"His car is really really good": Kyle Larson hoping to challenge 'the one to beat' Denny Hamlin at Kansas City

Kyle Larson recently addressed the subject of him and Denny Hamlin being a cut above the rest ahead of the race in Kansas City. The Hendrick Motorsports driver, who has won five races already this season, believes that the 2023 Kansas race winner will be 'the one to beat'.

But as per Kyle Larson, if there's one driver who could pose a challenge to him in making a Kansas sweep for 2024, it is Denny Hamlin. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has three wins to his name so far this season, and despite having inconsistent results this season, he is still regarded as a championship favorite.

And the reason for that, in Hamlin's case and his own, as per Larson, is their leaders. Speaking on DJD Reloaded recently, the #5 driver said:

"I think we both have very great teams for one, him and I are upfront at a lot of the racetracks because our leaders Gabehart and Cliff are just great leaders and have built great teams."

Focusing on Kansas, Larson claimed that the racetrack suits him and the #11 driver well. He mentioned that both of them have run their entire careers with various packages concerning aero and horsepower, which makes Kansas suit their driving styles.

"Currently we’re both really good. Denny I would say would be the best there, his car is really really good and he does a good job of managing it. So he’ll for sure be the one to beat this weekend but we’ll hopefully get up there and give him a challenge as well as our other Hendrick teammates and hopefully we have a good day," Larson added.

Denny Hamlin on his rivalry with his on-track rival and off-track friend Kyle Larson

Despite being friends off the track, Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin have had a few on-track run-ins where tempers have gone up. Be it Atlanta in 2022, Kansas and Pocono in 2023, or New Hampshire earlier this year, there have been more than enough instances to suggest there is a rivalry between the two.

This was something that Hamlin himself confirmed during an episode of his podcast this year as he said:

"I'm in this for the long haul. I'm fine with the way we're racing and it's gonna keep going, it's going to keep getting raised."

Following Hamlin's comments, his co-host wondered if he was ready to accept that there is a rivalry between him and Kyle Larson.

"Sure, if you want it to call it one. I don't care what you want to call it," Hamlin replied.

But only a week before Hamlin acknowledged his rivalry with Kyle Larson, he had denied the same. The #11 driver explicitly claimed that there is no rivalry with the 2021 Cup champion and that both are just two drivers going for the win.