“A pretty flawless day for him.” Denny Hamlin said these words about race winner Kyle Larson in Bristol. Last Sunday featured a flurry of confused emotions in the Cup Series garage. Just a day before, Goodyear tires could not withstand 35-40 laps before their cords peeled off. Yet during the final Cup race, an entirely different situation unfolded – but only one person had the guts to accurately predict what was going on.

Denny Hamlin won the 2024 Food City 500 race. Featuring 54 lead changes and excessive tire wear, that race was considered an anomaly until last Saturday’s practice session. But the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran made the mistake of expecting the same on Sunday – along with every other Cup Series rival. Only one person stood out, and Hamlin heaped praises for him.

Well, bowing your head to a long-time rival is no mean feat, yet Denny Hamlin did not hesitate. The JGR veteran has locked horns with Kyle Larson many times in the past. Ranging from dumping him into the wall at a 2023 Pocono race to crashing together in Iowa last year, the two have had heated confrontations. However, the 2025 Food City 500 race witnessed both acknowledging each other’s talents. The prediction models heading up to the race were stuck between these two drivers. Hamlin was the 2024 spring race winner – hence after practice, all eyes were on him for another tire management race. Nobody could ignore Kyle Larson either, who was determined to pay tribute to the late Jon Edwards. However, the Hendrick Motorsports star prevailed in the end due to a crucial decision.

In a recent ‘Actions Detrimental’ episode, Denny Hamlin said he fell in the Goodyear trap along with the rest of the Cup Series garage. Expecting the tires to wear out, Hamlin joined the rest of the field in going slow for the first laps. He said, “We were running about a second off to start that race. Everyone was just taking it easy to figure out are the tires going to wear or not. Around lap 30, I noticed, ‘Uh I don’t think the tires are going to wear, but I don’t want to be first to try it.'” But Kyle Larson’s sharp eyes were enough to convince him that a repeat of the Fall race was on the cards. Denny Hamlin said, “Really, Larson was the first one to say, ‘Scr-w it, I’ll try it.’ That’s when he took control.” Hamlin added, “I just didn’t have the b—- to do it.”

While the rest of the field paced itself, Kyle Larson took the lead early. He subsequently went on to lead for 411 of 500 laps, as Denny Hamlin continued from Larson’s perspective. “That was the moment he thought that gave him control of the race…He said, ‘I saw the tracks started to blacken up during the exits…So let’s just go for it’…And I followed him for about 7 or 8 laps later…’I want to go 70%. I want him to blow one first.’ Once we got to lap 60, I knew that was the furthest we’d ever run on tires…Yup, same old Bristol. Hammer down, we’re going 100% every lap. From that point on, everyone was all out.”

Denny Hamlin hounded Kyle Larson for the race lead but eventually, he washed up in second place. Although his three-peat aspirations lay broke, Hamlin lauded his rival nonetheless. “I just did not want to be the first one to push the gas down, go for it, and hope that the tires would stay up. But he did, he saw. That’s knowledge – him seeing the racetrack, understanding it, and being comfortable with taking that risk.”

As for Larson, he admitted there were certain aspects the No. 5 and No. 11 cars fared better at. “You know, like me in the lead—I don’t want to get my stuff too hot to where I catch traffic I can’t pass lappers. So, I think that’s why Denny and I were still able to lap a lot of cars, is because we still did a good job managing our tires. Although it might be a little less wear, it’s still a lot more temp-related that you’re managing. I would obviously love it if it could still—like the tire could lay more rubber and the pace would—you know, the track would get slicker. Like with Xfinity, it gets really black, and when it gets black, it’s just a greasy feeling, and the pace slows down.”

Every team except for the quick-footed Hendrick Motorsports team misinterpreted the Bristol situation. However, an HMS executive was disappointed with the racing conditions.

Where did the thrill go?

When the Next-Gen car debuted in 2022, the short-track racing package took a toll. Bristol standards used to comprise the typical hard-racing, fender-rubbing, and finger-pointing action. These things were rarely visible until the 2024 spring race when Goodyear presented a welcome change. With the short track eating into softer tires, drivers and fans got a glimmer of the past thrill that short-track racing developed. That prompted Goodyear to dive into a year’s worth of hard work to develop tires that could replicate that thrill. Races at Richmond Raceway and Phoenix Raceway proved satisfactory in that regard. But when the spotlight fell on the most awaited race in Bristol, all that effort turned to dust. Last year during the Fall, Kyle Larson led for 462 laps and this year, 411.

Even though his own team’s ‘golden boy’ clinched his season’s second victory, Jeff Gordon was not happy. The HMS Vice Chairman and four-time Cup Series champion said, “I am a little disappointed in today with the tire, I’ll be honest.” He went on to defend Goodyear, “I want to say this: Goodyear has a tough job. I think this car, we have a heavy car. Just stock cars in general. We have these high-bank tracks, heavy loads, abrasive surfaces. There’s just a lot of things that are very difficult for them to do the things that they do to make a tire that’s durable and performs well. To ask for them on top of that to have a tire that falls off and wears but doesn’t wear too much, that’s a tall task.”

Evidently, the Bristol race prompted a flurry of impassioned reactions in the Cup Series garage. As Goodyear looks for another solution, let us see if this tire dilemma reaches a solution.