How NASCAR Kansas was won and lost

TL;DR

Denny Hamlin was leading the NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas but lost his position after a restart, allowing Tyler Reddick to win despite a late caution caused by Cody Ware's spin.

Key points

Denny Hamlin was leading the race at Kansas.
Cody Ware's tire cut caused a late caution.
Hamlin lost the lead on the restart.
Tyler Reddick won the race after overcoming a deficit.
Kyle Larson also contended for the lead.

NASCARDenny HamlinTyler ReddickKyle Larson

Motorsport photo

Denny Hamlin was half a lap away from taking the white flag in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas, one that seemed largely decided between himself and Tyler Reddick, but then Cody Ware cut a tire and spun out.

Shake the snow globe!

Hamlin retained the lead off pit road, with most of the frontrunners taking just right sides, but lost it on the restart when he didn’t get the best launch. This allowed Kyle Larson to take him and Tyler Reddick three-wide. Reddick then fenced Christopher Bell before overcoming a nearly one second deficit to win the race.

But again, Hamlin had the race won, even retaking the lead from Reddick, who sputtered due to a fuel pump issue before the Ware spin that flipped everything on its figurative

“I need Cody Ware running dead ass last not to wreck.”
MRN

“It’s Cody Ware, six laps down, wrecking, I don’t know, just add it all up.”
FOX

However, the race was lost on the restart and Hamlin conceded that too.

“I know in my mind the restarting on the top was the place to be but the (data) said bottom,” Hamlin told reporters on pit road after the race. “In these green-white-checkered scenarios, you can throw the numbers out because everything is so different.”

Hamlin says he knew deep down that Larson was going to take them three-wide because that’s within his very successful aggressive playbook.

“I have to recognize that I know (Larson) is going to do that move, and I have to make sure that if it happens, I do everything I can to let (Reddick) win,” Hamlin said. “I got beat by that a few years ago and knew in my mind that the top was the place to be, but the numbers say the bottom. In these green-white-checkered scenarios, you can throw the numbers out. I will certainly learn a lesson there.

“It’s a double-edged sword. I need the push, but I know that the first opportunity, [Larson is] going to go bottom, so I need to do everything I can. If that happens, then the 45 wins, which he did.”