“I Just Misjudged It”—Unapologetic Denny Hamlin Denies Deliberately Wrecking Kyle Larson in the Last Lap in Kansas

Last lap pass. The most exciting and dreaded phenomenon in a NASCAR Cup race. Exciting for the driver who is looking forward to stealing the lead from the competitor, but dreaded by the leader, whose dream of clinching the flag gets shattered despite leading the penultimate laps. Just like Kyle Larson lost the lead when Denny Hamlin surged past him in the last lap of the Kansas Speedway.

Since last week’s on-track events in Kansas, the NASCAR fraternity has been debating if Hamlin’s last-lap pass was foul or fair. Sharing his side of the story, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver denied making deliberate contact with Larson in his latest appearance on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Denny Hamlin admits that he misjudged the situation in Kansas

While discussing what he felt moments after climbing out of the car at the end of the race, Hamlin revealed that he was just trying to run as close to Larson as possible. He said,

“And I can’t see how far Larson is to the wall. So, I don’t know where his car is. All I am doing is driving my right front into his left side. I wanna run as close to him as I possibly can. Because the closer I get to him—and I am talking within an inch—that much more an advantage my car has over his down the straightaway.”

WATCH THIS STORY: “Done It to Me” – Denny Hamlin Calls Out “Crybaby” Kyle Larson While Shockingly Backing Tony Stewart’s NASCAR Driver’s Retaliation

However, even though Hamlin’s strategy was to only have an advantage over Hendrick Motorsports’ #5 Chevy by driving close to it, it was the #5 spinning out on the last lap that helped Hamlin win the race. While talking about his contact with Larson, Hamlin explained,

“So, all I am doing is driving off of him, and immediately after the race I am like, ‘Oh! I just kind of got into him there.’ And obviously, I was trying to get as close as I could and I just misjudged it.”

Hamlin later even gave a few reasons for it not being a deliberate move on his part.

Was spinning Kyle Larson out a deliberate move?

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Hamlin doesn’t think so. In fact, he believes that he never made contact with the #5 before the spin. He added,

“Upon further review, I didn’t realize that he was bouncing off the wall. So, when he came off the wall, that’s when I made the contact with him.

“Again, I don’t know how much room he has up there. All I can see is barely my right front corner. So, I just, I knew that I needed to be as close as I could, and obviously, it was just kind of weird circumstances.”

Talking about the chat he had with Larson after the race, Hamlin said,

“When I talked to Larson, I was like ‘Man! I didn’t even feel like I touched you, I thought it was just like, I breathed on your left rear. I mean just barely.’ ‘Cause I was out of control anyway, and it just barely nicked me as I came off.”

By making that last-lap pass, Denny Hamlin ended his 33-race drought by clinching his first Cup race victory in almost a year. However, was his move actually a result of misjudgment or a way to overtake his competition? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

READ MORE: Days After Controversial Last-Lap Upset, Kyle Larson Gets Frustrated Over Denny Hamlin’s Hypocrisy & Confesses a Major Regret