Denny Hamlin bests Kyle Larson in instant classic at Kansas

By Noah Nelson

Denny Hamlin hounded the rear bumper of Kyle Larson’s Chevrolet for nearly the entirety of the
race’s final run, but he needed all 400 miles to figure out how to get around Larson for his first
victory of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Hamlin and Larson consistently swapped fast lap times back and forth, racing each other through
lapped traffic, changing lanes lap after lap trying to gain an edge on each other. Two of the best
drivers the series has ever seen in its 75 years engaged in a 180-mph game of chess, with one
desperately trying to stay ahead of the other’s next move.

As each lap went on, the intensity seemed to ramp up even further, as both drivers upped the
ante, using all of the real estate they could to keep up their momentum. Their showdown reached
its peak in the final 20 laps.

Hamlin throughout the final run consistently sat about seven tenths behind Larson’s bumper,
until Larson had his lead cut in half as he closed on the lapped car of J.J. Yeley. This allowed
Hamlin to close to around three tenths behind, where he went to work trying to find a lane that
would allow him to pass Larson.

As they often say in racing, “catching him is one thing, but passing him is another.”

Hamlin stalked Larson for the next ten laps, but he could never quite get enough momentum to
completely clear Larson. Then, coming out of turn two on the final lap, Larson scrubbed the
wall, immediately coming back down to the nose of Hamlin’s car. Larson overcorrected into the
wall as Hamlin sailed to victory.

“I was really loose. I was trying to do what I could to manage it, just was really loose at that end,
and yeah, just he was a little bit better than me there at the end. I haven’t seen a replay, either,
but obviously he was side-drafting really aggressively like you would, but he was touching me it
felt like, and it just had me kind of out of control,” said Larson.

As Hamlin crossed the line, Larson’s wounded #5 limped behind him, having to settle for
second, watching another late race opportunity slip out of his grasp.

It was Hamlin’s first victory in nearly a year, dating back to last season’s Coca-Cola 600 at
Charlotte Motor Speedway. He led 34 laps.

“I got position on him there, was trying to side-draft him but clipped his left rear. Glad he was
able to at least finish. Proud of my FedEx team though. 400 wins now for Joe Gibbs Racing, just
such a great accomplishment for them,” Hamlin said post-race.

The race saw a record amount of lead changes, and a slew of cautions that kept drivers (and crew
chiefs) on their toes all day. Strategy was abundant, and the track was ripe for racing, with
drivers in various tire situations slipping and sliding around each other, swapping positions high
and low.

Pole-sitter William Byron sat out front early with teammate Larson, but ill handling cars and ill
timed circumstances set the Hendrick Motorsports duo back early. On lap 5, Larson was spun by
Tyler Reddick from the lead.

Meanwhile, as Larson was picking his way through traffic, Byron fought a loose race car, slipped
back, and ultimately hit the wall, falling to 34th at one point. Further issues on pit road then put
him two laps down for much of the middle of the race. Byron ultimately used the flurry of
cautions to get his laps back and rebound for 3rd.

A lost tire on pit road in stage one ended Chase Briscoe’s chances early. He would finish 32nd in
yet another disappointing run for the Stewart-Haas Racing team.

Hamlin passed teammate Martin Truex Jr. for the lead with just eight to go in stage one, adding
another playoff point to his total.

Austin Cindric’s tough stretch got even worse, as his #2 car lost a tire in stage two, ending his
chances at a good run as well. He would finish 31st.

Aric Almirola’s spin with 27 laps to go in stage two shook things up, as several pit road miscues
shuffled the running order.

Brad Keselowski went to the rear for speeding, while Ty Gibbs had a loose wheel that sent him
to the back.

Josh Berry and Erik Jones tangled quickly after the ensuing restart, bringing out another caution.
Tensions increased with every restart, as Ross Chastain got into it with Kyle Busch, with Busch
voicing his displeasure both on-track and on the radio.

Christopher Bell spun late in stage two, also while battling with Chastain, setting the stage for
another restart, as well as even more chaos.

Several cars stayed out to try and gain stage points, as well as track position, meaning that cars
with fresh tires would be slicing through the field at a frantic pace. Kyle Busch’s day came to an
end as he quickly came up on the rear bumper of a slowing Keselowski, cutting to the inside
across Ryan Preece’s nose, sending Busch careening into the inside wall.

“Just tried to get below (Keselowski) off of two. I wasn’t quite clear, got clipped and spun out. I
feel bad for my guys. We’ve been fighting hard all day long to get ourselves up there and get
further up with track position. We finally got it and then all of the cautions kind of came to kind
of throw off strategy. We weren’t able to get stage points and then ruined our race there with
getting clipped. Just bad luck situations. A lot of guys up there on older tires — you’re trying to
get by them, make the most of your stage and then stuff like this keeps happening,” Busch said.
Joey Logano’s decision to stay out ultimately allowed him to win the second stage ahead of
Michael McDowell and Noah Gragson.

Ty Gibbs’ promising day went awry after contact with Martin Truex Jr., as he slid into the inside
wall, and out of the race.

Harrison Burton and Noah Gragson both spun in separate incidents shortly thereafter.
Gragson had made contact with Chastain, and spun several laps later. He then confronted
Chastain post-race, with their heated confrontation becoming physical as he shoved Chastain,
who then punched Gragson. The two were separated by security.

“Just got fenced by [Chastain]. He took care of us at Talladega. We’re Chevrolet teammates and
he didn’t work with us there, and then he fenced us here, and I’m just over it. Nobody else has
the balls to at least confront him, so if you don’t at least grab him and do something, he’s just
gonna keep doing it. I’m over it, it’s the second time. I have respect for Justin Marks (Chastain’s
team owner) and the Trackhouse team, and that’s why I’m not wrecking him on the race track,
but I’m ready to fight him. I didn’t even get a shot in because the security guards got in the
middle of it, but nobody confronts the guy, and he just keeps doing it, and I’m just sick and tired
of it,” said Gragson, who ended up 29th in today’s running order.

“I got tight off of four for sure, and Noah and I have a very similar attitude on the race track. We
train together, prepare together; we know every little bit about each other. I definitely crowded
him up off of (turn) four and he took a swipe at us in (turn) three, and then came down and
grabbed a hold of me. A very big man once told me we have a no-push policy here at
Trackhouse,” said Chastain, who finished fifth.

“There’s no talking to the guy. Sucks that [security] all get involved. Just let us two work it out
and finish it off,” Gragson later went on to say.

Erik Jones went for another spin with 53 to go. Larson passed Byron for the lead on the restart,
setting up his spirited battle to the finish with Hamlin.

The NASCAR Cup Series takes to the track once again next Sunday in Darlington, S.C., where
defending winner Joey Logano seeks victory lane once again.

Results from the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway: