Denny Hamlin won a battle on-track at Kansas, and Ross Chastain fought another off it
The NASCAR Cup Series saw two battles on Sunday.
The first was a race between Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson — a magnificent showcase between two friends that featured the first last-lap pass for a Cup Series win in Kansas Speedway history.
The other was of the fistfight variety.
Here’s a look at the two matchups — plus a rundown of a few other drivers who had notable days on Sunday.
Hamlin takes long-awaited first win of 2023
Hamlin had been waiting on this one.
The driver of the No. 11 car notched his first victory of the season, delivering the top driver on one of the top teams in NASCAR his fourth career win at Kansas. The win also offered Hamlin a bit of relief: Hamlin’s playoff ticket is essentially punched, yes, but the win marked his first in 33 races — a stunning stat considering how well he’s run this spring.
Sunday’s result also delivers Joe Gibbs Racing its second straight win after Martin Truex Jr. won at Dover on Monday.
It was clear on Sunday — despite all the race’s cautions and carnage and chaos — that the race deserved to be decided between Hamlin and Larson. And race fans got that final show.
After separating from the pack, the two battled each other for the win on the last four laps. Then, on the final lap, Hamlin got on the inside of Larson, then Larson got a bit loose — and then some small contact to his rear from Hamlin jarred Larson free and gave Hamlin a clear path to victory.
Larson did a good job saving the car and salvaging a second-place finish.
“I got position on him there,” Hamlin said post-burnout celebration. “I was trying to side-draft him but clipped his left rear. But glad he was able to finish. But I’m so proud of my FedEx team now. That’s 400 wins for Joe Gibbs Racing. Just such a great accomplishment for them.”
Larson, one of Hamlin’s best friends, spoke on that last-lap pass on Sunday, too.
“I was really loose, I was trying to do what I could to manage it,” Larson said. “He was a little bit better at the end there. I haven’t seen a replay either, but obviously he was side-drafting really aggressively like he would. He was like touching me, it felt like, it just had me a little out of control.”
William Byron finished third. Bubba Wallace was the second-highest finishing Toyota (behind Hamlin) after the race was so-long dominated by the manufacturer.
Also of note: Hamlin prevailed in one of the crazier races in Kansas history. Sunday’s race saw 37 lead changes, 12 different leaders and 11 cautions for 57 laps. Larson led 85 laps. Truex Jr. (who finished eighth) led 79 laps. And Hamlin led 34.
As for the other fight ... Gragson and Chastain throw punches
The other fight on Sunday occurred between Noah Gragson and Ross Chastain.
Chastain (who finished fifth) and Gragson (who finished P29) had a confrontation on pit road after the long, hot race at Kansas, and it escalated quickly with Gragson grabbing Chastain before Chastain threw the first punch.
The confrontation likely had something to do with a Stage 3 run-in on the track, when Chastain appeared to force Gragson into the wall on Turn 4, and then the 42 car responded by moving to the inside line and hitting the 1 car.
Penalties will come from this debacle, surely — but they might be less severe than if Gragson substantively retaliated on-track.
Chastain, who has established a reputation of racing with a slam-or-be-slammed style (so much so that a competitor called him a “wrecking ball” in Richmond), spoke on the incident post-race.
“I got tight off of Turn 4 for sure, and Noah and I have a very similar attitude on the racetrack,” the driver of the 1 car said. “A very big man once told me we have a ‘no-push’ policy here at TrackHouse.”
Said Gragson: “We just got fenced by the 1. He took care of us at Talladega. We’re Chevrolet teammates and (he) didn’t work with us there, fenced us here, and I’m just over it. Nobody else has the (nerve) to at least confront him, or at least just grab him and something, and I’m just over it.”
Other drivers who had notable performances Sunday
Here are a trio of other drivers who had notable performances on Sunday.
▪ Kyle Busch. The driver of the 8 car had an early, frustrating end to his day that had a lot of promise. A caution late in Stage 2 saw the leaders file down pit road and also saw a bunch of cars that hadn’t been in the mix all day surge to the front to try and steal a few stage points. That prompted a strange restart — and Busch was in the middle of it. He had to check up to avoid hitting Brad Keselowski, and then got nudged from behind and started spinning and eventually crashed into the wall. He immediately put the window net down and ended his day early. He finished P35.
▪ Christopher Bell. Toyota had a remarkably strong day, but one of its best drivers didn’t. The driver of the 20 car got a little too aggressive late in Stage 2 trying to pass Chastain on the outside, and Bell wrecked because of it. Bell took responsibility for his last-place finish in a post-race interview.
▪ William Byron. The pole-sitter led the first two laps on Sunday and then fell two laps down at one point — and then, by virtue of a bunch of cautions and luck and pit-crew-execution, somehow found himself in the mix for a win. With 49 laps to go, Byron restarted at the front and gave his 24 team a chance to win the race. He finished third.
This story was originally published May 7, 2023 at 7:52 PM.
