Matthew O'Haren-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Larson bemoans Dover Cup race loss to Denny Hamlin, admits he just 'couldn’t really do anything'

Originally posted on FirstSportz | By Justin P Joy | Last updated 4/29/24

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin secured his third win of the 2024 season at Dover in impressive fashion. He became the joined winningest driver of the year with Willaim Byron, who also has three wins. The three times Daytona 500 winner was able to take full control of the race once he was on the lead on the re-start with 62 laps left in the race.

Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson was the biggest threat to Denny Hamlin the whole day at Dover. The No:5 Chevy Camaro ZL1 was actually on the lead with 72 laps left in the race and the duo was having fierce battle when another caution flag came out. The No:11 Toyota Camry was able to restart upfront and he controlled the whole race from then.

Kyle Larson saw Hamlin pulling himself away from the pack from lap 61 and tried hard to clos ethe gap on him. But the pace of the Camry and the dirty air issue he had to overcome was just too much for him to close the gap enough to make a move. He had no option but to try his best keep up with the 23XI Racing co-owner till the finish.

I knew when I got within three car lengths, he was going to start moving around. I just couldn’t really do anything. I was trying all sorts of different angles and speeds and all that. Nothing could generate enough speed to get close enough to do anything. Kyle Larson said.

Kyle Larson details what he needed to get the win on Sunday

Larson pointed out that, HMS gave him a really good car that helped him to get to P2 from P21st and getting the win on stage two was impressive as well. He reckons he could have converted the good points day to a win if he had a better restart.

That was a bummer but a great day for HendrickCars.com, Chevy team. Started 21st, drove up to sixth in the first stage and I got another stage win. Good points day, but we would have loved to get a win. Always fast here at Dover and we need to be a little better on the restarts. Kyle Larson said.

The No:5 HMS team doesn’t have much to be disappointed about. They were the second-best team of the day and maximized the result after a poor qualifying. Larson can still get his second win of the season in the coming weekends.

This article first appeared on FirstSportz and was syndicated with permission.

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