How Denny Hamlin Lost the Las Vegas Race Despite Promising Track Position

"What A Champion Does": Has Denny Hamlin Finally Turned The Corner In Elusive Title Bid?

Denny Hamlin gathered crucial stage points in the Las Vegas track during the Pennzoil 400 and finished in 8th place behind teammate Martin Truex Jr. Though he found himself challenging race leaders Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick in the waning moments of the 400-miler, he couldn’t find it in him to get past them. Now back to the studios after the weekend, Hamlin has detailed the reasons for the same.

Speaking on Actions Detrimental, he attributed his #11 Camry XSE for its speed and balance. He said, “Leading to start this third stage right after that green flag pitstop, I thought we had a very very good car. I thought we were running very competitive lap times, and we were catching the group in front of us.”

Continuing what went amiss, he added, “And then, you know, the caution comes out late. You got 20-something laps to go and you’ve got a shootout there. And it just required a little bit different things out of my car than what I had.” Hamlin contended that his team missed things on the setup side and that his competitors weren’t really better than him.

Hamlin led 16 of the 267 laps on Sunday and collected 43 points in his journey towards the elusive Cup Series championship. His next race will be the Phoenix Raceway, where he will hope to reach the victory lane and fix his place in the 2024 playoffs.

Denny Hamlin praises Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick despite losing battle with them

Hendrick Motorsports star driver Larson led the most laps (181 of 267) and took the victory flag home. Runner-up Tyler Reddick managed to lead just a single lap but collected 53 points at the end of the race. The race was largely a dogfight between these two drivers who were trying to get their agendas ahead of each other.

Hamlin said of the competition between the two, “Just an absolute dominant day [For Larson]. I think that Tyler Reddick’s pit troubles helped with that dominant day. I thought that those two were equal. Well, I would say Kyle Larson was a little better in the short run. Tyler Reddick was definitely better in the long run.”

Reddick drives for 23XI Racing, a team that Hamlin is the co-owner of. While he couldn’t bring in great results in the first two races of the season (DNF in Daytona and 30th place in Atlanta), he bounced back on Sunday, braving a result better than even Hamlin’s.

Fortunately, Hamlin won’t be complaining much about it.

Post Edited By: Shaharyar
Denny Hamlin Kyle Larson Tyler Reddick

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Gowtham Ramalingam

Gowtham is a NASCAR journalist at The SportsRush. Though his affinity for racing stems from Formula 1, he found himself drawn to NASCAR's unparalleled excitement over the years. As a result he has shared his insights and observations by authoring over 3000 articles on the sport. An avid fiction writer, you can find him lost in imaginary worlds when he is not immersed in racing. He hopes to continue savoring the thrill of every lap and race together with his readers for as long as he can.

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