Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson’s friendship, which was once etched in stone through monthly Golf tournaments alongside about 20 other friends, has been under heavy scrutiny ever since. Kyle Larson has recently asked for more respect from Denny. And Denny too told Kenny Wallace that their “friendship was always better before” they started competing for wins against each other.

Some call it hard racing; others have even considered it detrimental to the sport. Regardless, in the wake of their countless battles this year, as EssentiallySports reached Pocono as the official media partners of Real American Beer, our team exclusively talked to Kyle Larson about his once-heartwarming narrative with Denny Hamlin. This allowed him to shine the spotlight on a completely different narrative.

From Golf buddies to racetrack rivals: the Larson-Hamlin rivalry

In 2017, Hamlin & fellow Cup driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. formulated the idea of an informal monthly golf tournament on Saturdays, known as the Golf Guys Tour. Other notable names to have been involved in that group of 20+ friends teeing off on the greens with Hamlin & Stenhouse Jr. for the last six years are Michael Waltrip, Steve Letarte, Bubba Wallace, & Kyle Larson.

All these NASCAR icons, plus a few members from Hamlin’s home course in Cornelius, NC, engage in some friendly rounds of Golf competition, with even a points system that pays tribute to the scoring setup of both the PGA Tour & NASCAR.

However, the name that stands out the most in that esteemed group is Kyle Larson’s. Hamlin’s Hendrick Motorsports rival is a relatively new golfer but has managed to win a single edition of the Golf Guys Tour in 2018. The following year, the GGT was won by none other than Denny Hamlin. Those are only a few instances of how deep Larson & Hamlin’s competitive off-track friendship truly runs. But competition & friendship seldom intersect.

And, when the duo meets on the track, that is evident in their close-quarter battles. Add to that the recent amplification of the Larson-Hamlin rivalry, and most wouldn’t be surprised to know that the former hasn’t been attending the Golf Guys Tour for at least a year and a half now. That’s what he revealed in an exclusive chat with EssentiallySports, before the race at Pocono against Denny Hamlin.

Our dedicated NASCAR on-ground reporter, Bharat Aggarwal, asked Larson: “So you obviously share a friend group with Denny Hamlin of the track. When you guys meet over dinner or you know, go out as a group of friends. Do your friends pull your leg or Denny’s over your growing rivalry?”

Larson made a gut-wrenching revelation that quite understandably stems from his on-track commitments. In his own words, as he told Bharat, “I’m sure we probably both get it on each side. But honestly, I haven’t had a whole lot of time to hang out with him over the last you know, a year and a half probably. Maybe even a couple of years. I’m not in the Golf Guys tour anymore. Just because I’m so busy. So naturally, I am just not around him as much. But yeah, I am sure I get people joking with me about him, and I’m sure the same goes, and vice versa. So yeah, it’s just funny and annoying sometimes but it just is what it is.”

Indeed, it feels unnecessary to watch these “best friends” drift apart slowly after over a decade of competing against each other. After all, even Denny Hamlin recently opened up to Kenny Wallace about how their “relationship is not as close as it once was,” but he also wishes that it was. Denny slammed that nail in the coffin when he followed that sentence up with, “I’m also OK if it isn’t because I think that we need to continue to push as much as we can to win for ourselves and our own team.”

And, push, they do have. Regularly battling at the top of the table against each other, Larson and Hamlin have three race wins each. They’re both heading to the playoffs, and the question arises: when does that push finally turn to shove? With their next duel waiting for them at Pocono, the field looks ready to witness another Larson-Hamlin masterclass.

Can Kyle Larson finally take Pocono from his track-record-holder rival?

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Denny Hamlin has won 7 times at the Tricky Triangle, breaking the existing track record. On the other hand, Pocono is one of those tracks where Kyle Larson has surprisingly gone winless in his Cup career. But another notable statistic comes in the form of DNFs. Out of 16 total outings at the racetrack, Larson registered zero of those. Contrastingly, Hamlin’s record has 3 DNFs attached to his 34 Pocono appearances. This only means that the #5 driver will be hungrier than ever to win Pocono this Sunday, with his last win coming a month ago. Of course, Denny Hamlin’s aggression from the 2023 race at Pocono will also weigh heavily on Kyle Larson’s mind.

When the race goes green, he and his Joe Gibbs rival will start their advances from P12 & P4 respectively. With both drivers winning their last races quite a few weeks ago, the spotlight moves yet again to their unfortunate rivalry. To fan fire to that flame, Larson’s riding high atop the regular season points standings. Denny Hamlin is prepared to mount his best challenge from 4th with just six races left to the playoffs, aiming to dethrone his former friend.

It is sad to witness their names fall so close to each other, only in the whispers of competition & rivalry. But with Pocono, fans can rest assured that this is one story that is far from over. Stay tuned for more LIVE updates from Pocono.