NASCAR grants Kyle Larson a playoff waiver after missing Coca-Cola 600

NASCAR announced Tuesday morning that Kyle Larson will receive a playoff waiver and remain eligible for the 2024 playoffs.

The decision comes after a week of wait and debate. Elton Sawyer, the Senior Vice President of Competition for NASCAR, briefed the media Tuesday on why they granted Larson a waiver.

“Our decisionmaking was Kyle made every attempt to get to Charlotte. He had his helmet on and was going to get in the car but due to inclement weather, he couldn’t get in,” NASCAR executive Elton Sawyer said.

Hendrick Motorsports originally stated Kyle Larson was committed to the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Then a four-hour rain delay of the Indianapolis 500 caused the race to overlap with the 500. The organization announced Larson would stay and run the 500.

Larson returned to Charlotte Motor Speedway after finishing 18th in the 500. During a lightning hold, he landed at the track and suited up, ready to go in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet that Justin Allgaier was in for 249 laps. However, that lightning hold turned into a long rain delay that ended the race.

Sawyer acknowledged a week was enough time to work through this situation described as being in “uncharted waters.”

“Waivers have mostly been given for medical reasons or for drivers suspended from our events. This was unprecedented because we had a driver miss one of our races to be at another event. That’s why it took as long as it did,” Elton Sawyer said. “The prior precedent with the waivers was quick decisions. When fans buy a ticket, they expect to see their driver there… Obviously Kyle raced with another series and wasn’t there to start our event.”

Sawyer said there were different views from different people but he believed the decision was right.

“Unfortunately the weather situation threw the industry a curveball, us a curveball. Without the weather, they were going to be there. To not have Kyle Larson in our playoffs and let our fans see him race for a championship, that didn’t feel like the right decision for us to make,” Sawyer said.

Addressing concerns people had about the possible implications a waiver denial could have on the Charlotte-Indy double, Sawyer emphasized their support for The Double and the fans.

“The Double is great for motorsports. It’s great for NASCAR. We were looking forward to having Kyle land in the ballfield and complete 1,110 miles. But it didn’t unfold that way for the obvious reasons,” Sawyer said. “We embrace The Double and we want to see other drivers take that opportunity. But we have to look out for the fans in Charlotte. And we felt like Kyle and Hendrick Motorsports gave every effort to make sure he would get in the car.”

Larson won’t face any further penalties for this. Sawyer believed Larson faced enough of a penalty for not getting points for the 600.

“Any other penalty wouldn’t have been right,” Sawyer said. “Everything was on the table. The two options on the table were grant it or not grant it. Anything else was us digging into the rulebook and that was something that didn’t feel right.”

As far as if NASCAR will reevaluate how they handle waivers, Sawyer said this situation won’t make NASCAR reevaluate the way they hand out waivers. However, he said they may look at it in the offseason, as they normally do with all rules.

Hendrick Motorsports statement on Kyle Larson waiver decision

“Under normal circumstances, completing ‘the double’ is one of the toughest tests in sports. Despite our best efforts, this year’s combination of weather conditions in Indianapolis and Charlotte made it impossible. Although losing ground in the standings was hard to swallow, we were especially disappointed for the fans at the Coca-Cola 600 who were not able to see Kyle (Larson) race. I’m extremely proud of everything he did to prepare and the months of planning by our team and our partners at Arrow McLaren to run these two crown jewel events. We hoped race day would play out differently, but the program was still incredibly positive for everyone involved. Kyle’s performance throughout May was a great reflection on the level of talent competing each week in the NASCAR Cup Series. We appreciate NASCAR communicating with us throughout the effort and granting our request for a playoff waiver.”

Larson is currently second in the championship standings, -21 points to leader Denny Hamlin. Larson has earned 17 playoff points with two race wins and seven stage wins.

Combined with the 10 playoff points he could earn, if he is second in the championship standings at the end of the regular season, Larson is in position to start the playoffs with 27 bonus points which would currently seed him second behind Denny Hamlin (18 earned points + 15 possible)