Kyle Larson reacts to final restart, run by Denny Hamlin to win Las Vegas playoff race

As Denny Hamlin zipped around the track after the final restart, Kyle Larson had a front-row seat, and he was impressed. Hamlin just put on a performance that will go down in history as one of the best in his late career. 60 NASCAR Cup Series wins and a trip to Phoenix.

Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin have had epic battles over the years. They have gone toe-to-toe on multiple occasions and had some awkward moments between them. Friends off the track, the two NASCAR drivers have a complicated relationship.

After the finish, Larson gave Hamlin his props on the win and how he did it. The 11 car looked unstoppable in those final laps.

“Yeah, I mean, I thought I had a big enough gap down the backstretch to go to the top and get rolling momentum,” Kyle Larson said after the race. “But yeah, his car, the Toyotas in general, were really, really, really fast on the short run and had a lot of speed. Yeah, he must have nailed the bottom behind me, he got to my inside, and it was kind of over from there. But he did an awesome job. He got up on the wheel there. I mean, I felt like I was up on the wheel, and he did a really good job. I tried to take his line away in three and four, and he got to my outside.

“So, rarely do you see Denny do that, and he did a great job. So, hats off to them. Hats off to my team, too. We had an awesome day as well. I think we were second maybe in the first stage, won the next stage, and second in the race. You know, good points day, obviously. Would have liked the issue with the 10 and the 24 to not happen because we had just kind of taken control of the race there and was gonna kind of switch to the victory. That’s racing, and it gets crazy. Happy though still to get a good finish, it was getting hectic there.”

Kyle Larson finished P2. It was a great day on the track for his team. That group looks like its old self again. While Larson isn’t locked into Phoenix, he is in a good position to get there. If he survives Talladega, he should be well on his way to the Championship 4.

Earlier in the race, Larson looked like the best car on the track. That short run at the finish was what Hamlin needed and when he needed it.

When Hamlin made the pass on Kyle Larson, it was decisive. When he did the same to Chase Briscoe just a lap or two later, he left no doubt. From there, Hamlin sailed off to the win.

As far as the NASCAR Playoffs go, it was a great day for Hamlin and Larson. Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe are holding down the 3rd and 4th place spots in points. Then you have drivers like William Byron, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, and Ryan Blaney. They have a lot of work to do if they want to make it to Phoenix.