The doubts surrounding Kyle Larson‘s chance of competing for the 2024 Cup Series championship were laid to rest by NASCAR recently as he was given a waiver for missing the Coca-Cola 600. Meanwhile, former driver Jeff Burton thinks that, while it’s good for the sport, the promotion should have more clarity on such scenarios in the future.
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In a recent episode of Motorsports on NBC, Burton stated that the #5 driver being given a waiver was a good thing for the fans. Larson is one of the best in the competition and it would be a huge miss if he did not fight for the title. However, when drivers in the future choose to not run a race, the people in power need to ensure such a lengthy saga does not take place again in keeping with the rules.
“I think at the end of the day NASCAR got it right for the fans… I want some more clarity moving forward and I think the clarity was better for the fans, the teams, everybody.” He also mentioned that the fans of the sport would love to watch someone with the caliber of Larson fight for the championship at the end of the year. Hence, deciding to grant him the waiver was a favorable outcome.
However, Burton also argued that the promotion should have been straightforward with Larson from the start, instead of lingering so long. If they did not want to give him the waiver they should have made it clear that racing in the Cup Series was a compulsory requirement over the Indy 500, since the fans came out to see him race and especially so because he is a full-time driver in the series.
The veteran motorsports analyst is not the only one who believes that the waiver rule needs a lot more clarity. Two-time Cup Series champion Joey Logano also held a similar narrative.
Joey Logano calls the waiver rule a gray area in NASCAR
Earlier this week, the Team Penske man got some heat for reportedly stating that Larson gave the Indy 500 more importance than the Coke 600. He subsequently cleared up his opinions and communicated that the HMS star’s decision something did benefit motorsports as a whole. His statement was taken from a SiriusXM Radio interview in which he also spoke about the grayness of the waiver rule.
“It’s just not as simple…it’s the greatest thing we have in our sport. There’s no black-and-white answer to this one. Or there can be but we don’t treat it that way,” he said.
This is certainly a new avenue NASCAR needs to introspect especially with many drivers looking to expand their horizons in the modern world. Moving forward, the promotion must become more stringent rules surrounding the waiver system.
