Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson clinched his second Cup Series championship title on Sunday, November 2, 2025. Later, during a post-race interview, Larson felt "bad and sad" for his championship rival, Denny Hamlin.The #5 Chevy Camaro ZL1 driver had a decent qualifying session and began the race from third place. Meanwhile, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver and his rival, Hamlin, clinched the pole position for the 312-lap race. The #11 Toyota Camry XSE driver was fastest at the one-mile track with a lap time of 26.91 seconds and a top speed of 133.76 mph.Both Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin stayed consistent among the top-five drivers in stages one and two. However, Hamlin's last pit call changed the outcome of the race. The JGR driver opted to take four tires while everyone took two, ending his shot at the championship title.Despite winning the championship title, the Hendrick Motorsports driver felt bad for the #11 Toyota Camry team and expressed his emotions:“There’s definitely a large part of me that feels really bad and sad.”Denny Hamlin's last pit stop allowed Kyle Larson to cross the finish line ahead of him in third place. Meanwhile, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver completed the 319-lap race in sixth place."Kyle and I were completely locked into": Kyle Larson's crew chief opened up about missing the media day at Phoenix Raceway2025 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson's crew chief, Cliff Daniels, skipped the press day ahead of the season finale race. Later, during an interview, Daniels apologized for missing the media day and revealed the reason behind it.The #5 Chevy faced some issues during the practice session ahead of the main 312-lap race. Larson's ride scuffed off the wall and had some tire problems. Following that, Daniels and Larson were locked into fixing the issues before stepping foot into the Championship 4 race and lost track of time.Cliff Daniels further confirmed that Kyle Larson felt comfortable with the fixes and stated:"Was extended for a little while with the tire issues. Kyle and I were completely locked into what we had going on, and I was looking at the car, and before I knew it, I missed our time. So my apologies for that. Thank you all for accommodating overall for the weekend. I think our team's in a really good spot.""Kyle feels pretty comfortable in the car. We were looking for a few different things through our practice progression yesterday, trying to find the right look at short-run speed and then capture a runner who really focused on the medium-to long-run pace," he added.Kyle Larson and Cliff Daniels have been working together since 2021. The crew chief has guided Larson to multiple victories and two Cup Series championship titles in 2021 and 2025.