A sport of fine margins. That’s what sums up NASCAR, particularly when the stakes are high in the playoffs. With the Round of Eight well and truly underway, title contenders and their teams are expected to perform at the highest level, with no margin for error given what’s at stake. A shot at the championship isn’t easy to come by, and even though drivers are ultimately responsible for piloting their cars to the checkered flag, it’s always a team effort that leads to a positive result.

Title favorites Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson learned that the hard way at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Both drivers suffered from myriad issues at the 2024 South Point 400, prompting NASCAR Insider Kyle Petty to share his views about their disappointing results.

Are Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson self-sabotaging?

The tension was high at Las Vegas Motor Speedway ahead of the opening Round of Eight race. After all, a spot in the Championship 4 was on the line, which would guarantee a playoff contender an automatic spot at Phoenix Raceway if they won the race. For the likes of Chase Elliott and Tyler Reddick, the race was nothing more than a missed opportunity as both drivers retired early after being involved in a multi-car wreck on Lap 89. However, the bigger concern was Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson suffering from pit road troubles, with their teams effectively taking them out of contention from the high-stakes race.

Reflecting on their performances and subsequent results, racing commentator Kyle Petty said, “The #5 car, Larson, loose wheel. The #11 car, Denny Hamlin, loose wheel. Listen, when you’re at this level with eight players in the playoffs and only three or four races to go, there is no mistakes. There’s no room for that type of thing. These guys are taking themselves out of races.”

There is an element of truth in Kyle Petty’s words. Despite finishing fourth in qualifying, Denny Hamlin struggled with speed when the race began and was forced to pit for repairs after just 33 laps. However, his No. 11 crew let him down with a lengthy 13.4-second stop, which made him lose nine places on the grid when he eventually rejoined. At a time when every point counts, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was further relegated to 19th place by the end of Stage 2 and his pit struggles continued to haunt him.

Denny Hamlin experienced more disappointment on the pit road after his crew attempted to change the tires from his Toyota Camry. As his left front wheel was not fully tightened, the racing veteran was forced to reverse back to get the issue resolved despite being given the get-go by his crew members. To make matters worse, his car struggled with vibrations in the subsequent 20 laps because of an issue with the right front tire, adding to the Florida native’s woes. However, Chris Gabehart saved the day by devising a fuel-saving strategy, helping the 43-year-old finish eighth.

The veteran racing driver acknowledged his team’s struggles in the post-race interview by saying, “Yeah, just not a clean day. That certainly kind of sums it up. You’ll have that. We’ll just do the best we can to get the best finish. I thought Chris did a great job trying to get some sort of finish.” However, Denny Hamlin can make peace with the fact that he was not alone in facing such problems, as fellow title-contender Kyle Larson faced similar issues at the 2024 South Point 400.

Kyle Larson confident HMS team will learn from its mistakes

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Kyle Larson was the overwhelming favorite going into the opening Round of Eight playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Why wouldn’t he be? The Hendrick Motorsports driver won last year’s iteration and had momentum on his side after securing his sixth win of the season at the Charlotte Roval just a week prior. However, just like Denny Hamlin, the 32-year-old’s race was plagued by pitstop struggles as well, which forced him to settle for an 11th-place result.

Expressing his views about the setback, Larson said in the post-race interview, “I make a lot more mistakes than the rest of our team does. Yeah, that allows me to be calm and all that. So, yeah, it was a bit of a mess, but we’ll assess it and learn from it. And it’ll never happen again. I know that. It became a mess on that pit stop. But, you know, we just kept our heads in the game from then from there forward and, you know, almost got a top ten.”

The incident occurred on Lap 125 when Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Chevy came into the pit road for a four-tire change. However, midway through the process, the rear tire carrier was unsure if the right rear wheel was secure enough, prompting his crew to suspend what they were doing and focus their attention on the problem. As a result, the left-rear tire was left unchanged, which forced Larson to get back into the pits.

Sharing his insight after the pit road debacle, Larson’s crew chief Cliff Daniels said, “The changer’s second-guessing themselves in what they needed to finish for the left-side operation and clean that up. Ultimately, we had a new tire put on the left front and we did not get a new tire put on the left rear.”

With two more races remaining before the championship event, Kyle Larson remains in the hunt for the title by being third in the driver standings, with a comfortable 35-point cushion above the playoff cutline. However, the pressure will be on Denny Hamlin, who will need to get a result at Homestead-Miami to reduce his 27-point deficit if he wants to keep his playoff hopes alive.