Kyle Larson totally blows it for Ryan Blaney at Darlington (for no reason)

Kyle Larson is pretty much a favorite no matter where the NASCAR Cup Series visits, and that included Darlington Raceway. He entered Sunday's Goodyear 400 as the betting favorite, and a few seconds into the race, he found himself pounding the inside retaining wall on the back straightaway.

But despite his lap four crash during the 297-lap race around the four-turn, 1.366-mile (2.198-kilometer) Darlington, South Carolina oval, the Hendrick Motorsports team repaired Larson's No. 5 Chevrolet, and he reentered the race 167 laps off the lead.

In the closing laps, Team Penske's Ryan Blaney was rapidly chasing down 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick, and he was able to take the lead. He appeared to be well on his way to victory with four laps remaining, before Larson once again spun coming off of turn two.

Larson's spin came after he reacted to Reddick brushing the wall by checking up right in front of 23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace.

Kyle Larson spin ruins it for Ryan Blaney

The caution flag led to pit stops, and out of nowhere, Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin emerged as the leader off of pit road. He held on after the overtime restart with two laps remaining and won the race ahead of Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron, who led the race's first 243 laps.

Blaney still scored his best ever finish at Darlington, but fifth place wasn't at all what he had in mind after getting around Reddick, who wound up fourth behind Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell in third.

Full race results can be found here.

Hamlin, Byron, Blaney, and Reddick were the only drivers who led the race at any point. Hamlin led 10 laps, and although Blaney only led two, it was he who would have been in position to win if not for Larson's second mistake of the day off turn two.

Hamlin even jokingly thanked Larson, amid a sea of boos, during his post-race winner interview on the front straightaway.

Thanks to a car that ended up 175 laps down, Hamlin has now won back-to-back races for the first time since 2012, when he won at Bristol Motor Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway.

All in all, it was one of the worst races of Larson's career, and it was far from befitting of a driver whom many like to refer to as the "greatest driver in the world" and a "generational talent".

NASCAR is set to head to Bristol next week for the Food City 500. That race is set to be shown live on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 13. Can Hamlin, like Bell earlier this year, extend his win streak to three races? Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss it!