AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) Denny Hamlin was shell-shocked, a vacant look in his eyes, as he tried to explain how he yet again came up short in his quest to win a NASCAR championship. William Byron approached, placed his hand on Hamlins shoulder, and apologized for causing the caution that cost Hamlin the title.

The greatest NASCAR driver to never win a championship fell short of ditching that label when Byron blew a tire Sunday at Phoenix Raceway that began the sequence of events that cost Hamlin the title. Hamlin was three laps away from the finish, held a lead of more than three seconds, and had dominated almost the entire race.

But the caution sent the race to overtime and forced teams to make critical decisions about pitting. Hamlin took four new tires, but Kyle Larson took just two to get back on track ahead of Hamlin. In a two-lap sprint to the finish, Hamlin couldnt catch Larson and Larson finished ahead of him to claim his second title.

What followed was surreal. Hamlins young daughters sobbed uncontrollably amid a crowd of demoralized Joe Gibbs Racing crew members. Hamlin was stoic but clearly heartbroken as a sixth chance at a championship had slipped away.

Larson, in the thick of a Hendrick Motorsports team celebration, even struggled with the emotions. He hadnt led a single lap at Phoenix, is stuck in a 24-race losing streak dating to May, and had just beaten his 44-year-old friend in what could have been Hamlins last chance to win a title.

Theres definitely a large piece of me that feels really bad and sad, Larson said. When you dont win the race, you dont lead a lap, you win the championship, you steal it from a guy who has tried for so long and had it in his fingertips, its a really weird feeling.

Byron felt awful for his role in altering the outcome, and race-winner Ryan Blaney took no joy in Hamlins agony.

It just doesnt seem right, Byron said.

The final weekend of this NASCAR season was probably also the last one for this winner-take-all championship format. NASCAR has been brainstorming all year on new formats because of lukewarm fan response to the knockout 10-race system that ultimately sends a final four into the finale, highest finisher that day gets the championship.

Phoenix showed exactly why the fans are fed up.

Corey Heim had 11 victories at the start of the Truck Series finale Friday night but needed to dip his truck low in an outrageous seven-wide scramble in overtime to secure the title. He did pull out the win and NASCAR dodged the controversy of a 12-race winner being denied a championship because of a gimmicky format.

NASCAR wasnt so fortunate the next night in the Xfinity Series when 10-race winner Connor Zilisch lost the championship because Jesse Love won the race. Love opened the season with a win at Daytona and closed it with a win at Phoenix his only two victories of the season but good enough in the present format.

Then came Hamlins defeat on Sunday. He won a series-high six Cup races this year, started from the pole and led 208 laps only to be robbed of the title by a poorly-timed caution and the strategic decision to take four tires a call that led to a lengthier pit stop than Larson and gave Larson the advantage. Larson finished the race in third, Hamlin in sixth.

He long ago accepted he may never win a championship Hamlin came up empty five previous times and hes content with his 60 career wins that include three Daytona 500 victories. He recognizes that hes worked within the parameters set by NASCAR in how a champion will be crowned and hes lost playing with the same ruleset as every other competitor.

Now the rules will likely be changed this offseason, and every indication is that NASCAR is leaning towards a format that will use a four-race final push in which the winner is decided by points earned over those races.

Hamlin, with a shattered heart, offered no opinion on what format hed like to see for what is likely the final few years of his driving career.

Gosh, I dont know, he said. Golly, in this moment I never want to race a car ever again. I mean, my fun meter is pegged.

___

AP auto racing:

亚利桑那州埃文代尔（美联社电）——丹尼·哈姆林（Denny Hamlin）神情恍惚，目光空洞，他试图解释自己为何再次与NASCAR冠军失之交臂。威廉·拜伦（William Byron）走上前来，将手搭在哈姆林肩上，为自己引发黄旗导致哈姆林错失冠军而道歉。

这位从未赢得过冠军的NASCAR最伟大车手，周日再次与摘帽失之交臂——在菲尼克斯赛道上，拜伦的爆胎引发了一系列事件，最终导致哈姆林与冠军擦肩而过。当时哈姆林距离终点仅剩三圈，保持着超过三秒的领先优势，几乎全程统治着比赛。

然而这次黄旗警示将比赛拖入加时，迫使各车队在进站策略上做出关键抉择。德尼·哈姆林（Denny Hamlin）更换了四条新轮胎，而凯尔·拉尔森（Kyle Larson）仅更换两条轮胎，得以抢先哈姆林返回赛道。在最后两圈的冲刺中，哈姆林未能追上拉尔森，后者率先冲线，成功斩获个人第二个冠军头衔。

接下来的场景令人难以置信。哈姆林年幼的女儿们在士气低落的乔·吉布斯车队成员中失控痛哭。哈姆林虽表面镇定，但明显心碎不已——第六次夺冠机会就此溜走。

拉尔森身处亨德里克赛车队的欢庆人群中，情绪激动得难以自持。他在凤凰城站比赛中全程未领先一圈，自五月以来已连续24场比赛未尝胜绩，而此刻他刚刚击败了44岁的老友汉密尔顿——这很可能是汉密尔顿争夺冠军的最后机会。

拉尔森表示："我内心确实感到非常遗憾和难过。当你没有赢得比赛，甚至没有领跑过一圈，却最终夺得冠军——从一位长期拼搏、几乎触手可及的老将手中夺走奖杯，这种感觉实在难以形容。"

拜伦因自己改变比赛结果的行为感到愧疚，而赛事冠军瑞安·布莱尼对哈姆林的痛苦也毫无幸灾乐祸之意。

“这似乎不太对劲，”拜伦说道。

本季NASCAR（纳斯卡赛车）的最后一个周末，很可能也是这种“胜者通吃”冠军赛制的谢幕演出。由于车迷对现行十场淘汰赛制反应冷淡——该赛制最终筛选出四强车手进入决赛，并以决赛当日名次最高者夺冠——NASCAR全年都在筹划新赛制。

菲尼克斯队的表现恰恰说明了球迷为何会感到失望。

科里·海姆（Corey Heim）在周五晚卡车系列赛决赛前已斩获11场胜利，但为了锁定冠军头衔，他不得不在加时赛中上演惊险一幕——将赛车压低姿态，从七车并排混战中突围而出。最终他成功夺冠，NASCAR也因此避免了一场争议：若因赛制花招导致12场分站冠军得主无缘总冠军，必将引发舆论哗然。

在次日举行的纳斯卡Xfinity系列赛中，曾十次夺冠的康纳·齐利希（Connor Zilisch）因杰西·洛夫（Jesse Love）赢得比赛而错失总冠军，纳斯卡的运气显然未能延续。洛夫以戴托纳站的胜利开启赛季，又以菲尼克斯站的胜利收官——尽管这是他本赛季仅有的两场胜利，但在现行赛制下已足以问鼎。

随后，哈姆林在周日的比赛中遭遇失利。他今年赢得了系列赛中最多的六场杯赛冠军，从杆位发车并领先了208圈，却因一次不合时宜的警告旗和更换四条轮胎的战略决策——这一决定导致他的进站时间比拉森更长，从而让拉森获得了优势——与冠军失之交臂。最终，拉森以第三名完赛，哈姆林则位列第六。

他早已接受可能永远无法夺冠的事实——哈姆林此前五次冲击冠军均铩羽而归——但对职业生涯60场胜利（包括三次戴通纳500大赛冠军）已感到满足。他明白自己始终在NASCAR制定的冠军规则框架内拼搏，只是与其他竞争者遵循相同规则时未能胜出。

目前看来，规则很可能在本赛季休赛期进行调整，种种迹象表明，NASCAR正倾向于采用一种新的赛制：通过最后四场冲刺赛的积分累计来决定冠军归属。

哈姆林心碎不已，对于他驾驶生涯可能仅剩的最后几年里希望看到何种形式，他未置可否。

“天哪，我也不知道，”他说道。“哎呀，这一刻我真想再也不赛车了。我的乐趣值已经爆表了。”

美联社赛车专题：