“I had no idea”: Cliff Daniels reflects on his ‘surreal’ Championship race moment with Kyle Larson

Kyle Larson’s crew chief, Cliff Daniels, was so stressed out during the NASCAR Cup Series grand finale at Phoenix last Sunday that he stopped looking when the field took the green. He didn’t even see where Larson finished. The only thing he knew was that they had won the 2025 Cup Series championship.

It all happened during a recent interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, which was later posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. Daniels revealed that he was standing with Kyle Larson right after the race, and that’s when he asked the two-time Cup champion where the latter had finished.

“When we took the green, my eyes were closed. I watched none of it,” Daniels said, almost cracking into laughter. “The funniest thing, so my head was down, I was just listening the whole time...I could hear from Tyler (Monn, spotter) how everything was going.” “I had no idea because I didn't watch any of it, who won the race, where we even finished,” Daniels continued. “So we were standing together after the race, and I asked Kyle, 'Hey man, where did we finish? Like 6th or 8th?' He's like, 'No man, I almost won the race. We were three-wide at the finish line.' That was quite the moment. It was surreal.”

Kyle Larson became the first driver in the 11-year history of the elimination-style playoffs to win the championship race without leading a single lap. Denny Hamlin, who led a race-high 208 of 312 laps, finished sixth.

Ryan Blaney won the race, followed by Brad Keselowski and Larson in the top three. Rounding off the top five were Joey Logano and Kyle Busch.

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Kyle Larson reflects on his unbelievable championship victory at Phoenix despite leading laps

Kyle Larson was pleasantly surprised when he won the championship without leading a single lap. He had a tire issue during the 312-lap event, which made him go one lap down. Following that, Larson had to do a wave-around to return to the lead lap.

The final caution changed the course of the event. William Byron hit the wall with a flat tire while running behind Denny Hamlin. For the following restart, Larson was placed fifth, while Hamlin, who had fresher tires, was placed second. But Larson's car had better grip than Hamlin's.

By clinching the 2025 Cup Series championship, Kyle Larson became the 18th driver in series history to win multiple Cup titles. It also marked the 15th for Hendrick Motorsports, the team he drives for.

“We did the best job we could,” Larson said after finishing third. “Honestly, I can't believe it. Like, we didn't lead a lap today. Somehow won the championship. I mean, really, I'm just speechless. I can't believe it.“

Next up for the drivers is the 68th running of the Daytona 500, scheduled for February 15, 2026.

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Edited by Tushhita Barua