“We’re Friends”: Denny Hamlin Renews Hot-and-Cold Rivalry With Frenemy Kyle Larson in a 5-Word Claim

Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin are the two names that’ve been echoing every weekend this Cup Series season. Out of all the racecars in the garage, the #5 and #11 teams have just become the natural picks for winners. It seems like a theme now: one weekend, Hendrick Motorsports bags the win, and the JGR driver replies with the victory the following weekend. In this back-and-forth, two drivers, Larson and Hamlin, have been at the forefront.

So is there a potential rivalry brewing between the two? Racing-wise, one can hardly argue they aren’t rivals. Moreover, more often than not, they end up battling each other for the win. Recently, the JGR veteran driver was able to fend him off at Dover to seal his third win of the season. In response, the 2021 Cup champion got his payback on the late restart at Kansas Speedway, allowing him to bag his second win of 2024 in a photo finish.

However, when Denny Hamlin was asked whether he sees Kyle Larson as his rival for the season, he sort of played it safe but couldn’t hide his intention.

Denny Hamlin shares his take on his rivalry with Kyle Larson

Six times, Larson and Hamlin have finished 1-2 in a race, and interestingly, the latter has emerged victorious on all six occasions. Therefore, given the opportunity to get better off him on the restart, the HMS driver took his chances and split the field in three wide. This allowed him to get Denny Hamlin out of the equation and mount his charge against Chris Buescher for the win.

It cannot be a coincidence that they keep finding each other at the vital juncture of the stage, competing for wins. However, the fact that the two are friends off the track perhaps won’t allow fans to witness an all-out battle like the ones they are used to. Sharing his stance on the debate, Denny Hamlin, via WFMY News 2, said, “We definitely have over the course of our career for sure. I’d say it’s more of a friendly rivalry because we wanna beat each other. You know we are friends off the track, so it makes a little more difficult to have a true rivalry.”

However, sarcastically, Hamlin did confess that, as long as the results were in his favor, he wouldn’t mind seeing his friend lose. “But I think it just naturally comes because we’re gonna race each other so many times for the next year or so. I just hope to keep getting the good end of the deal on that. And if we go then everything will be fine.”

With three wins in 12 starts already this season, the JGR driver has been vocal about his chances of winning the championship this season. However, after the result at Kansas, he might want to rethink his approach and counter the dominance of HMS and Larson in the standings.

Here’s how the two drivers fare statistically after 12 races in 2024

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The AdventHealth 400 win allowed Larson to further solidify his position at the top of the charts, and he is 29 points ahead of runner-up Martin Truex Jr. Yeah, not Hamlin, but Truex Jr who still hasn’t been to victory lane, is second. The JGR star, with his three wins and a P5 finish last weekend, is holding his own in fourth position. Larson has led the most laps (633), and Hamlin is not far off with his (606).

However, a consistent run and six top-5 finishes have been a differentiating factor in favor of Larson. Whereas, the JGR star has yet to build a streak of regular top finishes. The driver of the #5 HMS car also leads the charge with the most number of stage wins, 6 to his name, while the JGR star only has 3. They both do share a single DNF finish, but this goes on to show how Larson has the edge over his opponents, thanks to his ability to run consistently in all the races.

Although there is a healthy rivalry between the two, do not keep your hopes up to see some fender-bending action. But given that rivalries are far few in this day and age of NASCAR racing, no one’s complaining to see the two drivers compete for wins respectfully.