Denny Hamlin discloses Kyle Larson’s “vulnerability” that ruined HMS racer’s chase of Kyle Busch’s NSASCAR record

Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin made some bold comments about Kyle Larson’s loss at the Martinsville Xfinity Series race.

Denny Hamlin discloses Kyle Larson’s “vulnerability” that ruined HMS racer’s chase of Kyle Busch’s NSASCAR record

Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin (Via IMAGO)

The 2025 Homestead Miami race weekend was special for Hendrick Motorsports’ 2021 Cup Series champion Kyle Larson. He started in all three national series events on the weekend, with Truck Series entry with Spire Motorsports alongside Cup and Xfinity entry with his parent team Hendrick Motorsports.  

Kyle Larson was looking to emulate the historic triple win of two times Cup Series champion Kyle Busch. The veteran swept the race weekend twice at Bristol Motor Speedway (2010 and 2017) while he was driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. Larson’s attempt to recreate this historic weekend fell short, as he was able to win only the Cup and Truck events.

JGR’s Denny Hamlin via his podcast Actions Detrimental explored what was the reason for Larson not winning the Xfinity race. Larson lost the race after he was wrecked by Sam Mayer, while he was leading his 132th lap of the race. The Hass Factor racer was the best challenger for win at the end and he made a mistake while trying to push the No:17 Chevy resulting in the wreck.

He (Kyle Larson) was critical of Sam Mayer, but Sam, to give him credit, was critical of himself. He was like, ‘Man, I wish I had to do it all over again. I got to him too soon; I was trying to time it.’ Sam’s doing everything he can to try to roll on him and he’s trying to predict when the 17 (Larson) is gonna take off so he can give him a push.

Denny Hamlin sad via Actions Detrimental.
YouTube video

But Hamlin pointed out that regardless of the wreck, Larson was vulnerable against the No:41 Ford of Mayer in the restarts. The three times Daytona 500 winner highlighted how the HFS racer was the only challenger to Larson on Saturday and that was proven right when the youngsters move changed a potentially historic moment.

And that’s where I thought the 17 was most vulnerable to the 41 (Mayer) was going to be on restarts. I thought that Mayer was the only real challenger to Larson on Saturday, and it turned out to be the only challenge to him winning the race.

Denny Hamlin added.

Kyle Larson shares his expectations for Martinsville

Despite the Xfinity loss, Kyle Larson seems to be happy that he was able to secure two wins and finally end his winless streak that been bugging him for some times in the Cup Series. This gives him more confidence going into this weekend’s race at Martinsville, a track that is special for Hendrick Motorsports.

Kyle Larson
Kyle Larson (Via Imago)

Before joining HMS and in his first year with the team as well, Martinsville has been a tough track for Kyle Larson. But he was able to overcome the challenge to win his maiden grandfather clock in 2023. He now sees it as one of his bet’s tracks in the Cup garage, giving them hopes of having solid runs in every race he competes there.

When I started at Hendrick Motorsports, the car was probably a little bit better than I was at Martinsville (Speedway). But we’ve gotten better as a whole and I think it’s one of our best tracks now. We got a win there in 2023 and had solid runs and finishes there last year, so we’re looking forward to this weekend.

Kyle Larson said.

The comments from Kyle Larson on the race weekend shows a newfound confidence he has and the fact that he is expecting to secure back-to-back wins. It would be interesting to see if the No:5 will have car fast enough to help him a chive this goal.