Despite Serious Reprehension From NASCAR, Denny Hamlin Claims to Have Exploited Kyle Larson’s Vulnerability – “Gave Him a Little Dragging Breath”

When Denny Hamlin made the move and the pass on the last lap over Kyle Larson, many thought that it wasn’t a completely legitimate move. Of course, there were those who were of the opinion that what Hamlin did was justified under hard racing.

But the fact remains that there was contact from the #11 on the #5.

So as you’d expect from him, this was something which the Joe Gibbs Racing driver explained in detail, how ‘that move’ unfolded, what he was thinking about, how much he touched Larson’s #5 and so on.

Denny Hamlin explains what he was thinking in the last two laps at Kansas

Speaking in a recent episode of his podcast show Actions Detrimental, Hamlin explained how with two laps to go in the race, as he was entering turn 3 and running a “super high line”, he was thinking about getting “the best run” based off of his observations on Larson’s vulnerability.

“The most vulnerable Kyle was, in turns 1 & 2. That’s where he was the most free, he had run the highest line was in turns 1 & 2. So coming to the white, in turn 3 I’m like, ‘I’ve gotta get a big run off of (turn) 4 to get close enough to him to pack air on him in turn 1 & 2,’” Hamlin said.

The veteran claimed he ran high up in turn 3 with “a monster run” and saw Larson’s car “twitching” all the way in turn 3 and 4. As they took the white, Hamlin thought, “Okay, I’m close enough now that I’m gonna drive this thing in there and make him get loose.”

“So all I need to do is shade a little bit left towards his left rear and as he goes up towards the wall, it’s gonna make him looser and looser,” he described.

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Hamlin claims he barely touched Larson in the end

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With one lap to go in the race, Hamlin was hoping he could get free up Larson enough so that he can “nudge into the wall a little bit.” But what allowed him to get side by side with his competitor was the fact that the #5 was getting loose and slowing down.

Because of that Hamlin and Larson were getting closer and closer until it came to a point where the #11 driver had to decide he “didn’t want to run into” Larson. “Because the previous two times I got beside him, I didn’t make any contact with him because that’s how I wanted to race him and pass him,” he added.

Hamlin was also mindful at this time that he has to do whatever he can to stop Larson’s momentum from clearing him. So as he is right up against the wall and right up against Larson’s door, he saw him sliding up. Here, Hamlin had to make a decision of whether to lift more or not, because if he had done so, Larson would’ve cleared him.

“I lifted on the front straightaway and Kyle, I didn’t realize was up against the wall. He was hitting the wall before we made contact,” Hamlin said as he claimed he decided not to lift more and stay on Larson’s door as he came down from turn 2. “Of course I didn’t give enough room for him to come back down the racetrack when he pulled his car off the wall so I breathe, gave him a little dragging breath on his left rear, barely nicked him and sent his car to the right.”

“That’s why you didn’t really see it go much to the left because there wasn’t a hit, like a legit hit or hook there,” Hamlin added.

The reason Larson went right, as per the podcast host, was because in that scenario, all the rear grip is gone when a car is hanging on the right rear of your car. As for what Larson thought of it, Hamlin revealed the Hendrick driver told him, “Dude you just barely nicked me and it sent my car.”

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