Any track rivalry eventually fizzles out. Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin are renowned rivals in the NASCAR Cup Series, having locked horns many times. This steaming conflict reached a climax last year at Pocono Raceway. There, Hamlin put Larson in the wall and rocketed away to clinch the victory – their friendship also ground to a still. However, that bitter rivalry seems to be taking a healthy turn in 2024, despite flaring up this season.

As a 43-year-old Hamlin still pursues his championship in his 19th year, Larson already flaunts his 2021 title. However, the Hendrick Motorsports rival believes something feels different about the Joe Gibbs Racing driver this year. Even as he himself is a solid bet for a Cup Series title, Larson bowed to Hamlin’s superiority in the upcoming playoff races.

Kyle Larson tipping his hat to arch-rival

“I’ve always enjoyed racing him a lot, you know, before, I guess, middle of last year.” Kyle Larson said earlier this year about Denny Hamlin – but things have picked up since Pocono. The iconic rival duo faced off back in April at Dover Motor Speedway. Denny Hamlin led 136 of 400 laps and wiggled past lapped traffic – Kyle Larson trailed his bumper for the final 25 laps, but could never get to him. Then in June’s Nashville race, the two battled hard for third place at the conclusion of stage 2. But now Larson dominates, as he holds double the wins – his six rivals Hamlin’s three.

Even then, Kyle Larson confessed he fears Hamlin might get more competitive in the following weeks. The HMS driver told NASCAR about his outlook for Las Vegas, Homestead-Miami, Martinsville, and Phoenix. “When you look at the next four tracks, you know, Denny could win at any of them. I still view Denny as probably being the guy that has the speed that we do.” This stands to reason – Larson’s JGR rival has a Las Vegas victory in 2021 and has finished 11th or better in 7 of his 8 starts on the track. Also, Hamlin holds five wins at Martinsville Speedway along with 24 top-tens and 18 top-fives.

So Kyle Larson’s apprehension is justified. He also allowed room for doubt about other contenders who might threaten his chances – his teammate, William Byron, and defending Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney. “William too, he’s just sneaky good. I mean, Blaney, for sure. You can make a case for anybody in the final eight.” Yet eventually, Hamlin enthralled him the most: “But yeah, I would say Denny. Kind of all season, him and I have been the two consistently fastest teams. If I would pick one guy, I would say him.” Besides holding three trophies, Hamlin has executed remarkable saves this year. When he was on the brink of exiting the playoffs in the Round of 16, he made a comeback at Bristol.

Despite his biggest enemy on the racetrack hailing him, Hamlin did not get a strong case from a veteran.

The struggles exist nonetheless

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Kyle Larson acknowledging Denny Hamlin may just be a healthy update on their rivalry. But, in reality, the No. 11 JGR Toyota has dealt with misery several times this year. After winning at Dover, Hamlin’s victorious pursuits came to a halt. He has finished outside the top 30 five times this year. Then his battle to stay in the playoffs, although a remarkable one, left him on the edge at Bristol. Then Hamlin barely escaped the utter chaos that engulfed Talladega – just due to an unintended race strategy that failed in Atlanta.

What is more, is that Hamlin has failed 18 times in his quest for a possible Cup Series championship. So the apple would not fall far from the tree in casting doubt on his 19th season, as 60-time Cup winner Kevin Harvick did. “I think that Denny will have good speed, I just don’t know that he’s going to have that dominant speed that the couple of guys that we talked about are capable of actually happening.” Harvick instead showed confidence in Hamlin’s 23XI Racing driver, Tyler Reddick, who was the runner-up at the March Las Vegas race. “If you go back to the beginning of the year when we were at Las Vegas, we all felt that Tyler Reddick had the fastest car. Kyle Larson went and dominated most of the day and wound up putting the car in Victory Lane, but we felt like Tyler Reddick had the fastest car.”

Evidently, Denny Hamlin is drawing mixed responses regarding his championship chances. Only time will tell how well the No. 11 driver has prepared to seal the deal in his 19th season.