Denny Hamlin Regrets Pit Decision That Put Kyle Larson Back on the Lead Lap at Las Vegas

Denny Hamlin left Las Vegas Motor Speedway with deep regret after finishing 16th without any stage points, even though he believed his No. 11 Toyota had the speed to win. The decision to pit while leading the race in the opening stage turned into an unexpected disaster: without realizing it, the move put Kyle Larson back on the lead lap.

The incident began when Hamlin tried to chase extra points by running up into the upper groove. The track surface, not yet clean and still covered in rubber debris, caused the tires to lose grip and triggered a spin. The resulting damage forced the Joe Gibbs Racing team to change strategy, but the advantage of fresh tires was not enough to open a path back to the front.

What hurt more, Hamlin admitted he had no idea where Larson was at the time. On the Actions Detrimental podcast, he revealed that if he had known the defending champion was a lap down, he would never have turned onto pit road. "I didn't know he was behind me. If I had known Larson was a lap down and would get his lap back because I pitted, I would never have pitted, no matter what the crew chief said," he said.

Hamlin had experienced a similar situation in 2025 at Charlotte Roval, when Ross Chastain wrecked him on the final lap. At the time, Hamlin also did not realize he needed just one more position to advance to the Round of 8 and eliminate Joey Logano. A heated discussion with the team followed on pit road.

Even so, Hamlin defended his team's process. According to him, the No. 11 crew focuses on driver feedback and car performance, not on monitoring other drivers' movements. "They're not sitting on the couch listening to commentators talk about the No. 5 car. Inside the racing bubble, it's very hard to see the big picture," he said. He added that the situation at Phoenix—when Larson chose two new tires and Hamlin took four—was a valuable lesson. "We don't have 15 seconds to respond. That's something we have to fix."

Hamlin also acknowledged his own mistake. According to him, without the spin and the damage, "our day would still have been very successful—nobody could match me." He even called his car "definitely a car that could win."

Now Hamlin trails Larson by 40 points, with Larson performing consistently with an average finish of 2.2 in the Chase. Larson even still finished second at Vegas despite crashing on the final lap. Without a win in the remaining races, Hamlin will struggle to catch up if Larson keeps performing dominantly.

The question is, can Hamlin and his team fix their strategy communication before the gap widens further? Or will Larson's dominance lock up the title sooner than expected?