Denny Hamlin comes up one spot shy of third straight Cup Series win

Denny Hamlin only came up one spot short of winning a third consecutive NASCAR Cup Series race, but it didn't feel as if the veteran driver was that close to notching another win. 

That was thanks to a brutal beatdown given to the Cup Series field by Kyle Larson, who led 412 of 500 laps and beat Hamlin to the checkered flag by 2.25 seconds. 

Sunday's race was the seventh 1-2 finish between Hamlin and Larson, though its the first time that Larson has come out on the winning end. 

"You gotta give (the No. 5) team their due and Kyle his due," Hamlin told Fox Sports. "Just a dominant performance, looked like a pretty flawless day for them. It looked pretty easy, it was all I had to try and keep up there ... Wish we could've gotten one more spot, but (I) just wanted to keep him honest at the end, that's all I tried to do, but he was too much to handle."

"It's been a great run here over the last month. We've been really good. Just gotta continue this momentum," he added. "It all starts tomorrow. You go back to work and figure out how you can get just a little bit better."