Denny Hamlin explains what Chris Buescher could’ve done different to prevent Kyle Larson win

Denny Hamlin decided to partake in some Monday Morning Quarterbacking on the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, regarding the way Chris Buescher raced Kyle Larson on the final lap at Kansas Speedway.

Evidently, Hamlin believes Buescher could’ve played his cards differently coming to the checkered flag. He took some time to elaborate on his thoughts, explaining how the No. 17 could’ve ended up in victory lane, instead of Larson.

“Yeah, and I think there always is,” Hamlin said, regarding whether there’s anything Buescher could’ve done different. “They’re going to break it down. Their own team is going to break it down, as much as we’re trying to break it down here. But from my standpoint, I think you know, he ran the bottom in one and two. I don’t know if I necessarily would’ve done that if it was me, because it’s like, what is the No. 5’s strong suit? It’s always going to be running higher than you are, and being able to get momentum when he’s running higher.

“So thinking this through, I would think that I would say, ‘Okay, I’m going to run the middle in one and two, not the bottom,’ because when you run the bottom, the run off the corner is just not great. So when you run the middle, the track is cleaned off enough during the caution flag to where the middle has got clean pavement as well. So you can just run up in the middle, get a better run on the exit, and then you really prevent the No. 5, you force him to now run the bottom, to get position on you. Because if he runs high, there’s just too much distance for new tires, to really get there. So I think running the middle in one and two is what I would have done, had I had, you know, a night to sleep on it and think about it. Run the middle. You then forced the No. 5 car in a place where he hasn’t completed a ton of passes all day, which is the bottom. So you force him to the bottom. Now, you come off the corner, and if you’re clear, which you should be, given the the lead that he had entering turn one. He’s gonna have a worse run than you going down the backstretch and then into turn three.”

Even though Hamlin would’ve ran a different line, he recognizes that a lapped car didn’t make it easy on Buescher, but he would’ve liked to see the No. 17 commit to a different line regardless.

“This all compounded, because of the No. 7 team, deciding to go low, giving the No. 5 the lane up,” Hamlin added. “The No. 5’s got a big run now off the corner, and you saw it just all the way down the straightaway. He’s gaining, he’s gaining, he’s gaining. And then, all the No. 5 needs to do is drive in a little bit deeper, because he’s already got the momentum from running up higher. Drives in a little deeper, now gets to the outside, because Buescher didn’t commit to kind of the one lane or the other. And it was it was done after that. So, I mean it wasn’t done, right. I mean, he still had an opportunity.

“I think if Buescher just barely taps the No. 5, and gets him hung up in the wall. So what would’ve happened, is the No. 5 was so close to the wall, that if he touched it at all he was going to get hung in it. The Np. 17 would have been clear sailing. It would have cleared. But I think that Buescher is not willing to do that. He wanted to race it out fairly, and and then coming into the line, the No. 5 turned left on him, and really killed the momentum that No. 17 had.”

Alas, Chris Buescher will be thinking about Kansas as the one that got away for a long time, it seems. Nevertheless, he’s proven worthy of winning multiple races in the past, so we’ll see when the No. 17 returns to victory lane, after suffering some heartbreak at Kansas.