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Kyle Larson takes jab at Denny Hamlin after Bristol win: 'We hate to see him win'

JHby:Jonathan Howard•04/13/25•

Jondean25

Kyle Larson NASCAR Bristol win
Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

With the two being the best of friends and the worst of enemies, Kyle Larson couldn’t help but take a jab at Denny Hamlin today. Larson led 411 laps and ended Hamlin’s chance at a NASCAR three-peat.

Denny Hamlin has finished P5, P1, P1, and P2 in the last three races. He has been excellent. Today, Kyle Larson was flawless.

“Just a flawless race once again here at Bristol for the 5 team,” Larson said. His team also won the night race last fall. “Really, really good car. That was a lot of fun, you know? However many laps of green we ran there was a lot of fun and I was pretty comfortable with things. Then, Denny came on really strong there before the pit cycle. Then it just kind of kept the pressure on from there. So, I knew I had to make some good moves in traffic.”

Today, Larson averaged 100.746 MPH. That is the fastest Bristol race since the track was changed to concrete. Only Cale Yarborough’s April 1977 win at Bristol was quicker over 500 laps.

With the dominating win, Kyle Larson couldn’t help himself. He had to poke fun at Denny Hamlin, especially after ending his win streak.

“You know, if Denny’s in front of me, it could be a totally different story and be really hard to pass him. Glad to stop his three-peat; we hate to see him win,” Larson said. “As I’m sure you guys do too.”

Kyle Larson picks up his second win of the season. Is it any surprise that he has won the two Cup Series races following runs in the Truck and Xfinity Series beforehand? Just like he did at Homestead, Larson picked up 2/3 wins in his quest for the sweep.

Kyle Larson leads 411 laps at Bristol

Alex Bowman led the first 39 laps of this race. Then, Kyle Larson took over. Ryan Blaney led 48 laps total, but that mostly came as a result of the green flag pit stop cycle. Blaney stayed out and led the race, hoping for a caution. Carson Hocevar was the only other driver to lead laps today with 2.

That left 411 laps in the race for Larson to dominate. He was fantastic. Much like William Byron was at Darlington, the clean air gave Larson superhuman abilities today at Bristol. It didn’t hurt that we had the longest green flag run of the stage racing era.

Hendrick Motorsports had an emotional weekend. Losing PR and communications professional Jon Edwards. He spent decades at Hendrick and in the sport of NASCAR. Working with Jeff Gordon and then Kyle Larson, he meant so much to so many people in the organization.

Kyle Larson was as close to perfect as you can be at Bristol Motor Speedway. At The Last Great Colosseum, Larson prevailed among the Cup Series gladiators.