NASCAR star Denny Hamlin reveals why Kansas loss hurt more than normal

Denny Hamlin has admitted that he took this weekend's tough overtime loss at Kansas harder than normal.

The 45-year-old is becoming increasingly aware that the clock is running out on his NASCAR career after confirming that he intends to hang his helmet up after the 2027 season, leaving him a limited number of chances to add to his 61 Cup Series wins.

The Joe Gibbs Racing star looked set to pick up win number 62 on Sunday when he re-passed Tyler Reddick for the lead in the closing laps, before Cody Ware spun to bring out a caution and overtime.

Hamlin was the control car going into the restart, but didn't get any sort of push from Kyle Larson behind him on the bottom row, the No. 5 instead diving below him to go three wide with Hamlin and Reddick.

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Hamlin robbed of 62th Cup Series win at Kansas

Hamlin lamented his choices at the restart on his Actions Detrimental podcast this week, saying: “I know, because I've been there before, that (Larson) is not going to push. He's going to try to get everything he can to go three wide and I’ve just got to drive him down to the apron. ‘If you want to go three wide, you have to go to the middle’, and this is just a forewarning. …

“If this happens again, he's going to have to go the middle. I will not let him. I will run to the apron or keep him on the apron next time. I will not get beat low at this racetrack again.”

Asked why, then, he didn't chose the top line knowing that he wouldn't get the crucial push from Larson on the bottom, he said: “Should have. I should have, as strong as I know my cars are on the top on mile-and-a-half tracks, I absolutely should have started at the top, no matter what. I could hold more throttle than everyone else.”

Hamlin: Not going great in the luck category

Hamlin has a brutal recent history with late cautions snatching wins from his grasp, most infamously the championship race at Phoenix just six months ago when his first ever title was just three laps away.

“I took this one a little tougher because I just want to capitalize,” he admitted of Kansas. “I’ve only got 60 races left and I just want to get these wins when I should be winning and it’s just not happening.

“It was the loose wheel at the end of Martinsville and a lot of stuff that’s not going great in the luck category or the creating your own luck category, which is what I chalk this up to.”