“Or I Did” – Kyle Larson Hints at Changed Relationship Dynamic With Denny Hamlin

Usually, Kyle Larson gets over things pretty quickly when it comes to on-track incidents. This is something he recently claimed after last week’s incident at Pocono, where Denny Hamlin put him into the wall and took away a potential win from him as he, right after the race, made his thoughts on that move pretty clear. This made many wonder, has that incident affected their off-track friendship?

But perhaps, a better question would be, has that incident affected their on-track dynamic? Has Hamlin, after what he did to Larson last weekend, ensured that the #5 driver will race him differently now?

The answer is yes, as Larson recently explained.

Kyle Larson uses a Kyle Busch example to make his point about Denny Hamlin

Ahead of this Sunday’s Cup race at Richmond, Larson shared his thoughts on the Pocono incident and referenced an example of Kyle Busch to emphasize how he races other drivers. A subsequent question in the interview also hinted at his changed outlook on Hamlin as a fellow racecar driver.

“I think you can look at the four of five restarts I had with the #8 at Gateway and you could see how, if the roles were reversed, how I would have probably played at Pocono. But I think if roles were reversed going forward, it probably would look a little different,” Larson said, to which a journalist asked whether it’d be different with Hamlin because he is Hamlin or if it doesn’t matter, whether the rules are just different now.

“I respect Kyle (Busch) and that’s why I raced him with respect at Gateway and I respect Denny every bit as much, if not more, or I did. So I don’t think I would have raced any differently than I did at Gateway,” Larson replied.

Kyle Larson gives his thoughts in the week following Pocono. pic.twitter.com/RQO2pBSGO4

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 29, 2023

Larson wasn’t surprised with Hamlin’s move, but it wasn’t what he was hoping

Speaking further about the incident with Hamlin, Larson claimed he wasn’t surprised with what the #11 served him at Pocono, considering he made the exact same move on Ross Chastain last year.

“I knew the opportunity was there to pull that move. I was more concerned about the restart before. I was thinking if he got inside, he’ll do what he did last year because it worked,” Larson described as per NBC Sports.

“But I was hoping, because of all the times he’s wrecked me and our friendship off track, he’d maybe have a little bit more respect for me. But then he pulled the same exact move so I guess …. whatever.”

With that said it’ll be interesting to see just how Larson races Hamlin now in the coming races. Because of many things which aren’t clear, one thing is pretty clear from Larson’s comments, the on-track dynamic between Larson and Hamlin has changed.