“Nothing could generate enough speed”: Kyle Larson laments missed opportunity at Dover as Denny Hamlin takes third win of the season

Kyle Larson lost the 2024 Wurth 400 to Denny Hamlin by a small margin of just 0.256 seconds on Sunday at Dover Motor Speedway.

It was a strong performance from Larson, as he won Stage 2 and was in contention throughout the race. He, however, couldn’t pass eventual race winner Hamlin’s charge in the closing miles and went on to finish in second place.

Despite his P2 finish, the result was bittersweet for Larson, as he knew that he had missed the opportunity to win the Dover race.

Speaking to FOX Sports' Jamie Little about not being able to pass Hamlin in the closing laps and what he could have done differently to win the race, Kyle Larson stated:

“I went late in the zone and Martin was trying to time it behind me and he hit me right when I wanted to go and it just screwed up and I got a lot of wheel spin and [Hamlin] was able to outrace me in the Turn one. His car was really good on the short runs and I could pace it, get closer to him at the end of the runs. It's just so easy to air block not that he was doing anything dirty or anything like that…”

“I knew when I got within three cars length he was going to start moving around. I just couldn't really do anything. I was trying all sorts of different angles and speeds and all that and nothing could generate enough speed to get close enough, I guess, to do anything. So, that was a bummer”

Kyle Larson passed Denny Hamlin on pit road on their final green pit stop, but the #11 driver claimed the lead again on the next restart as Martin Truex hit Larson’s car from behind. Hamlin maintained the lead for the rest of the race before taking the checkered flag. It was Hamlin's third win of the season.

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“Need to be a little bit better on the restarts” - Kyle Larson

The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion expressed satisfaction with his #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy team’s performance despite starting back in the 21st. He reflected on the importance of improving their performance on restarts, citing past experiences of losing races in such situations.

“A great day for our HendrickCars.com Chevy team. Started 21st, drove up to 6th in the first stage or 5th, and then got a stage win, another stage win, so that was good. Good points today, but we would have loved to get a win. Always fast here at Dover. Just need to be a little bit better on the restarts. I've lost a lot of races on restarts here. So just keep trying to get better,” Larson added.

With 410 points, Kyle Larson is currently leading the Cup Series points table after 11 races.