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Denny Hamlin won the latest NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway, his first victory of the season and since last year's Coca-Cola 600.
Hamlin was a factor all race as he had the fastest car on the long run. It looked like he wouldn’t be able to pass Kyle Larson, but slight contact on the final lap allowed Hamlin to sail to victory.
Here are three takeaways from Sunday’s (May 7) NASCAR Cup Series AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway.
#3 Kansas Speedway is a fine wine
After its repave a little over a decade ago, Kansas Speedway was one of the most treacherous and boring races of the NASCAR Cup Series schedule. However, over the past several years, it has become one of NASCAR’s best 1.5 tracks.
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The latest race saw three, and sometimes four, wide actions and a record amount of lead changes for a Kansas race and at a 1.5 track overall. NASCAR fans have wanted fewer tracks to have two races per year, but Kansas Speedway has made its case to make the cut.
#2 Toyota Speedway?
After 23X1 swept last year's races at Kansas, it established Toyota’s dominance at the track. Not only did they dominate both races, but they also had the majority of the Top 10 positions.
This weekend saw much of the same as they were the fastest in practice. Even though Chevrolet swept the front row during qualifying, everyone knew they’d have to beat Toyota to win today's race.
While Kyle Larson arguably had the fastest car all race, Denny Hamlin continued Toyota’s dominance at the 1.5 track in Kansas.
#1 Denny Delivers
As for the race winner Denny Hamlin, he had the fastest car all weekend, after Kyle Larson. This was especially true on the long runs, where he topped the 5,10, and 15-lap averages.
Hamlin was in the top five most of the day and led for small portions of the race. He chased down leader Larson and the two were having an epic battle before slight contact on the last lap allowed Hamlin to pull away for the win.
Hamlin has shown more speed and consistency than last year, which was one of his “worst” seasons, and could be a possible championship contender if this trend continues.
