NASCAR championship weekend produces two first-time champions and another heartbreaking near-miss

For, likely, the final time under the one race, winner-take-all playoff format, NASCAR crowned three champions when the dust settled in the Arizona desert over the weekend at Phoenix Raceway.

While Corey Heim (Trucks) and Jesse Love (Xfinity) picked up their first championships, Kyle Larson's second Cup Series title came at the expense of another heartbreaking defeat for Denny Hamlin.

Here are some final thoughts from NASCAR's championship weekend:

Corey Heim punctuates historic season with Truck Series championship

After back-to-back years of coming up short in the title race, the 23-year-old from Marietta, Georgia was not going to be denied this time around. Despite some pit strategy forcing him to restart 10th with two laps to go, Heim incredibly put his truck near the inside wall on the apron and drove all the way up to second after a seven-wide maneuver.

After a quick caution and one final restart, Heim set sail for the title after leading 100 of the 161 laps in the race. That type of domination is nothing new for the Tricon Garage driver, who put together a legendary season with a series-record 12 wins, seven poles and a championship to cap it off.

Heim never finished worse than third in the last 11 races and was too much for fellow Championship 4 contenders Ty Majeski (second), Kaden Honeycutt (third) and Tyler Ankrum (14th) as he secured his first title.

Jesse Love surges late for Xfinity Series championship

Love lost the lead to Connor Zilisch on the race's final restart, but regained the top spot with 24 laps to go and pulled away to win his first Xfinity Series championship. Love bookended the season with wins at Daytona and Phoenix, outdueling Zilisch (third), 2024 champion Justin Allgaier (fifth) and Carson Kvapil (13th) to win the championship.

For the 19-year-old Zilisch, who heads to the Cup Series full-time in 2026 for Trackhouse Racing, he won a series rookie-record 10 races, led 1,013 laps and put together an incredible stretch of 18 consecutive top-five finishes, only to finish as the season's runner-up.

While it was another bad look for NASCAR's current playoff format, Love's ability to make the winning move late and win the championship should not go unnoticed. He was not the best for the entire season, but when the lights shined the brightest, he ran Zilisch down and drove the race of his life to take down his best friend.

Kyle Larson wins second Cup Series title; Denny Hamlin suffers more heartbreak

Hamlin led a race-high 208 laps and was three laps from his first title, while Larson fell a lap down and never led a lap in the race. In the end, a two-tire call for Larson to Hamlin's four for the overtime restart was enough for him to finish the highest of the Championship quartet of drivers in third to win his second title (2021).

Hamlin came away sixth with Chase Briscoe in 18th and William Byron, whose flat right-front tire sent the race to overtime, finished 33rd. It was the latest championship heartbreak for Hamlin, who once again came up short in his pursuit of that elusive title. 

It was a cruel end to the race for Hamlin, but Larson was no slouch all season with three wins, although he had none since the Kansas race in May. Still, he got the track position for the overtime finish and maintained it to become a two-time Cup Series champion.