On lap 221 of the Iowa Corning 350, Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin made contact, flipping the former’s Chevrolet Camaro into the latter, dropping the former to 34th place.
However, Larson gave the Joe Gibbs Racing driver the benefit of the doubt.
Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson and Daniel Suarez were driving next to each other as the three of them entered Turn 4. Just then, Suarez’s No. 99 car hit Larson’s No. 5 car and spun out. Denny Hamlin was behind them and didn’t have time to avoid Larson or brake. Looking back on this, Larson told journalist Bob Pockrass:
“We were lapping him and then, I don’t know, he bumped him a little bit and knocked him off the track. I don’t think it was intentional. I don’t know why it was intentional.”
Kyle Larson said that choosing the center lane may not have been the best decision, especially when his car was the fastest in qualifying.
Larson, who also had the pole position for this race, concluded that he should have been a little more patient, knowing that he had enough room to pass Suarez and Keselowski without having to go three cars abreast. “Knowing how fast my car was and who was around me, I couldn’t have gone to the middle and been more patient,” Larson told Pockrass. “There was space. So I made it to the exit of the corner, and I don’t know if Suarez got out from under me or what happened, but he hit me in the left rear and sent me spinning out of control. ”
Unfortunately, the Chevrolet icon lost his points lead after the 16th race of the season. He is currently in second place on the leaderboard, eight points behind his Hendrick Motorsports teammate and 2020 Cup Series champion Chase Elliott.
Kyle Larson forgets his initial frustration with Denny Hamlin
After the race, Kyle Larson didn’t blame Hamlin for the contact after all. But he was angry at Hamlin when the incident happened. When contact was made, Larson radioed in as another prominent journalist, Jeff Gluck, reported:
Larson later said his words were born out of frustration. “I was just frustrated, but I put it behind me,” the 31-year-old said. Pockrass reported that Larson’s crew chief Cliff Daniels asked the driver to let it go because he had the fastest car on the field.
Larson also had a chance to win back-to-back races, following last week’s win at Sonoma.
The HMS driver could have become the first to win four Cup Series races this season. Still, he missed out on both opportunities and now looks forward to the USA TODAY 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on June 23.
