“We’re definitely not at the point of the season where I’m looking to cut him a break.”
Last Sunday, the NASCAR Cup Series raced at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It marked the first Fall race on the Charlotte oval in years.
NASCAR Race Results: Charlotte (October 11, 2026)
The 2026 season is coming to a close and this was race number 6 of 10 in The Chase. Kyle Larson is the current point leader with Denny Hamlin sitting in second.
Kyle Larson drove to the win in stage one at Charlotte. The current point leader was heading for another dominant day.
However, late in stage two, Denny Hamlin made contact with the bumper of Larson on a restart. The contact saw Larson drop outside the top 5.
Larson wasn’t able to work back to the race lead following the contact. Hamlin drove to a 3rd place finish and closed the gap slightly to the point leader.
“I left the door open. Kinda shaded high thinking he might go high. He had a lot of turn to fill that gap and I just didn’t get it closed in time,” Kyle Larson stated of the contact late in the race.
Watch the video below.
Denny Hamlin comments
“Well, that’s good. I think we’re on the same page. We’re definitely not at the point of the season where I’m looking to cut him a break. I don’t have time for that,” Denny Hamlin stated via the Actions Detrimental podcast.
“I did push Larson all the way down the front stretch. I had an opportunity to go high or low to split him and I chose to push.”
“This is a track where it’s not easy to hold it wide open. You usually, actually don’t. I shot through the middle, just like I did through all the other restarts. I just held my lane, straight.”
“He went up, I’m like, ‘Sweet! He’s going to give me the middle.’ Then, when he came back down, yeah, I made contact with him.”
“Definitely not the point of the season where I’m looking to cut him a break here and there. I don’t have time for that. Not malicious about it. But, I certainly wasn’t going to lift when the opportunity came that I could be inside of him.”
NASCAR standings after Charlotte Motor Speedway (October 2026)
Denny Hamlin comments on the contact with Kyle Larson (Video)
Video of the contact between Hamlin and Larson
Links
Kyle Larson | Denny Hamlin | Charlotte Motor Speedway | NASCAR
