Kyle Larson could seemingly do no wrong at Kansas last Sunday when he won the Cup Series race. Not only did he take the checkered flag, he also started on the pole, won both stages and led 221 of 267 laps. However, Denny Hamlin feels that the No. 5 driver isn’t invincible. Certainly not as much as he has been in the past. But why?
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The Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 was speaking about Larson on his Actions Detrimental podcast this week with fellow Cup Series driver Kyle Busch.
He felt that other drivers failed to execute their plans on track as effectively as Larson. They couldn’t capitalize during the few laps when Larson wasn’t leading the race.
“Every contender that was even close, stepped on their d**k. I don’t know what else to say about it. It’s not his [Larson] fault that we all can’t execute,” Hamlin opined. He went on to point that Larson became “pedestrian” after losing the lead, just like his race at Texas.
This led to Hamlin cautiously declaring about Larson, “I think he is less dominant that what he has been in years past. I think he is fast, but I think he can be had.”
He explained how the Hendrick Motorsports driver is controlling everything he can by qualifying well, avoiding time in the middle of the pack and not make any mistakes. But in the past, Larson had an extra weapon.
“When he gets in the middle of the pack, I haven’t seen the speed that I’ve seen them have before,” Hamlin pointed out. He even trusted himself to catch Larson despite having clutch issues in Kansas.
Hamlin also believed that others had issues which allowed Larson to prevail. Chase Elliott faced pit road troubles that ran him out of contention while Brad Keselowski blew a tire when running second. William Byron was another rival who hit the wall.
The incidents surely helped Larson to win but the 23XI Racing co-owner didn’t take any credit away from the No. 5 HMS team. “They’re doing everything right and they’re fast. I don’t think there’s anyone faster in the field,” Hamlin said.
There was further proof of Larson’s dominance when Frontstretch Content Director Stephen Stumpf posted on X that, “Not only did Kyle Larson set the record for most laps led at Kansas, he also set the record for the most laps led in a 400-mile race at a 1.5-mile track.”
And yet, despite the appreciation, Hamlin concluded that the stats painted a more dominant picture of the Kansas race that it actually was.
