Larson / Waivers / Nascar

May 26th, 2024 was supposed to go down as one of the greatest days in Motorsport history. Instead it turned into one of the biggest let downs in Modern day racing. Monaco was Monaco, not a lot of passing, and very lackluster excitement outside of a lap one red flag that Took out Sergio Perez and both Haas Cars. (I can’t lie, it was very surprising that something like that occurred in Monaco.)

But what most Motorsport fans were looking forward to on May 26th was the “Double” that Kyle Larson would attempt to complete. 1,100 miles of racing between Indianapolis Motor Speedway (500 Miles) and Charlotte Motor Speedway (600 Miles). Only ten times has this happened in the history of these two crown jewel events. 5 times with Robbie Gordon, twice with Tony Stewart, and John Andretti, Kurt Busch, and now Kyle Larson being the only humans to attempt this magnificent feat. 
This is Something that I was very amped up for. I would have the opportunity to witness the Second leg of this at Charlotte for Larson. 

But Mother Nature swooped in and destroyed all luck of seeing Larson complete 1100 Miles. 
The Rain in Indianapolis started right around the time when the green flag would drop there. And a four hour rain delayed hindered any chance for Kyle Larson to complete the 500 and be able to get to Charlotte Motor Speedway for a 6:22 Pm Start time. But Larson completed the race, running a respectable 6th place for the majority of the race until a late race pit road speeding penalty killed any chance of a competitive finish for the Hendrick Cars number 17 Mclaren. But the race ended and Larson was immediately taken by Helicopter to a local airport to make his flight to Concord, where he would end up on another Helicopter to fly into Charlotte Motor Speedway.

While this was happening, mile 350 of the Coca Cola 600 had just past, and on the Second biggest T.V in the world came the glimpse of a helicopter coming into land on the back stretch of Charlotte, where Larson would be ushered onto a golf cart and taken through a tunnel to the infield of CMS. He rushed to get prepared for a driver swap for the Number 5 Chevrolet, who was being piloted by Justin Allgaier (Who Races the Number 7 car in the Xfinity Series for Junior Motorsports). He was actually keeping the 5 car in contention all night for a possible chase down to the front for Larson when he hopped into the car.

But Kyle Larson never got that chance.

As soon as he arrived to the pit box, Nascar threw out the yellow flag, and after 2 hours of waiting called the over halfway race. Larson didn’t even get to turn a lap, even though Nascar had told drivers to prepare for a green flag in 15 minutes, only to tell them 10 minutes later that the race is over.


But that leaves Nascar, Larson, and Hendrick Motorsports in a predicament. Nascar rules require every driver to start every race, to compete for a championship. But Kyle Larson didn’t start the coke 600, nor even turned a single lap around CMS on May 26th. Nascar does state that a waiver can be granted to a driver who has missed a race, so that they can compete for Championship. 

And Nascar has granted waivers before 

1. Kyle Busch in 2015 when he suffered a broken leg in Xfinity Season opener at Daytona (He eventually went on to win the Cup series championship that year, despite missing over half of the season)
   
2. Kurt Busch after being deemed ineligible to race by Nascar due to false domestic violence allegations against him 
   
3. Tyler Ankrum after missing superspeedway races in the Craftsman truck series due to only being 17 at the time, and completing all other races and winning at Kentucky
   
4. Jimmie Johnson for contracting Coronavirus in 2020
   
5. Alex Bowman in 2023 when he broke his back in a dirt track race, in a Non Nascar sanctioned event 
   
6. Chase Elliot twice in 2023 after a snowboarding accident which resulted in a broken leg and a race suspension after wrecking Denny Hamlin at the 2023 Coke 600 
   

(Waivers have also been granted in other cases due to suspensions)

Now we come across the Kyle Larson situation. He doesn’t have an Injury, an illness, or an eligibility issue. Instead he chose to race in a completely different series outside of Nascar. Larson for many reasons chose to compete in the most storied race in the entire world in the Indy 500. Countless hours and dollars both by himself, his Mclaren team, people at Hendrick Motorsports and Hendrick cars went into this attempt at the double. It would be a historic moment to complete it. Yet the worst situation fell at his feet. Do you choose to race in the greatest spectacle in motorsport or choose to remain eligible for a championship for your full time team. We obviously know his choice was to stay in Indy, and personally I don’t blame the guy. 

But the same can be said for the Nascar side, countless hours and dollars went into this event as well. Though the 600 doesn’t have the same prestige as the 500, crew members also spent hours prepping the 600 car as well. And luckily Allgaier ran an amazing race. But if Nascar doesn’t grant a waiver, his team loses out on dollars and a chance for a championship. 


But NASCAR, whose integrity has been shot before by countless decisions, even one this weekend by calling the 600, is again at stake. 

Do you stand up for your own sport and deem him ineligible, and possibly take a shot at ratings and ticket sales by losing one of the sports most popular drivers for the rest of the season because he’s only racing for owners points and not a drivers championship. 

Or 

Do you allow him to keep racing, and tell other drivers that this sport is secondary to other form of motorsport and that they can take a week or two off at a time to go race elsewhere for fun?


Now, I don’t think this is how Nascar envisioned the waiver system working, when they implemented the playoff system. But if they had just left the 36 races for the championship, I highly doubt Larson would miss the race. And to be honest it surprised me that he would sacrifice his regular season point lead, while going into the 600 which rewards the most possible points in the regular season. Arguably making it the most important race in the regular season.

But I think a few things should happen because of this. I think Larson should be deemed eligible to compete for a championship. But his 2 race wins that count towards his playoff eligibility should be stripped as his way into the playoffs. He should be forced to win again or get in on points (Which is already highly likely.) 

Now if NASCAR does do what I think they will do, which is grant Larson ineligible, they are doing a few things that’ll help and hurt them. First they’ll hurt the hype of the season by losing one of the faces of the sport by not allowing him to compete for a trophy, but they’ll also gain a sense of respect for the races on the calendar. That if you're not sick or hurt, you have to compete or this is your consequence. Because I don’t see them moving on from the playoff system anytime soon, they’ll be doing the right thing by setting a precedent that won’t be challenged short term and possibly long term. Now I know this choice would piss Larson fans, and many hendrick fans off. But it does seem like the way Nascar is going to sway here in the next few days.

But I will say this, as a John Hunter Nemechek fan it would be awesome to see Larson not in the playoffs, but as a fan of the sport, I really do want to see the best of the best competing in our current playoff system. He’s one helluva wheelman and it would be a shame to watch this season, after everything Larson has gone through the past week go up in flames.

Let me know what you guys think in the comments down below.

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