From October 31-November 2, 2025, NASCAR’s Championship Weekend took place at the Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. The final championship race at Phoenix before it shifts to Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida for 2026. Three new champions for each series – the Craftsman Truck Series, Xfinity Series, and Cup Series – were crowned for the 2025 season. Here’s how it all went down in the desert…
Craftsman Truck Series
The Truck Series finale immediately began with pre-race drama, as Front Row Motorsports driver Layne Riggs put his #34 Ford F-150 on pole, with teammate and driver of the #38 Chandler Smith alongside. However, because Riggs failed pre-race inspection too many times, he would have to start at the back of the field and serve a pass-through penalty on the opening lap. The title contenders’ starting positions were as follows after the penalty: Kaden Honeycutt (4th), Corey Heim (6th), Ty Majeski (8th), and Tyler Ankrum (18th).
After a first-lap caution, Heim went on to win both stages. On lap 111, a caution caused by a Clayton Green spin sparked a chain of chaos, as on lap 118, a red flag was brought out for a four-truck accident in turn three.
A 25-lap green flag run followed as Heim set his sights on the title. Unfortunately, Connor Mosack’s blown tire sent the race into overtime. Mosack was called into the NASCAR hauler following the race due to suspected manipulation that could have assisted teammate Ankrum.
On the next restart, Heim made a daring 7-wide pass in the third turn, passing cars that opted not to pit, as well as Majeski. Another red flag came out in turn three before they could take the white flag; this one involving Ankrum, diminishing his odds. Another overtime on the horizon.
In the second overtime, Heim successfully held off Majeski to win his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series title after a record-breaking 12-win, 19-top five, 21-top ten, 7-pole, 5.0-average finish season.
The real question is, what are Heim’s plans for the 2026 season?
Xfinity Series
This race also marked the final race for title sponsor Xfinity after a decade – O’Reilly Auto Parts will take over the role in 2026. Non-title contender Brandon Jones put his #20 Toyota Supra on pole. The title contenders consisted of Connor Zilisch (4th), Justin Allgaier (5th), Jesse Love (6th), and Carson Kvapil (14th).
The first two stages consisted of no cautions for incidents, with Taylor Gray winning stage one and Allgaier winning stage two. On lap 113, the first caution for cause came out, with another one coming out on lap 152.
The turning point of the race came with 24 laps to go, as the dominant Zilisch was passed by best friend Love. Love held off Aric Almirola to not only win the race, but establish himself as the final Xfinity Series champion. Love spoiled Zilisch’s 10-win season by only winning 2025’s first and last race. He scored 9 top fives, 22 top tens, 4 poles, and had an average finish of 11.1.
Cup Series
The most controversial of the three races was the Cup Series race. Title contenders Denny Hamlin, William Byron, and Kyle Larson started nose-to-tail, 1-2-3; Chase Briscoe began the day in 12th. Byron won stage one, and Hamlin won stage two under yellow.
What was so controversial about this race, though? The tire wear. Tires were wearing out and falling out quickly, causing many drivers to blow tires and make pit stops more frequently. Larson and Briscoe had tire issues throughout the day, but were able to continue on.
A total of seven cautions had come out due to incidents between laps 70 and 279. All of a sudden, Hamlin was holding onto a strong lead with three laps to go. Three laps away from a first NASCAR title, with his father watching in critical condition from the hospital.
But then, it was all wiped away. Title rival Byron, who had been running behind Hamlin in second, blew a tire and hit the wall. Caution out, one pit stop and overtime to decide the title.
The championship ended up coming down to one last pit stop. Larson opted to take two tires and get track position, Hamlin went for four to have fresher tires. A few minutes later, the pace car was about to pull in one final time.
On the final restart, Hamlin was mired in traffic, and struggled to pick cars off. Larson’s track position, somehow, was outlasting the power of the #11 Toyota Camry. Ryan Blaney passed former teammate Brad Keselowski in the final corner to win the race, but it would be Larson walking away with his second Cup Series title, first in the “Next Gen” era, and first since his dominant 2021 season. Fans swarmed in with public outcry, since Larson won the championship despite leading 0 laps in the final race. The driver of the #5 Chevrolet’s stat line read 3 wins, 15 top fives, 22 top tens, one pole, and an average finish of 13.2.
Who will reign supreme in 2026? NASCAR returns with Daytona Speedweeks February 13-15, 2026.
