Denny Hamlin picks Kyle Larson to win Cup Series Championship at Phoenix
Denny Hamlin may not have made the Championship 4, but he’ll be watching with a careful eye to see who wins it all when it’s all said and done.
Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell will battle it out at Phoenix. During the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin stated that he believes Blaney should be considered the favorite entering the weekend.
“I do, I do,” Hamlin responded, asked if Blaney is the favorite heading into Phoenix. “I think that he’s been really good at that track. Not just historically, I think that he’s been good at that track in the Next Gen era. That matters. You can look at all the past stats that you want, it doesn’t matter. It’s who’s been good in the Next Gen era, and Blaney has been. I think that he has really fast speed right now. This looks eerily similar to Joey Logano from last year. … How can you not considered him a favorite? He’s the hot hand. He’s fast right now.
“They’ve clicked on something, or they’ve found something that’s greatly increased their speed.”
However, Hamlin ultimately wouldn’t pick Blaney as his champion, believing it’ll be Larson who gets it done, winning his second Cup Series title.
“You’ve got [Kyle] Larson, [William] Byron, [Christopher] Bell and [Ryan] Blaney. I think that we saw the first chink in the armor, with Byron at Martinsville. Like I genuinely think he was nervous. It’s very easy to get panicked. I’ve been there a thousand times. So this is going to be his first go-round at the final four, I think he’s going to be nervous. That’s just my general feel,” Hamlin elaborated. “I think Larson will be, he’s been here. Now the year that Larson won the championship at Phoenix, he was by far the worst car in the field of the four, and then had some good circumstances work out, but he’s going to race freer. I think Larson is going to be himself. I don’t think he’s going to alter too much, for the way he puts his car on the edge.
“It’s high-risk, high-reward with him, but I just think he has a chance to, if he races as free as he normally does, or qualifies and practices as free as he normally does, he could stamp himself as by far the fastest. … I just feel like Larson and Blaney have the raw speed, that’s going to be tough to match. … I’m going to go with Kyle Larson, because I think he has the pit crew advantage over the No. 12 as well. That’s a factor. Qualifying, I’m going to give the edge to Larson as well. So to me, I don’t see how you don’t pick him.”
There’s Denny Hamlin’s pick. Now all that’s left to do is wait and see who comes home with the trophy when they cross the finish line on Sunday.