Kansas marked the second Cup Series victory of the season for Kyle Larson, which drew heavy fire from both fans and insiders, after the Bristol race. While the fanbase criticized the race for being a snoozefest, citing a lack of lead changes and comparing it to last year’s photo-finish thriller between Larson and Chris Buescher, some drivers offered a more nuanced take.
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On his Actions Detrimental podcast, Denny Hamlin pointed out that although Larson led 221 of 267 laps, an overwhelming 82.7%, the performance wasn’t as commanding as it looked on paper.
According to Hamlin, Larson’s rivals dropped the ball during rare windows of opportunity. “He’s less dominant than he has been in years past,” Hamlin noted, adding that while Larson remains fast, he’s not untouchable.
He suggested the #5 team’s execution — strong qualifying, clean air, and error-free racing — set them up for success, but stressed that Larson lacked the same firepower when buried in the pack.
Hamlin also emphasized that other drivers had chances to make something happen but failed to cash in, leaving the door wide open for Larson to regain control.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. echoed a similar sentiment. On his podcast, he pointed out key moments where Larson didn’t appear to have the upper hand:
“There were some points in the race where particularly Chase Elliott took control of the race. And I know Brad drove up there, passed him. I know Brad was on flat low air pressure hacking away to run those fast lap times and ended up biting him in the ass.”
Dale Jr. noted that Larson’s team had to dig deep to take back control, especially after Joey Logano nearly cleared him on a restart. Besides that, in the final 15 laps, Ryan Blaney and Josh Berry were gaining on him by five or six seconds.
That’s why Earnhardt also opined that “He wasn’t even the best long run car at the middle of the race,” adding that Elliott reeled him in and made a pass as Larson began to struggle over extended runs.
Fortunately for the #5 team, the race stages aligned in a way that allowed them to avoid those weaknesses by splitting runs in half.
With the next challenge set for the North Wilkesboro All-Star Race, all eyes will now shift to Larson’s back-to-back test of endurance at the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600, just a week and a half away.
