“Got back by a lot of guys…got all the way up to third, but that was as far as I could get.” Brad Keselowski lamented about his narrowly missed chance on Sunday. The RFK Racing driver/owner did everything right initially at Iowa Speedway, sweeping the two stages. But on the final stretch of 140 laps, Keselowski fell short of William Byron’s pace due to multiple restarts. And Denny Hamlin attributes that to two Hendrick Motorsports stars.

The Iowa Corn 350 race was essentially a fuel mileage race, being littered with cautions. Twelve cautions slowed the race for 72 laps. A series of 7 cautions among those were what enabled William Byron to stretch his fuel cell – but it also got on Denny Hamlin’s nerves.

Denny Hamlin expects more from the ‘golden’ boys

“How much f—— room do I have to leave people?” Kyle Larson was audibly furious on the radio during the Iowa race. He was hoping to carry forward the momentum of his Indianapolis runner-up finish, but ended up encountering his teammate, Chase Elliott, several times. The No. 5 and the No. 9 HMS Chevrolets doorslammed each other multiple times in search of a top ten spot. On one restart, they ran three-wide, and contact with Elliott almost got Larson loose. With just under 100 laps to go, things really went sideways for Larson as he tangled with drivers like Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, and Ty Dillon.

Kyle Larson ended the race in a dismal 28th place, and Chase Elliott finished 14th. Although their days were lackluster, Denny Hamlin does not feel any sympathy for Rick Hendrick’s stars. In a recent ‘Actions Detrimental’ episode, Hamlin directly broached both Larson and Elliott’s Iowa moves. He said, “Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson laying back 3 car lengths on the field, and then getting a run and going four-wide, like, that’s what causes the wrecks…I think it’s what…the driver’s instructors are telling them to do; do as much as you can get away with.” Hamlin called for some kind of penalty: “But what I’m calling on is NASCAR officiating to do something about it.”

After all, William Byron, another HMS driver, made use of the caution-riddled 144 laps. The wrecking moves of Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott disadvantaged other leaders like Brad Keselowski and Chase Briscoe. Denny Hamlin continued, “It’s a complete disregard for people that you’re laying back from. ‘Cause you’re just willing to stick them in a four-wide situation where you know they’re gonna wreck…and you just don’t care. And that’s what happened with the Larson and Chase thing. They laid back so much. They must have been running ten miles an hour faster, probably more than that. Then the cars in front of them when they all took off, and then they both tried to shoot the gap at the same time in the middle. It’s like, they both deserved to wreck.”

Clearly, Denny Hamlin is not too happy with Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson’s moves. He has more reason to be, as his teammate could not get ahead.

Falling short of the race lead

Chase Briscoe has been flying high in the 2025 season. Some had doubts about his joining Joe Gibbs Racing and a new OEM, but he has performed spectacularly. With 11 top-10s, 9 top-5s, and over 300 laps led, Briscoe has shown impressive consistency and speed. His lone win came at Pocono Raceway, and he currently sits 8th in the standings with 640 points, firmly in playoff contention. After all, the No. 19 JGR Toyota has clinched a series-leading six pole positions this season. Yet sadly, Briscoe has not been able to convert those into race victories, including the Iowa Corn 350 pole, where he finished second.

He clung to the front row throughout most of the race, and was in a great spot to go for the win, closing the gap to Byron as the No. 24 team worried about fuel. However, the slower traffic induced by cars like those of Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson, as implied by Denny Hamlin, got in the way.

Chase Briscoe began to fall off and was unable to mount a serious challenge to Byron. He reflected on his lost chance after the race, “There at the end, I was running William down. I thought I was really in the catbird seat there, and I just got there and kind of stalled out. Kind of experienced that when I was leading earlier. I caught the back of the field, and same thing; as soon as I got there, I just kind of died.” He continued, “Our day kind of got flipped upside down whenever that caution came out and trapped us and was able to rebound. Congrats to William. He did a really good job, and go on to the next one.”

Hence, a lot of race leaders could not achieve their maximum potential in Iowa. Hopefully, Denny Hamlin’s qualms with HMS do not persist in the next weekend.