Kyle Larson wants "respect on the racetrack" amid potential rift with Denny Hamlin

Kyle Larson has shared his thoughts on the Nashville incident. Not only did the Hendrick Motorsports driver end Ross Chastain's odds of securing his maiden win this season, but added fuel to the potential rift with Denny Hamlin.

The #5 Chevy driver leads the Cup Series charts with three wins and is closely followed by the #11 Toyota driver in third place. The two have been among the frontrunners this season and have had tough door-to-door battles for the lead. However, some of them resulted in wrecks, following which notions of a clash between the HMS driver and the Joe Gibbs Racing driver gained traction.

One incident happened at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway where Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin fought door-to-door battle for the second place. With a little over 90 laps until the checkered flag dropped, the JGR driver overtook after making some hard contact with the HMS driver.

The most recent one was during the first overtime restart in the Music City, which saw Kyle Larson pushing Denny Hamlin into Turn 1 and spinning out Ross Chastain from the race. This comes after Larson was taunted by his spotter during the New Hampshire Motor Speedway race for letting the JGR driver race hard against him. At that time, the #5 Chevy driver lashed back at Tyler Monn. But his display at Nashville prompted Kevin Harvick to deem the HMS driver's move "out of character."

Speaking on his rivalry with Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson revealed that he's "over it" but asked for "respect on the racetrack."

“Nashville’s is really the first time that I’ve got to, you know, I feel like in my mind, show that I’m over it. Or like over the way that I’ve been raced. Now going forward I think I’m ready to move on, I’ve got zero issue at this point. I would like a little bit of respect on the race track and a little bit more room than maybe I’ve been given," Larson said via SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on X.

"I think if we do that we can go back to racing fair and challenging each other fairly for wins. I think that we are the two top teams in the sport right now so we’re going to be battling for a lot more wins together and all that throughout the races and all that," the HMS driver added.

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Denny Hamlin changed his perception about a rivalry with Kyle Larson post-Nashville incident

The New Hampshire incident saw Kyle Larson on the receiving end of the wreck as well as harsh criticism from his spotter. Being the championship contender, Monn expected a payback from his driver but that didn't happen. As a result, he ridiculed Larson for his inability to retaliate when the situation called for.

The hard racing prompted Denny Hamlin's Podcast's co-host to ask about a brewing rivalry between the two. However, the Florida native downplayed the notion.

"It is not a rivalry. It's two guys racing each other hard for the win. It's not. I like Kyle," Hamlin said via Dirty Mo Media on.X.

However, after a frustrating turnaround of events at the Nashville Superspeedway, where Larson forced Hamlin to the top of the racetrack, the JGR driver fumed with rage but was asked to stay put by his crew chief. Nonetheless, thoughts of a potential feud became visible from the 54x Cup race winner's recent admission during the podcast.

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

"Sure, if you want to call it that," he replied, not negating the possibility of a rivalry between him and Larson.

Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin will have their next face-off at the Chicago Street Race where the duo will be battling to lead the Cup Series charts.