Denny Hamlin 'still in' NASCAR championship hunt after Kansas, says he has to win

Denny Hamlin didn't have a bad day at Kansas Speedway, but he still lost 25 points in the championship because race winner Kyle Larson had a fantastic day. 

Larson scored the max 76 points by sweeping the stages, running the fastest lap of the race and winning Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400, while Hamlin's third-place finish netted him only 51 points. 

It was a great effort from Hamlin and the No. 11 team, but unless he's on the other end of it, a championship won't find him this season. 

Denny Hamlin "still in" title hunt, but he'll have to win a race soon

"Winning. That’s the only difference," Hamlin told USA Network. "Just didn’t quite have it today. Just was hanging around. We could be really good in the long run, but the short run, you know, the 5 was really good, 2 was good. We just couldn’t quite, you know, hold those guys off or keep them close enough in the short run.

"Third-place car, driver, and everything today. I haven’t won it before, so I just feel like we’re still in it, still really close. You know, we just got to continue to put together days like this, and we also got to win. We got to win a few races between now and the end of the year."

Hamlin should have a golden opportunity at victory upcoming next week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a track he's won the last two races at. The Oct. 11 race at Charlotte will also be an excellent opportunity for Hamlin to win and gain on Larson in the championship, though Larson will also be a threat at both of those venues.