Roger Penske Gets Behind Kyle Larson, Wants NASCAR to Take the Right Decision on Playoff Waiver

After Kyle Larson missed out on starting the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, there’s an ongoing dilemma about whether he should be receiving a playoff waiver from NASCAR. Despite the rule book stating that a driver must start all 26 regular season races to be eligible for the playoffs, Roger Penske is behind Larson’s case and has pitched for him to be granted the waiver.

He told NBC Sports that Larson’s choice to start in the Indy 500 instead of the Coca-Cola 600 was ultimately good for both sports. “Larson came here with Hendrick Motorsports to race, they did a great job and I think it’s great for the sport. It’s really good for NASCAR. I know they will handle it properly,” his words of confidence went.

As things stand, Hendrick Motorsports has sent in a waiver request to the sanctioning body. An expected date for the verdict has not yet been revealed. It will likely be taken into consideration that Larson did arrive in Charlotte midway through the race to take over his car from Justin Allgaier, who’d started the race in his place. He ended up not being able to do so due to severe storms.

Update: #NASCAR confirms it has received a request for a waiver for Larson from Hendrick Motorsports and says no timetable for when decision will be made. https://t.co/KtYLXeLfAW

— Jenna Fryer (@JennaFryer) May 31, 2024

The U.S. President of GM Performance Motorsports, Jim Campbell, believes that he should be getting the waiver too. He said, “I think that Kyle has done a lot of positives. He is a champion of NASCAR. Brought a lot of attention to the series that’s going to help grow the NASCAR series by being part of that IndyCar effort in the Indianapolis 500. We see it as a win-win, and I hope they do, too.”

Joey Logano’s reservation about Larson getting a playoff waiver

Roger Penske’s Cup Series driver Joey Logano was recently on the negative end of the scale for his opinion about the fiasco. He said on SiriusXM that though the rules were completely gray on the matter, Larson choosing the Indy 500 over the Coca-Cola 600 was a fact. He contended that rules existed to make sure drivers don’t miss races for such reasons after making it to the playoffs.

The HMS driver has already won two races this season and fixed his spot in the playoffs. Playoff waivers are something that the promotion has thus far granted only for suspensions and medical reasons. Should he be let off, it will be the first time a driver is given a waiver for missing a race to compete in another major racing series.