“It’s all right there at Kansas,” said Clint Bowyer right on the brink of the first round of 12 race at Kansas. After a relatively monotonous outing in Bristol, fans and Bowyer think Kansas will be a thrilling race to watch. With Kyle Larson returning to winning ways, excitement may have been a distant possibility, given his 7-second lead at the end of Bristol. But with what seems a charged-up Denny Hamlin picking up a fourth position in a crucial cutoff race, Bowyer thinks a rivalry from earlier days will heat up again!

While the back-and-forth wins of Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin from the regular season cooled off in recent races, Clint Bowyer thinks the Kansas Lottery 300 has the full potential to kick-start the rivalry as the two championship favorites gear up to go at it once again.

Fireworks possibility between Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin in Kansas

Following the one-sided race at Bristol, all NASCAR fans long for is an exciting start to the round of 12. Lucky for them, the next race is at the Kansas Speedway. Why is it exciting you ask? Earlier this year, when NASCAR visited the track for its spring race, Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher left everyone on the edge of their seats with the closest-ever finish in stock racing history, with a 0.001-second gap! At the time, it was Kyle Larson who took the win. However, his new rival Hamlin finished in fifth place.

Before the 2023 season, Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin shared a relatively friendly relationship on the track. Even after a collision at the 2022 spring race in Atlanta that ended both their races, they dismissed it as a racing incident. Fast forward to 2023, and things took a turn.

• In the Kansas spring race, Hamlin made contact with Larson’s #5 car in the final lap, sending it into the wall and securing the win for himself.
• Later, at Pocono, Hamlin again pushed Larson aside in the closing laps to take the victory. With Kansas approaching—the track where their rivalry heated up—Clint Bowyer believes this could be the stage where tensions reignite.

In the September 28 episode of NASCAR Daily with Shannon Spake, Clint Bowyer expressed his idea of Kansas bringing the Hamlin-Larson rivalry back in a big way. Adding on to his take on the repaved track, Bowyer said, “I’m going to tell you right now if any fan asks Clint Boyer where to go watch a race for their first race ever I’m going to tell them Kansas Speedway. I believe in my heart that’s our best product for NASCAR right now since the repave. The restarts are crazy chaotic. Three, four, maybe even five wide you’re going to see it all at Kansas. you see the closest race in NASCAR history. Seen some wild finishes. Seen Hamlin knock Larson out of the way. Those are two Championship favorites so maybe some haymakers come out, the gloves come off at Kansas Speedway yet again.” 

Back in 2012, the Kansas Speedway saw massive changes all over the circuit. The biggest one was to the surface of the track itself with re-pavement taking place. Instead of a uniform 15-degree banking, the track would see a variable 17 to 20-degree banking all over the circuit. Although drivers were not in favor of the change at the time stating it would take time to bring back competitive racing, the race this weekend will fare much better since the track has had plenty of time to settle in.

Given these factors, Kansas is bound to be a heated race. Moreover, with Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin returning to form at Bristol is all the evidence needed to justify Bowyer’s idea. Their battle so far this season has been a driving force in the way the championship shaped out, with the #5 and #11 cars taking the most wins out of all drivers this season. How do their records stack up against each other and who can take the win?

Between Larson and Hamlin, who will win in Kansas?

The rivalry between Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin has heated up this year, with each driver standing firm on their stance. Larson is open to moving past the tension but demands more respect, especially after the Pocono incident where Hamlin’s contact led to wins for the #11 car. Larson said, “deserved to be raced with respect. … I got used up. I feel we’ve had a handful of run-ins and I’ve never had to reach out apologize. He’s always been the one to reach out to me.”

Hamlin, on the other hand, enjoys the intense racing dynamics between them. Larson hasn’t held back either, showing his aggressive side at New Hampshire, where he didn’t shy away from challenging Hamlin’s Toyota.

As the playoffs loom, the rivalry is set to intensify. Statistically, Hamlin has the upper hand when it comes to playoffs. However, Larson’s performance this year is just impressive, with five wins and a dominant run at Bristol. His record on mile-and-a-half tracks like Kansas, Las Vegas, and Darlington further bolsters his credentials.

Despite Kyle Larson’s strong 2024 season and his title as the defending Kansas winner, the road ahead isn’t easy. Denny Hamlin is chasing his first championship and will stop at nothing to achieve it. Adding to the competition is 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, who has slightly outperformed Larson at Kansas in terms of fastest laps—142 to Larson’s 129. Reddick also won last year’s fall race at Kansas, which could be crucial given the different track conditions compared to Larson’s spring victory.

For Larson, it’s all about strategy. If he can balance his strategy and on-track aggression with consistency, he stands a good chance of championship this season. But he’ll need to keep an eye on both Hamlin and Reddick as the stakes rise.