The second race in the Chase has concluded with Kyle Larson victorious. This ends a winless streak of 51 races. Another welcome consequence is that he has been propelled up to 2nd in the Chase standings. However, by his own admission, his #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was not the best car on the track.

At the Enjoy Illinois 300, Larson’s win boosted his standings. Heading into the event, he was seventh and now “Yung Money” finds himself right behind Denny Hamlin, trailing by nine points.

“Yeah it’s definitely, I would say, surprising for sure that we won,” The HMS driver told Bob Perry. “It was not going to be surprising to run 3rd to 5th or 6th. I just feel like the Penske cars and the #20 here are so much still more elite here, than I am. So that’s where I feel, is surprising that we won.”

Interestingly, Larson started in the front row in the second position. Later in the race, he even took the lead away from Joey Logano and led a total of 80 laps. Ultimately, he was able to beat his teammate Alex Bowman by 0.333 seconds for the win.

“It takes a lot more than just having the fastest car to win a Cup Series race,” he continued in the X clip. “You still have to execute a day from start to finish, good pit stops, restarts, strategy. We had that today, so yeah in that aspect, it’s not so surprising as much. Still, Gateway has been a tough track for us in the past. This aero package has been a difficult one for us as well.”

In his mind, Hendrick Motorsports was inferior with the third or fourth best cars on the day. As a matter of fact, the likes of Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Christopher Bell were much faster.

Blaney was quickly taken out of the equation when his brakes exploded, and he crashed out. That left pole-sitter Logano and last week’s winner Christopher Bell, who was having good momentum.

Nevertheless, Larson managed to outlast everyone in a truly chaotic race. The Enjoy Illinois 300 had around 18 cautions, which was a record in itself. Nevertheless, the #5 driver and several others finally managed to complete the race. That said, he faced stiff competition from Logano and Bell.

According to Kyle Larson, having the fastest car is not enough to win. Drivers and teams need the overall package, which includes good pit stops, restarts, and strategy.

Given the number of cautions, there was extra emphasis on restarts, and he was able to nail several of them. Now, Larson could very well displace Hamlin.

Is it time for Denny Hamlin to start sweating?

Lord knows how many years of heartbreak Denny Hamlin has been forced to endure. 2026 seems to be his best chance yet, and he grabbed the opportunity with both hands in the first half of the campaign. All through the regular season, he chased down early runaway leader Tyler Reddick, and then built a strong lead.

However, the Chase reset happened, and Hamlin couldn’t win any of the opening two races. At Darlington, teammate Christopher Bell became a massive threat after he won and Hamlin was 18th. Then at the World Wide Technology Raceway, Larson triumphed, and he took over 2nd place. Fortunately for Denny Hamlin, a 9th-place finish mitigated the damage.

With that said, how long can the #11 driver go without another win? The good news for Denny Hamlin is that the Bass Pro Shops Night race is up next. This is a race that he has won on multiple occasions in the past, with his latest win coming in 2023. However, Larson and Bell won the last two editions, so they could be favorites as well.

Denny Hamlin is not getting any younger either, and who knows how long he will stick around in the Cup Series before hanging up his boots. He has already been at this for 21 years and never quite managed to win a Cup title. Last year he came agonisingly close, but no cigar, so 2026 could finally be his year, if he can get some momentum.