The consequences of this weekend’s events could make Kyle Larson‘s future this season extremely uncertain. According to NASCAR’s rules, a driver has to start every single race of every single championship race (unless authorized otherwise by the promotion) to be eligible for the playoffs. The HMS driver did not do that when he decided to choose the Indy 500 over the Coke 600 but a NASCAR veteran believes he should be given a waiver.
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In a recent post on X, Kenny Wallace revealed that the current waiver rules are quite uncertain and he has reason to say so. Last year, Chase Elliott was eligible to compete in the playoffs despite missing six races due to injury. Some may say that the #9 driver did not have a choice but as per Wallace, going skiing was a choice that Elliott made.
Maybe a press conference by @NASCAR (detailing) the NEW waiver rules? BECAUSE THEY ARE VAGUE.
However you give @KyleLarsonRacin the waiver. And after this, you have to have a physical injury to get a waiver.
“Skiing is a choice too” 😆
We can go on and on.— Kenny Wallace (@Kenny_Wallace) May 27, 2024
Larson had every intention of starting the Coca-Cola 600 but the rain delay forced the Indy 500 to be postponed by four hours and then it was impossible to start both races with enough breathing space. The Hendrick Motorsports racer had a choice and he chose to stick with Arrow McLaren and finish the 500 before rushing to the Charlotte Motor Speedway.
There’s just one problem with that. Even if the Coke 600 was not called off, Larson would not have started the race. The rules clearly state that a driver has to start every championship race to be eligible for the playoffs and in his case, it was Justin Allgaier who started the race with the #5 car.
Eminent NASCAR insider stands firmly against Kyle Larson’s playoff inclusion
Not everyone is on board with NASCAR letting Larson have this one, including eminent motorsports journalist Jordan Bianchi. On a recent episode of The Teardown, he said that letting the Hendrick Motorsports star compete for the championship would set a bad precedent since it was his choice to start the Indy 500 instead of the Coke 600.
“This was a choice they made,” he said. ” You know going to Indy brought risks and there were consequences and you just skipped which is supposed to be a marquee crown jewel race. A race that you just said awards more points so technically more important than any other regular season race because of the points awarded.”
It will be interesting to see if NASCAR sticks to their rule book and eliminates Larson from the championship or if they’re willing to bend the rules for one of their biggest stars.
