Kyle Larson Exacts High Praise From Denny Hamlin as He Edges Closer to Another Record

Hendrick Motorsports star Kyle Larson is having a tremendous season in the Cup Series. The HMS No. 5 is on top of the Cup table with 5 stage wins and two race victories. Barring the DNF at Atlanta, he has finished in Top 10 in all the other eight races, with four Top 5 finishes among them. Usually, the Cup Series so far has only witnessed dominance from the Chevrolet and Toyota drivers of Joe Gibbs Racing and HMS. While Larson is also a part of that group, what sets him apart is a feat that stands uniquely different from others. And even his JGR competitor, Denny Hamlin, was all praise for him as he dissected the #5 driver’s superiority.

Kyle Larson is on a roll!

In the recent episode of the ‘Actions Detrimental’ podcast, Hamlin opened up on the depths of racing back in Texas. At one point in the hour-long conversation, the co-host asked Hamlin about Kyle Larson’s performance. Denny Hamlin promptly responded how Larson is doing great and how that’s something really hard to do. The JGR driver also spoke about Larson’s pole wins in the last three races, which is a record in itself in the Next Gen era.

Denny Hamlin said, “Yeah, and on three different tracks, right? I mean, he’s doing it on different tracks for sure, and it’s such an advantage to do that. So, man, it’s hard to do, it’s hard to win one pole, much less three in a row. But when you can do it, you put yourself on a great spot for your guys on pit road. You usually end up with a first stage win. Usually whoever wins the pole, wins the first stage, cuz the passing is so difficult. As we saw Texas, early in the race, so yeah, it’s a real positive thing for sure.”

Notably, Larson clinched the pole position of all the three previous races in Richmond, Martinsville and Texas. This helped him to grab five stage wins, steering him 17 points clear of second-placed Martin Truex Jr. Notably, in the era of next-gen cars, no other driver has been able to achieve this. Hence, after nine races, HMS’ #5 is in a more advantageous position than even his teammate William Byron, who won three races so far this season.

Having said that, this is not the first time that a driver has shown their d0minance in qualifying races and clinched consecutive poles! Some of the names on that list are ones that would actually expect!

Other drivers in NASCAR history to clinch consecutive poles

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Bagging this immense feat, Larson positioned himself with one of the greats of the sport. And as you guessed it, the record for consecutive poles in the maximum number of races is held by Richard Petty won a record 10 overall poles in 1967. Apart from that, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson also clinched four consecutive pole positions each. Impressive, isn’t it?

Well, the feat even seemed to impress Larson himself, as she spoke in detail about what helped him achieve it. The 2021 Cup Series champion, as per jayski.com, said, “Great car for one, and cool to get three poles in a row and like I said on the radio. That’s about the most intense thing you can do or experience, it’s so on edge. You know how much throttle time you have to have to run fast? It’s just so sketchy.”

Further talking about what went down in Texas, the driver revealed, “Just a great day and I’m really, really happy to get pole. Honestly, since we’ve gone to the NextGen car, this has been a place I’ve really struggled in qualifying, like committing into Turn one and I told myself I was going to commit today, and it paid off.’’

The 31-year-old driver heads towards the Talladega Superspeedway with great hope. Will he equal Gordon and Johnson’s record there, and create a new-high for next gen cars? Let’s see how things unfold.