Denny Hamlin discloses why he went to Kyle Larson’s post-championship party despite reeling from the loss

Denny Hamlin opened up on his decision to attend Kyle Larson's post-championship party. Hamlin shared that it was only right to pay his respects to someone who was deserving of the title.

Sunday's championship race held similar bearings to the 2021 title fight between Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin. During the final pit stop, Larson jumped Hamlin on pit road with a faster stop, much like the 2025 outing. The resulting lead helped Larson overcome his rivals and clinch his maiden championship.

The Joe Gibbs Racing ace didn't meet with Larson after the title loss, but he had sent a video message congratulating the HMS driver. This time around, Hamlin showed up in person and spoke to Larson. The No.5 driver shared that it was an interaction he'll 'never forget'.

When asked about the same, Hamlin had this to say(via X/Bob Pockrass),

"Just pay my respects, I would hope that he would have done that for me. I think he would have. He's been a great friend of mine, you know, I hate for him that kind of, the attention has shifted a little bit away from him and his championship because he's definitely, there's a difference in deserving and should have been right? I think that there's not one person that should ever question his deservingness of being a champion." "That's what I don't like to see....I was definitely happy for him, but I was just trying to do the right thing as a friend," he added.

Sunday was Denny Hamlin's first final four appearance in the Next Gen Era. After 20 years in the sport, the Cup Series veteran hoped to win it for his ailing father, but admitted that it was simply 'not meant to be'.

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Denny Hamlin delves into his future plans

In an interview at NASCAR's award ceremony, Denny Hamlin went over his future plans in the sport. While rumuors emerged that Hamlin would possibly retire from racing, the No.11 driver remained ambivalent on the subject. Denny Hamlin has a contract with Joe Gibbs Racing until 2027.

"I mean, I plan to. I have a contract to, but at this point, there's just absolutely no way that I would even -- I don't even think about race cars right now. I'm gonna need some time on this one," he said via X/Jeff_gluck.

In other news, Denny Hamlin's 23XI Racing scored a major win in the antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR. The court ruled in his favour and granted the summary motion calling NASCAR as a 'premier stock racing series'. Meaning, the judge has agreed that the sanctioning body holds a monopoly over the sport, and its now upto the teams to prove whether NASCAR has abused that power.

If 23XI and FRM can achieve that in the December trial, the sport will see a major restructuring of its charter deal.

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Edited by Vignesh Kanna