KANSAS CITY, Kan. — An intense late-race battle between Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin turned into one for the ages at Kansas Speedway during Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400.
Coming off turn two on the final lap, Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota Camry had a great run underneath Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet, who was drifting up the race track.
Looking to gain a side draft off Larson, Hamlin darted back up the track, making contact with Larson’s left quarter panel.
Larson got loose from the contact before slapping the outside wall, consequently ending the battle for the win.
The final two corners allowed Hamlin to cruise to his 49th career NASCAR Cup Series win, tying former teammate Tony Stewart for 15th on the all-time wins list.
“It’s the new NASCAR – it’s what everyone cheers about when someone else does it. I was just trying to side draft him there and miscalculated,” Hamlin said. “It was great for us to get back into position to get close to him and get him loose through (turn) one and two. I’ve got to thank FedEx, Toyota, TRD, Coca-Cola, Sport Clips, Interstate Batteries, Jordan Brand, Logitech and Shady Rays.
“I had such a fast car, just couldn’t get long enough runs for it to materialize. Finally, we had just enough time.”
Hamlin’s pass for the win was the first ever last-lap pass at Kansas Speedway, where NASCAR has been competing at since the track opened in 2001.
It as a monumental win for Joe Gibbs Racing with Hamlin giving the organization their 400th win between the Cup and Xfinity Series.
“It is so important,” Hamlin said. “It is a big win for Joe Gibbs Racing, for myself. Every win is very, very hard to get, so you have to take everyone you can get.”
The trend of Toyota’s recent dominance at the 1.5-mile oval continued Sunday, with Hamlin’s victory being the sixth win in the last eight races for the manufacturer.
Larson managed to hang on with a wounded race car to finish second, while teammate William Byron rebounding from two laps down to finish third.
“I was really loose,” Larson said. “I was trying to do what I could to manage it, just was really loose at that end, and yeah, just he was a little bit better than me there at the end.
“I haven’t seen a replay either, but obviously he was side drafting really aggressively like you would, but he was like touching me it felt like, and it just had me kind of out of control.”
Defending Kansas winner Bubba Wallace notched a solid fourth-place finish for 23XI Racing, with Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain rounding out the top five.
Chastain vs. Gragson
As Hamlin coated the grandstands with burnout smoke, tempers flared on pit road.
After Noah Gragson approached Chastain, Gragson grabbed ahold of Chastain’s collar. In response, Chastain threw a punch at the Legacy Motor Club driver before the fight was broken up by NASCAR Officials.
Gragson’s displeasure stemmed from an incident with 60 laps to go, when the driver of the No. 42 was squeezed by Chastain into the outside wall, promptly cutting Gragson’s tire down. Gragson would spin shortly after the contact.
“I got tight off of (turn) four for sure. Noah and I have a very similar attitude on the racetrack, and we train together, we prepare together, we know each other’s — every little bit about each other,” Chastain said.
“Yeah, definitely crowded him up off of four, and he took a swipe at us in (turn) three, and then he came down and grabbed a hold of me, and a very big man once told me we have a no-push policy here at Trackhouse.”
It was a disappointing day for Gragson, who ended his day 29th, five laps down.
What Else Went Down
The action started early on when Tyler Reddick spun Larson out of the lead coming off turn four on lap five. Larson’s No. 5 didn’t sustain damage in the incident.
It was a Toyota battle for the lead for much of Stage One with Hamlin and last week’s winner Martin Truex Jr.
Byron’s day from the pole position started murky early, after speeding on pit road on lap 37 during green flag pit stops put the driver of the No. 24 down a lap. Byron would pit again after making contact with the outside wall shortly after.
Hamlin would surge to the Stage One win, his third of the season.
Lap 108 saw Team Penske’s Austin Cindric hit the wall in turn one after a flat tire went down on the No. 2. While heading to pit road, Cindric’s wheel broke off, enforcing a two-lap penalty for losing a wheel on the race track.
A hard hit for front-runner Christopher Bell came on lap 158 after the No. 20 JGR Toyota Camry spun from eighth down to the backstretch wall. Bell would finish last in 36th position.
With four laps to go in Stage Two, some drivers stayed out including Joey Logano. On the restart, Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch got turned by Ryan Preece after a stack up on the backstretch sent the No. 8 Chevrolet crashing into the inside wall. Busch’s day would end in 35th.
The caution for Busch would end Stage Two, giving the Stage win to reigning champion Logano.
Shortly after the beginning of Stage Three, Ty Gibbs got loose underneath Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick, aimlessly spinning on lap 177.
An Erik Jones spin with 53 laps to go setup a 46-lap dash to the finish.
After Larson shot out to a 1.3 second lead over teammate Byron, Hamlin began to surge, getting around Byron with 26 laps to go.
From there Hamlin chased down Larson, as the two battled it out until the final lap when Larson spun on the backstretch.