It's all lining up for Denny Hamlin to shed his title as NASCAR's greatest driver to never win a championship.

Kyle Larson denied Denny Hamlin his first career championship when a late caution at Phoenix Raceway sent the title-deciding finale into overtime.

It was perhaps the most unexpected triumph of Larson's entire NASCAR career, and it follows months of whispers that Larson wasn't quite the same since the Indy 500/Coke 600 double.