Kyle Larson on Denny Hamlin’s Title Chase: ‘We Knew the Format, and He Did as Well’

Pit This Time may earn a commission when you buy through links on this page. It never affects our coverage. Learn more.

Kyle Larson said he felt bad for Denny Hamlin when he won last year’s Cup Series title at Phoenix, but that there is no reason for that feeling this year. “We knew the format, and he did as well,” Larson said.

Larson made the comments on Kevin Harvick‘s Happy Hour. He leads Hamlin by 73 points in the 10-race Chase with two races left, after winning at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday.

Larson: ‘Such an awkward feeling’

Hamlin led 208 laps in last year’s championship race at Phoenix Raceway but finished sixth after the race’s late cautions. Larson finished third and won his second Cup title.

“I don’t know. I mean, there was definitely an element last year in the race at Phoenix where I did feel bad for him,” Larson said. “That was such an awkward feeling. It was just an awkward position for me to be in, to even have to feel that way, you know?”

‘We knew the format’

The Cup Series replaced its elimination playoffs with the 10-race Chase this season, with points carrying through to the finale. Larson said this year is different from a one-race title decided by a caution.

“We knew the format, and he did as well,” Larson said. “But this year, I feel like he’s performed really well. It’s not like he’s had a… In his defense, maybe there’s been some bad luck and things, but Phoenix was definitely bad luck.”

Hamlin started the Chase as the regular-season champion. Larson won at World Wide Technology Raceway and Kansas Speedway in the Chase before his first Talladega win Sunday.

Where the Chase stands

Larson has 2,441 points. Hamlin is 73 back, Christopher Bell 74 and Chase Briscoe 79. Larson clinches the title at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday if he leaves with a lead of at least 77 points, as Pit This Time reported.

Hamlin said on his podcast this week that catching Larson is “highly unlikely,” as Pit This Time reported.

The Xfinity 500 is Sunday, November 1, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC from Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia. The season ends November 8 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida.