Fish – who shared her heartbreak on social media – were all in tears. On his ‘Actions Detrimental’ podcast, Hamlin shared how he felt seeing his family so upset and the need to stay strong in that moment.
“I try to just maintain my composure just, like, as much as I could,” Hamlin said. “Especially for the kids because they can’t believe what they saw… all I know is what Jordan told me.
“Molly was super upset, like right when we came off of pit road, she said Molly started losing it, like ‘why is he 10th?’ So I just tried to maintain my composure as much as I could for them to kind of teach them one of the life lessons of, you’re going to face things that are not fair sometimes. And that’s what I did tell them.
Hamlin embraced an emotional Jordan Fish following his championship agony(Image: GETTY)
“This is life, and you better get used to it that things are not always going to happen as planned. Some things will happen to you that are going to be unfair at times, but that’s sports.
“That’s how it goes. We can just chalk it up to, ‘well that’s sports and you just got unlucky there or maybe we made a bad call.’ In the end, they didn’t really want to hear any of that, for sure.”
Denny Hamlin explained his feelings at the NASCAR Championship on his ‘Actions Detrimental’ podcast(Image: Actions Detrimental)
Following the crushing loss, questions swirled about whether Hamlin might hang up his helmet, particularly after he admitted that immediately afterward, he felt like walking away from racing forever. He quickly dismissed retirement talk, instead insisting his approach to moving forward is to get back behind the wheel.
“Prepared as good as I could coming into the weekend, and my team gave me a fantastic car,” Hamlin said. “Just didn’t work out. I was just praying that no caution came out… had one there, and that’s racing.”