'This is is definitely the most unexpected championship', says 15-time NASCAR champion owner Hendrick

Rick Hendrick is now a 15-time championship-winning car owner in the NASCAR Cup Series, but the newest one accomplished a first.

“This is definitely the most unexpected championship,” Hendrick said Tuesday. “I had conceded, and in my mind, it was over because Denny [Hamlin] had about a three-second lead and a few laps left. Then all of a sudden, the caution comes out.”

Kyle Larson’s No. 5 team took two tires, which gave him track position and the championship. Hendrick, who is 76 years old, admitted afterward that the chaotic events of overtime caused him to nearly jump off the pit box. And even days later, he is not sure he fully kept up with everything that was happening because of how fast it unfolded.

Hamlin was the dominant driver of Sunday’s finale. He led 208 laps and was four laps away from potentially his first championship when the caution came out. William Byron, another Hendrick Motorsports driver in the Championship 4, blew a tire to trigger the caution.

“You plan, you get here, you’re excited, everybody works hard and all that, and you have all these expectations, and then you’re in the race and somebody else is dominating as Denny did, and then you’re just accepting the fact,” Hendrick said. “Then all of a sudden, the window opens and you get a shot and get it done.”

It was the second Cup Series title for Larson. Hendrick has won three of the last six Cup Series championships.

Larson also scored the most points of any Cup Series driver in 2025. So, either way, he would have been crowned champion, and Hendrick was told of that fact since he likes the full-season point method. Byron, who won the regular-season championship, would have been second under the format.

“It is a big number,” Hendrick said. “That means I’m an old man.”

Hendrick Motorsports is the winningest organization in the Cup Series (320) and has the most championships. Larson’s triumph came 30 years after Hendrick won his first championship with Jeff Gordon. 

“Jimmie Johnson won a bunch with five in a row, Jeff (Gordon) and Terry (Labonte) won four in a row, and with this car and the format, I don’t know that anybody is going to back-to-back them like (Team) Penske did,” Hendrick said. “But I think all of our guys are capable, and they showed that. We won the regular-season deal. 

“So, I’m excited about the future, and we’re just as hungry as we’ve ever been. If we keep the teams together and keep getting better and learning from each other and sharing together, stronger together, I think we’ll be a force every year.”