Denny Hamlin’s witty jibe at HMS ace’s woes ‘assisting’ his win: “There’s two people I really love right now, my pit crew and Kyle Larson”

After Martinsville, Joe Gibbs Racing star Denny Hamlin clinched his second consecutive victory of the season at the Goodyear 400 in Darlington Raceway on Sunday. Following his win, Hamlin delivered a cheeky nod to HMS rival Kyle Larson, whose misfortunes cleared the path for the former's win.

Driving the No. 11 Toyota, Hamlin spent the majority of the race trailing William Byron, who led a race-high 243 of the 297 laps. As Byron eyed his second win of the season, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson spun down the backstretch, prompting a late-race caution on lap 290.

In the ensuing pitstop, Hamlin's crew outpaced their rivals to launch the JGR driver into the race lead. Starting the overtime restart alongside 23XL's Tyler Reddick and William Byron, the sport's oldest driver had the perfect getaway to grab the checkered flag.

Reflecting upon the same, Hamlin spoke to Regan Smith post-race and said (via FOX: NASCAR's X handle):

"There’s two people I really love right now: my pit crew and Kyle Larson. Had a little assist there, so thank you. The pit crew just did an amazing job. They won it last week [at Martinsville]. They won it this week. It’s all about them.”

The result marks Denny Hamlin's first back-to-back win since 2012, when he won in Bristol and Atlanta. Additionally, it's his 56th career win, moving past NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace to claim the 11th spot on NASCAR's all-time win list.

The Florida native's win at the track 'Too tough to Tame,' places him sixth in the standings, 49 points shy of championship leader William Byron.

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Denny Hamlin reflects on new crew chief after Martinsville Victory

In November 2024, JGR announced Chris Gayle as Denny Hamlin's new crew chief, replacing Chris Gabehart, who was promoted as the team's Competition Director. Following his victory at Martinsville, the 44-year-old appeared on Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s podcast 'Dale Jr Download,' where he said he had mixed emotions about the change so late into his career.

Hamlin said (via On3.com):

"There was a period there where I certainly was not happy with Joe Gibbs Racing, but, you know, I got to trust that they got the bigger picture in mind. Yeah. I mean, I was worried. I don't want to start over. I'm too late in my career to start over with someone again, and I just wasn't really excited about that." [00:08 onwards]

He added :

"And but, you know, I thought about it, I slept on it for about a week or so, and was like, you know, I'm going to make the best of it. I'm going to do the best job that I can. I'm going to be a professional here, and I'm going to make sure that I'm doing my job as a driver to give Chris Gayle a fair opportunity to prove himself in the cup series."

In his first season with Chris Gayle, Denny Hamlin secured his playoff berth in the Cookout 400 at Martinsville Speedway. The result marked his first win at the track after ten years.