“Kyle Larson was in position to win the race”: Chad Knaus reacts to the collision between Denny Hamlin and HMS driver

Kyle Larson found himself at the short end of the stick after Denny Hamlin pulled a near-identical move to his last year's appearance at Pocono Raceway. While Ross Chastain was on the receiver's end last year, many could agree that the Trackhouse Racing driver deserved retaliation from the Joe Gibbs Racing driver.

However, NASCAR's visit to 'The Tricky Triangle' during the 2023 Cup Series season witnessed the same happen to the #5 Chevrolet Camaro fielded by Hendrick Motorsports. The HighPoint.com 400 saw Denny Hamlin crowd Kyle Larson up turn 1 of the Pennsylvania track, ultimately causing Larson to hit the wall.

Larson was seen going from fighting for the lead of the race to finishing in P21 as the race finished under a yellow/checkered flag condition. Denny Hamlin managed to take his seventh victory at the track, the most for any driver to date. Chad Knaus, Hendrick Motorsports' Vice President of Competition elaborated on what he saw between the #5 and #11 on the racetrack.

He made his thoughts clear in an interview with frontstretch.com after the race and said:

"The #5 (Larson) had a good start and the #11 (Hamlin) drove it in there pretty far and slid up into the #5 and he got into the wall. He (Larson) was in a position to win that race and had it taken away from him, so he knows what happened there."

While Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin have raced each other hard and made contact plenty of times in the past, the #5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driver did see Hamlin's move at Pocono as one that stepped over the line.

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"I tend to race my friends with more respect": Kyle Larson on how Denny Hamlin races him on track

Kyle Larson's cool and collected personality off-track is certainly a far cry from how aggressive a race he is on the black stuff. However, this Sunday's HighPoint.com 400 at Pocono Raceway saw one of his good friends Denny Hamlin get on the aggressive bandwagon to move the #5 Chevy driver out on his way to victory lane.

Larson elaborated on how the on-track incident doesn't affect their friendship off it. However, Larson certainly made a distinction in how he has raced Hamlin over the past. In an interview with FOX Sports, Larson said:

"I'm an aggressive racer, I get it, but I tend to race my friends with more respect. I just feel like I haven't got that respect from him, especially this year."

Watch the Kyle Larson-Denny Hamlin rivalry unfold over the remaining 2023 regular season.