Kyle Larson Laments Las Vegas Cup Race Loss to “Really, Really, Really Fast” Toyota of Denny Hamlin
2021 Cup Series champion Kyle Larson had a day of mixed emotion after finishing P2 in South Point 400 behind Denny Hamlin.
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Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson (Via IMAGO)
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Hendrick Motorsports had strong cars and huge expectations coming into the Las Vegas race week. They delivered on it earlier in the race, with both Kyle Larson and William Byron taking the lead earlier from pole winner Denny Hamlin. But it wasn’t enough to beat the No:11 team, who executed to perfection on the track and lady luck aiding him with a timely caution.
After William Byron wrecked with Ty Dillon, Kyle Larson, who led 129 laps of 267 lap race, found himself with a huge gap and momentum on his side to win the race. But the late caution gave Denny Hamlin, whose Toyota was extremely fast in the short run the opportunity to take the lead and cruise to win in the final five laps. It marked an historic and emotional 60th career win.
Yeah, I mean, I thought I had a big enough gap down the backstretch to go to the top and get rolling momentum. But yeah, his car, the Toyotas in general, were really, really, really fast on the short run and had a lot of speed. Yeah, he must have nailed the bottom behind me, he got to my inside, and it was kind of over from there.
Kyle Larson said after Las Vegas race (Via On3.com).
Kyle Larson on the caution that he didn’t want and whether Denny Hamlin is now the championship favorite: pic.twitter.com/6Ilcz4Z6AK
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) October 13, 2025
The Hendrick Motorsports No:5 Chevy driver, who had to settle for a P2, had nothing but praise for the TRD veteran whom he has had many battles for wins in the past. He highlighted that Hamlin as well as his No:11 Joe Gibbs Racing crew did an awesome job to secure the race win and deserves all the credit. The veteran can only lament the loss as his rivals were too good at the end for him.
But he did an awesome job. He got up on the wheel there. I mean, I felt like I was up on the wheel, and he did a really good job. I tried to take his line away in three and four, and he got to my outside. So, rarely do you see Denny do that, and he did a great job. So, hats off to them.
Kyle Larson added.
Kyle Larson is happy with the good points secured at Las Vegas
Regardless of the disappointing finish to the race, as the win could’ve secured him the finale spot, he is happy with the point situation he is in. He has a 35 points advantage from the cutline, making him the driver capable of making it into the championship-4 on just points, if he can remain consistent. He credited his crew for the success.
Hats off to my team, too. We had an awesome day as well. I think we were second maybe in the first stage, won the next stage, and second in the race. You know, good points day, obviously.
Kyle Larson said.
Further talking about the point, he admitted that if the Willaim Byron wreck didn’t happen, an HMS car would have been on the victory lane as it was the moment that changed the whole dynamic of the race. But he accepts that fact that the craziness is part of the racing and is happy they were able to finish at least P2.
Would have liked the issue with the 10 and the 24 to not happen because we had just kind of taken control of the race there and was gonna kind of switch to the victory. That’s racing, and it gets crazy. Happy though still to get a good finish, it was getting hectic there.
Kyle Larson added.
The comments from the 2021 Cup Series champion shows he has mixed feelings about the Vegas outing. With the enough points advantage, Larson can take more risks in the coming week at Talladega and Martinsville, to try to win the race, in order to secure a spot in the finale. It would be interesting to see how the upcoming two weeks going to playout for the Chavey racer.
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