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Denny Hamlin, who was in contention for his fourth win of the season, found himself in a tricky situation during the overtime restart of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at the Kansas Speedway. Hamlin believes Kyle Larson’s move during the overtime restart left him in a vulnerable position.
Hamlin started the overtime restart on the front row with Chris Buescher, but immediately Larson drove inside him, making it three-wide. The smart move by Larson quickly took the lead from Hamlin and placed him in third place, battling for the top-five position against Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr.
The #11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver on the white flag lap found himself in a “difficult spot," sticking in the middle of Elliott and Truex Jr. Hamlin, who had the lead heading into overtime but lost momentum in the closing laps and finished in fifth place.
Reflecting on the challenge he faced during an overtime restart at Kansas Speedway, Hamlin said (via nbcsports.com):
“Well, a difficult spot, right? I needed to get the push from the 5 (Kyle Larson), but I knew he wasn’t going to stay in line, that he was going to go for the win. Unfortunately, it left me in a spot where I was vulnerable there in the middle.”
In motorsports, split-second decisions can make a difference between a victory and a defeat, and at Kansas, Kyle Larson’s move turned the outcome of the race.
“We had some pit road miscues that set us back” – Denny Hamlin
It was a strong day for the #11 JGR Toyota team, leading the race-high 71 laps and winning stage 1, but Hamlin feels that pit road miscues initially set him back.
Despite the setbacks, Denny Hamlin praised his crew chief, Chris Gabehart, and the entire #11 team for their resilience and strategic acumen to gain control of the race through a pit stop strategy.
Reflecting on the challenges his team faced at pit stop, Hamlin said:
“I’ll tell you, with 70 (laps) to go, it wasn’t looking really good. We had some pit road miscues that set us back, but Chris (Gabehart, crew chief) and the guys did a great job coming up with a strategy there to pit and then jump the field back. We were right on task there with about (seven) to go; felt good about getting another one. It’s just one of those things.”
After 11 races, Denny Hamlin stands in fourth place in the Cup Series points table with 411 points.
