“They’re Not as Good”- Denny Hamlin Publicly Unmasks HMS’ Achilles Heel, Names Kyle Larson the Only Saving Grace

After the season that their two playoff drivers had, many expected Hendrick Motorsports to come out on top in Phoenix. Both Kyle Larson and William Byron were incredibly consistent throughout the 2023 Cup Series season, but they failed to deliver when it mattered most. As far as Denny Hamlin is concerned, it came down to one of HMS’ biggest weaknesses this year.

The Cup Series title was eventually won by Ryan Blaney, who earned three wins. This is less than both Kyle Larson and William Byron, with four and six wins, respectively. NASCAR’s playoff format is quite contentious that way, but that does not change the fact that Hendrick Motorsports came up short in the most important race of the year.

Denny Hamlin singles out Hendrick Motorsports’ biggest weakness

HMS was pretty consistent as far as #5 and #24 are concerned in the 2023 Cup Series season, but according to Denny Hamlin, one of their glaring weaknesses cost them the championship. In a recent episode of the Actions Detrimental podcast, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver dissected what went wrong for Rick Hendrick, and the answer is a lot simpler than what you might believe. Speed.

“I thought that the 24 and the 5 were gonna lack a little speed. I think you had even seen in William Byron’s comments or someone at Hendrick’s comments about the lower downforce package. They’re not as good. Their cars aren’t as good, they don’t have as much speed. Just outright speed and long-run speed and I think that kind of showed up on Sunday,” Hamlin analyzed.

The driver of the #11 JGR car would then single out Kyle Larson and the HMS #5. Hamlin praised Larson for putting up a valiant effort against a much faster Ryan Blaney. However, the Actions Detrimental host re-iterated that long-run speed was what cost Kyle Larson despite him being lightning fast at the start of races.

“The 5 car just really lacked long-run speed, that’s kind of their Achilles Heel, it seems like. They’ve got such fast speed at the beginning of runs, this is just generally speaking, not just about Phoenix, that they struggle with long-run speed. That’s more likely Larson pushing the car to its absolute capability which makes him so lightning fast,” Hamlin said.

“But eventually, something has to wear down and it’s usually the tires that do that. But he put up a great effort, a valiant effort trying to hold off what was the fastest car of the weekend which was the 12 of Blaney,” the Joe Gibbs Racing star added.

Read More – Denny Hamlin Drops 6-Word Revelation on 2024 Championship Chance

Kyle Larson must have been disappointed with how his car performed, given how good he has been all season. The 2021 Cup Series champion admitted his inferiority to Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain, neither of whom he was able to get the better of.

Did Kyle Larson just admit inferiority to Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain?

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In the post-race interview, the driver of the #5 HMS car spoke about the race and how he just wasn’t as good as Chastain or Blaney. However, he praised his team for putting in a great season-long effort to get him to the championship race.

“I was just not as good as a few guys, and especially Blaney and Ross, probably, so it would have been difficult, but my team did a really good job all season, so I’m extremely proud of them,” the 2021 Cup Series champion said.

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Kyle Larson’s wait for a second Cup Series victory will extend until at least the 2024 season. Will the HMS motorsports star go that extra step and get the job done next season? Only time will tell.