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While Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson was battling for contention at the Xfinity Series race in COTA, Denny Hamlin held the baton of handling the former's daughter.
Larson's season has started on a high note, with a Cup Series win from the Pennzoil 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway already in the bag. Moreover, the 31-year-old HMS driver sealed the pinnacle spot at the Focused Health 250 race after benefitting from Shane van Gisbergen and Austin Hill's wreck on the final lap.
While Kyle Larson was dominating the 3.426-mile circuit in his #17 Chevrolet, Denny Hamlin, who sits on a staggering $65 million throne (via Celebrity Net Worth), was on supposed fatherly duty, taking care of his daughter (Molly), along with Larson's kid (Audrey).
During his time with the kids, Hamlin had a precious moment with Audrey, which he unraveled during the Actions Detrimental podcast. The JGR driver shared his experience (via X):
"Every now and then she'd [Larson's daughter] be in the back in the bunks playing with Molly, and she'd come up every 15-20 minutes [asking] 'Where's my dad running?'"
He added:
"We're all just hanging out and then five laps later, you know [Michael] Jordan's like, 'Oh my god Audrey, you got to go to the victory lane, y'all won. So, it was really fun to see."
Kyle Larson speaks on his adrenaline-packed victorious run at the 3.426-mile COTA circuit
Though Kyle Larson collected the P1 spot at COTA, he was far away from victory until the final lap. However, luck played its cards in favor of the HMS driver and he became the sole benefactor from the late-race wreck.
Austin Hill was in charge of the field at P1 followed by Shane van Gisbergen in P2, whereas Larson was charging back from his seventh-place start after the pitstop amid race overtime. The 46-lap dash was about to be won by Hill but a misjudged move from the New Zealander sent both the drivers off the track limit.
The incident paved the way for the Californian, who optimally utilized the gap and pushed toward the checkered flag with a fresh set of tires on his Camaro. Hill came third but was promoted to P2 while the Trackhouse Racing driver saw his track position plummet to P27 despite coming home with a P2 finish.
Shortly after his exhilarating run, Kyle Larson shed light on his "special" outing, saying (via Fox on X):
"It feels really special. Every time we have this #17 car...we're always the fastest on the track but somehow give it away. Just wild there. I thought when we pitted honestly there would be more people to pit with us, and when I get in, I was like, 'Man if I can get back to like top 10, it's okay.' But, just worked out."
