NASCAR News: Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson ‘Going To Wreck’ At Brickyard 400

By Alex Harrington
Sports Contributing Writer
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The simmering rivalry between NASCAR drivers Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson reached another fervid peak during the recent Ally 400 race in Nashville. During the 399 miles of the event, neither driver spared room for each other, hinting at a thrilling continuation of their competitive streak through to the Brickyard 400 where they’re expected to ‘wreck’ at Turn 1.

During the “The Teardown” podcast episode by Dirty Mo Media, NASCAR experts Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi dissected the race’s highlight—both drivers at the frontline in an overtime restart. Gluck expressed disappointment that Hamlin’s temper might have prevented a fiercer showdown.

So I mentioned Hamlin and Larson, obviously they had a little thing again. Actually, it looked like, when they lined up on the front row, one of those overtimes, I was like, ‘Man, they’re both not going to finish this race.’

READ MORE:NASCAR News: Kyle Larson Takes Jab At Denny Hamlin – ‘Not The Fairest’

“I thought they might take each other out. I would’ve liked to see them race it out, because I think that would’ve been another chapter of their rivalry. But even so, Hamlin lost his cool there, and wanted to bump him or something afterwards.”

think it’s fantastic. I think NASCAR needs this. NASCAR is better when it has great rivalries… This is the best thing, and this is what you need,” Bianchi praised. “You look at the history of NASCAR, it has thrived when you’ve had two drivers, competing for wins on the regular, being the best, competing for the championship, and they are slugging it out. Whether it was Petty versus Pearson, or Earnhardt versus everybody, Earnhardt versus Gordon.

Plus, you’ve got Chevy versus Toyota. You’ve got two of NASCAR’s top teams, who are competing for supremacy. This is everything that you want. All of the juicy storylines that you want, you look at it and say, you want to sell NASCAR, you want to make NASCAR resonate with the casual fan, or maybe non-casual fan, have these guys, two great drivers, Hall of Famers, all-time greats go at it, hell yeah, this is what you want. If you’re NASCAR, you’re wanting this. You’re rooting for this to happen.”