“Hate That for Kyle” – Kyle Larson Sets an Example for Denny Hamlin After Ruining Kyle Busch’s Hard-Fought Race at Nashville

It’s not often we see a NASCAR expressing regret over wrecking his rival. But Kyle Larson took responsibility for his actions that handed Kyle Busch his fourth DNF of the season at Nashville. This result also meant Busch’s hopes of a playoff spot took a further hit. Busch was in the top 5 when Larson’s not-so-intentional mistake brought an end to Busch’s day.

With a display of true sportsmanship, Kyle Larson took the high road and owned up to his mistake on the track. He showed Denny Hamlin, known for his unwillingness to let things go, that sometimes you just have to swallow your pride and admit your wrongdoings.

Kyle Larson says he regrets causing Kyle Busch’s crash in Nashville

Ally 400 was a heck of a race, with crazy weather changes, constant restarts, and cars crashing left and right—a true spectacle for those attending. However, the race treated everyone differently. It treated Joey Logano well, who was in no contention to win but did, and even Zane Smith, who scored a truly unexpected runner-up finish. But poor Kyle Busch- his season just went from bad to worse. After a turbulent few weeks, he was inches from a top-5 finish when Kyle Larson’s fuel issues sent him spinning out of control. 

During the third overtime restart, when Hamlin was the leader, Busch was fourth behind Larson’s Chevy. However, when the race restarted, Larson’s car sputtered out of fuel- leaving Busch nowhere to go. He got stuck behind Larson, and in a split second, his front bumper was clipped by the No. 5 car. To make matters worse, Chase Elliott slammed into him from behind, sealing his fate. Busch’s day ended in a disappointing DNF, his third in a row this season.

Larson, realizing his mistake had cost Busch a potentially stellar day, owned up and apologized. Talking to Bob Pockrass, he also explained what really went down. “The next restart, I just got really out of shape through the gears and thankfully didn’t cause a crash on the front stretch. The next one ran out of fuel and caused that wreck, obviously hate that for Kyle. I had no warning.”

While it doesn’t make up for the points Busch lost, it still speaks volumes about Larson’s character. Busch’s team gave him every chance to finish near the top but alas not to be.

Explaining his actions further, Larson said, “We knew we were really close on fuel. It was gonna be a stretch to make it, but I had no fuel pressure alarm anything on my dash. So it was a bit surprising to me when I went to the throttle, it just never went. Couldn’t really get out of the way either because we were still to the wall. I hadn’t gotten to the dogleg yet to get out of the way. I’m really really bummed for him and all that because he needs the points.”

The DNF at  Nashville leaves Busch 104 points away from the cut line for the playoffs. As such, he may need a win to save his season over the course of the summer. Despite the setback, Busch expressed hope of bouncing back. “On that last restart, we were fourth when the No. 5 (Kyle Larson) ran out of fuel just ahead of me and I had nowhere to go. It’s frustrating for sure but we’ll bounce back next week in Chicago.”

NASCAR Playoff Picture after Ally 400.

Larson, though guilty, was a bigger sportsman and accepted that his mistake led to a crucial loss for Busch. However, he hasn’t been lucky enough to get the same respect from others, especially Hamlin, and this time he pointed that out.

Kyle Larson heats up the racing respect battle

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Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin have had countless bump-ins with each other. Be it at Kansas last year or this year at Gateway and Iowa, they have raced each other hard time and again. They are currently the best drivers, so these run-ins are expected. Last week at New Hampshire, Hamlin had run Larson off the track.

And then Larson’s spotter had actually warned him saying that Denny Hamlin keeps doing it because Larson doesn’t answer. This also led to Larson chewing out his spotter and telling him to “shut the f**k up.”

Retaliating at Nashville, Larson was pretty hot-headed and ran Hamlin up the track towards the end of stage 2. It was almost like a tit-for-tat situation!

As such, the question of a rivalry brewing between them comes to mind. But surprisingly, both the drivers are unsure if any rivalry has started. Although Larson did say he would expect some more respect from Hamlin. Larson told Andrew Kurtalnd, “We race well together at times and there’s times where I feel like he races me not the fairest and I’m sure he feels the same way, so it’s not an ongoing rivalry but there’s definitely weeks and stretches where it compiles. Hopefully, we can move on from it soon and gonna get a little bit of respect from him.”

As for Denny Hamlin, he gave a straightforward answer about his dynamics with Larson. He said, “It’s not a rivalry.” However, it is a known fact that every time he has had these bouts with Larson, he’s just blamed it on “it’s a race.”

Maybe next time, he can take a page from Kyle Larson’s book and acknowledge his mistakes with the same level of accountability. Well, now that Hamlin was the one on the receiving end, we don’t know how their future relations will go. We will next see them in action on the Chicago road course in Illinois.