Kyle Larson won't let Denny Hamlin incident ruin their friendship

This Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin drama is going to be the talk of the week as the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Richmond. For the second time this season, we saw Hamlin put a hard move on Larson and this time, it didn’t look nearly as clean as Kansas. Pocono Raceway put a strain on this off-track friendship.

You just never know how drivers are going to react to things. After the race, Kyle Larson was anything but happy. In fact, he might have been the maddest he’s ever been after a race. In his mind, Hamlin raced him without respect and put him in the wall.

However, when it comes to their personal relationship, don’t expect the two not to go golfing or play pickleball anymore. All of that off-track stuff is still on the table.

“On-track stuff is on-track stuff,” Larson said to media on pit road. “I feel like I can do a good job of separating on-track from off-track. He’s still a friend, races me like an a**hole but still a friend. So, yeah I’m just mad right now, I’m sure he’ll say some dumb stuff on Monday night or whatever and I’ll get more mad for a little while, then I’ll eventually get over it.”

So, it turns out that Kyle Larson listens to Hamlin’s podcast. I’m sure he’s dying to hear what his buddy has to say this week, just like the rest of us. As far as the on-track stuff? Well, that might just change the next time the 5 and 11 get side-by-side.

Kyle Larson is going to race Denny Hamlin harder

Going forward, don’t expect Kyle Larson to be so chill. Yeah, he’s a California guy, but he isn’t going to just sit back anymore and let himself be used up. When it comes to wins, you never know when you’re going to get that next one.

This was a great moment in that we have two of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers battling it out. Larson, still building his legacy relatively early on in his career. Hamlin, the veteran with just one last thing on his bucket list – a championship.

Those factors will play into how the two race one another, as well as the incident at Pocono.

“I don’t know, I mean, you obviously have to be careful how you answer that question these days and be careful afterwards, but like I said I’ve never had to reach out to him to apologize, I’ve never, I’ve never had to. I can’t think of one time where I’m like, ‘Man Denny sorry I hurt your day or sorry I ended your day.’ There’s four or five times he’s had to reach out to me over the nine years I’ve been racing in the Cup Series to apologize. Whether it be little, little stuff on track or big stuff.

“As we’ve all heard him say, eventually, he has to race a certain way to get some respect back. I’m an aggressive racer I get it, but I tend to race my friends with more respect but I just feel like I haven’t gotten that respect from him, especially this year, but even in the past.”

Kyle Larson says he is still friends with Denny Hamlin, but Hamlin hasn’t raced him like a friend (he used a choice word to describe the way Hamlin races him). pic.twitter.com/GexHxbWGQm

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) July 23, 2023

So, don’t expect Kyle Larson to condemn his friend Denny Hamlin. But don’t expect him to give his rival any more leeway on the track, either.