The most unfortunate part of how everything went down on Sunday at Phoenix Raceway in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race is that the bitter defeat of Denny Hamlin superseded any kind of celebration for Kyle Larson.
Hamlin led 208 laps of a race that was scheduled for go 312 but was extended to 318 due to overtime as a result of William Byron crashing after suffering a tire failure. Larson won the race with a two-tire strategy when Hamlin took four.
Larson has not taken exception to the attention placed on Hamlin because he also feels like his longtime friend and occasional rival did everything he was supposed to do and lost the championship in an unfair manner.
It was the second time that Larson had beat Hamlin for the championship like this — the race in 2021 came down to a late caution in which the Hendrick 5 beat the Gibbs No. 11 on the final restart.
Hamlin congratulated Larson five years ago and even brought himself to briefly attend the afterparty last night.
“I thought to myself, ‘there is no chance Denny is going to come out’ on Sunday because I wouldn’t want to and don’t think anyone would want to,” Larson said. “But he did come out and I think it shows how big of a person he is and how strong he is to do that.”
Hamils feels for Larson as a ‘deserving champion’
Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Hamlin just wishes his story didn’t take away from Larson’s impressive season, regardless of the circumstances of the current championship format.
“I hate that the attention has shifted away from him,” Hamlin said. “He’s definitely a deserving champion. There is a difference between ‘deserving’ and ‘should have been’ right?
“Not one person should question his deserving-ness of being a champion. That’s what I don’t like to see. He is a great friend of mine and I was happy for him. And going to go see him and tell him that was important to me as a friend
“I had to separate my feelings from my friendship and go show up.”
Hamlin has received an outpouring of empathy from the entire sport after Sunday. It’s hard to find someone in good faith that doesn’t feel like he ‘should have been’ and thus felt for him in how that played out.
“It just doesn’t seem right,” Byron said. “Yeah, I mean, I think just kind of seeing him, he had beat us, and we’re running second, four laps to go, you go into the wall and cause a caution. It sucks, right? I don’t want to be that guy, even if I’m in the Championship 4. Doesn’t really matter. Don’t want to change the outcome. So it sucks.”
Truck and Xfinity champs react to Hamlin’s ‘tough’ loss
Corey Heim, TRICON Garage Toyota
Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Truck Series champion Corey Heim is a 23XI Racing development driver, but more importantly for the sake of this topic, grew up a fan of Hamlin and just felt disappointed by it all.
“That was a tough watch,” Heim said. “I talked to him right before driver intros and he was very confident as he should have been. I grew up a Denny fan, but even if I hadn’t, that was just terrible. That is a terrible way for anyone to lose a championship.”
Hamlin has also struck a friendship with Xfinity Series champion Jesse Love over the past three years. Love expressed a similar sentiment as Heim.
“That was definitely heartbreaking for sure,” Love said. “I saw him after the race, and it was just heartbreaking, even if it’s part of the sport. I do not even remotely know how to process what he must be going through.
“I feel like growing up and racing with my dad, just like he did, I feel like I understand a little what this would have meant to him. He’s also been a good friend and has given me good advice and I appreciate someone like Denny a lot.”
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Hamlin has a complicated relationship with fans in that he likes to antagonize them, but when push comes to shove like this past month, it seemed like there was a lot of respect for him that saw him become something of a sentimental favorite last week.
His teammate and fellow championship finalist Chase Briscoe ribbed him on the truck ride on Sunday.
“They really love you.”
But they did on Sunday and Briscoe hopes Hamlin at least takes some positivity out of that.
“I think everyone acknowledges that Denny is an incredible race car driver that is more than deserving to win a championship,” Briscoe said. “I mean, if you just look at accolades and stats, I mean, he should be a champion in our sport and I think everybody knows that and wants to see him actually succeed in that.
“How everyone responded to that after the race, it didn’t surprise me, because it just goes to show the human element of our sport. You look at him huddling with the team, his grief, and how much this obviously meant to him, it didn’t surprise me that people reacted to him the way they have.”
For his part, Hamlin is just appreciative for everyone who has had something nice to say, competitor and fans alike even if he can’t bring himself to stay on X for longer than a minute or two at a time.
“I try to look at it but it’s just pain,” Hamlin said. “I can only look at it for a minute or two before I get in my feelings. I love our fans and they have been very very supportive of me the last few weeks and this weekend.
“But again, my friend won a championship and I do want to be happy for him too.”
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