Denny Hamlin wants to do over the Kansas restart

Denny Hamlin wishes he hadn't let Kyle Larson push him three-wide in the middle on the last restart on Sunday at Kansas Speedway. He would probably have restarted on the outside as well if he could do it all over again.

That was the general mood of Hamlin on Monday during the most recent episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast. He thought everything went against him in a race that looked like it was going to be his to lose.

He had just passed Tyler Reddick again and was half a lap away from the white flag when Cody Ware's tire went flat and he spun out. Then, he just got beat on the restart, but there were things he could and couldn't control.

Hamlin thinks he could have won even after the restart if Tyler Reddick hadn't put Christopher Bell in the wall and in his way.

"Like, if Reddick doesn't hit Bell, I don't get (driven) all the way down to the apron... Hamlin said, "Kyle's car was so bad those last two laps." "That's what happens when you put on (the right sides) and have really old lefts. That's why Tyler looked like Superman.

"I thought I was going to be three-wide with Larson and Reddick going into turn three because I got a good run on the top."

He also wants to do over Larson taking him three-wide into Turn 1.

Hamlin said I know (Larson) isn't going to push because I've been there before. He's going to try to get everything he can to go three wide and I just have to drive him down to the apron. If you want to go three-wide you have to go to the middle. This is just a warning.

"If this happens again, he'll have to go to the middle." I won't let him. Next time, I'll run to the apron or keep him there. "I won't get beat low at this racetrack again."

So, the fair and obvious question is why Hamlin chose the bottom car to drive instead of the top car. The data shows that the best restarts come from the bottom, but that means that Larson would have to push from behind, which he was never going to do.

Hamlin said, "I should have started at the top, no matter what." "Should have, I should have, as strong as I know my cars are on the top of mile-and-a-half tracks." "I could hold more throttle than anyone else."

So, once more, why didn't he?

Hamlin said, "The bottom is the best line." "The numbers say the bottom wins. The data says the bottom.

It turns out that not on the last restart.

Hamlin said People don't want to push anymore. Everyone is just going to do what's best for them. That's when you have to forget about the numbers.

In the end Hamlin was even more upset because he knows that next season will be his last. He lost two races in 2026: Martinsville and Kansas.

Hamlin said I took this one a little harder because I just want to make the most of it. I only have 60 races left and I just want to win when I should be winning, but it's not happening."

It's the loose wheel at the end of Martinsville and a lot of things that aren't going well in the luck category or the creating your own luck category which is what I think this is all about.