Joe Gibbs' message to Denny Hamlin after a Cup Series championship defeat sounded like goodbye until fans replayed the audio following NASCAR's Phoenix finale

Denny Hamlin still feels the pain of losing the NASCAR Cup title, and in a press event for the Awards Banquet, says he'll have to mull over returning in 2026.

Denny Hamlin says he’s doing as well as one would expect two days after losing the NASCAR Cup Series championship at Phoenix Raceway.“There is not a whole lot of second-guessing, I would say,” Hamlin said.

Joe Gibbs has opened up on Denny Hamlin's evolution over the past two decades and credited the driver's wife, Jordan Fish, and kids.

When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it,” Paulo Coelho famously once wrote in The Alchemist. And for Denny Hamlin, the 2025 NASCAR season felt like living proof of that idea.

Denny Hamlin was admittedly 'shocked' after losing out on the NASCAR Cup Series championship on a day where he was extremely dominant at Phoenix Raceway.

Hamlin’s history is littered with playoff woes. Sunday’s late caution brought back memories of the 2014 season finale at Homestead when two cautions in the last 15 laps doomed Hamlin and led to Kevin Harvick winning the championship.

The end of the championship race at Phoenix on Sunday was one to remember. Or if you’re Denny Hamlin, probably one to try to forget. Hamlin had the unfortunate distinction of falling victim to a late caution when he seemed otherwise poised to run away with the win.