“The Best There Is”: Kyle Larson Still Holds Denny Hamlin in High Regard Despite Their Pocono Run-In

After the race at Pocono, Kyle Larson was pretty mad at Denny Hamlin. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver had essentially moved the #5 out of the way to win the race at his home track. And while Larson made some pretty brutal comments about Hamlin in the aftermath of Richmond, just over a month from that, the Hendrick Motorsports driver had some pretty big words for Hamlin.

Larson claimed his first Southern 500 win on Sunday after leading the final third of the race. But before Larson took the lead, it was Denny Hamlin who looked a sure shot to win the Cup race as well following his Xfinity win on Saturday.

And Hamlin’s superiority wasn’t lost on a humble Larson.

Kyle Larson was surprised by how good Denny Hamlin was at Darlington

After he secured his place into the next round of the playoffs with his win at Darlington, Larson reflected on Denny Hamlin’s run in the race. It’s worth mentioning that during stage 3, Hamlin suffered what looked like an issue with his wheel, because of which he had to come down to the pit road, something Larson was pretty happy to see.

“He was a great car, so when I saw him come down pit road, I was happy because he was going to give the rest of us a shot to win,” Larson said as per FOX Sports. “He was really, really strong.”

“I was surprised how good he was throughout the whole run in the lead. He’s honestly the best there is here in Darlington.”

Hamlin and Larson have steered away from controversy post-Pocono

Following the race at Richmond, Kyle Larson had not only blasted Denny Hamlin for the way he raced him as he claimed he deserved to be raced with respect, Larson also hinted towards a shift in their dynamic as friends. The #5 driver gave an example of how he races his competitors, and how, going forward, if the roles were reversed in a scenario such as the one in Pocono, “things would be a lot different.”

“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 added.

Fortunately, though, there hasn’t been much controversy between Larson and Hamlin since. But one still wonders if somewhere down the playoffs, or even in the final race of the season, could there be an incident between the two that essentially decides the fate of their season.