RICK WARE RACING
NASCAR Cup Series Season Finale at Phoenix
Date: Nov. 2, 2025
Event: NASCAR Cup Series Season Finale (Round 36 of 36)
Location: Phoenix Raceway (1-mile oval)
Format: 312 laps, broken into three stages (60 laps/125 laps/127 laps)
Note: Race extended seven laps past its scheduled 312-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.
Champion: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Race Winner: Ryan Blaney of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 1 Winner: William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
RWR Finish:
● Cody Ware (Started 33rd, Finished 30th / Running, completed 319 of 319 laps)
RWR Points:
● Cody Ware (36th with 233 points)
Race Notes:
● Ryan Blaney won the NASCAR Cup Series Season Finale to score his 17th career Cup Series victory, his fourth of the year and his first at Phoenix. His margin over second-place Brad Keselowski was .097 of a second.
● This was Ford’s 748th all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory and its seventh of the season. Josh Berry won for the Blue Oval March 16 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Austin Cindric won April 27 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, Joey Logano won May 4 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, and Blaney won June 1 at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway, Aug. 23 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and Sept. 21 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon before taking the season finale at Phoenix.
● This was Ford’s series-leading 21st NASCAR Cup Series victory at Phoenix. The manufacturer won the first two races at Phoenix with NASCAR Hall of Famers Alan Kulwicki on Nov. 6, 1988 and Bill Elliott on Nov. 5, 1989. It has now won four of the last eight races at Phoenix with Chase Briscoe (March 2022), Logano (November 2022 and November 2024) and Blaney (November 2025).
● Kyle Larson won the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series championship. It was his second Cup Series title, with his first coming in 2021. Larson is one of 36 different drivers to win a Cup Series title, and the 18th different driver to earn multiple championships.
● There were nine caution periods for a total of 65 laps.
● All but seven of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
Sound Bites:
“Definitely not the day we wanted but, all things considered, it wasn’t a chaotic day either. It was relatively smooth and clean. Mainly looking forward to learning and building over the offseason to get ready for 2026.” – Cody Ware, driver of the No. 51 Mighty Fire Breaker Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Next Up:
The 2026 season begins with the non-points Cook-Out Clash on Feb. 1 at historic Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, before kicking off its 36-race slate of points-paying events with the 68th Daytona 500 on Feb. 15 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Both races will be broadcast live on FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
