NASCAR receives Kyle Larson waiver request after disastrous Double

CONCORD, N.C. — NASCAR confirmed they received a request for a playoff waiver for Kyle Larson but didn’t offer a decision Thursday.

Larson has two wins on the NASCAR Cup Series season. However, his season hangs in the balance after his attempt at The Double turned into a disaster.

Larson committed to running the Indianapolis 500 in the papaya No. 17 for Arrow McLaren SP despite rain delaying the start four hours. He finished 18th after leading laps but incurring a speeding penalty that took him out of a Top-10 finish.

In a throwback to 2000, when Robby Gordon finished the rain-delayed Indy 500 and traveled to Charlotte where he replaced substitute driver P.J. Jones at around the halfway mark of the Coca-Cola 600, Larson traveled back to Charlotte to replace substitute driver Justin Allgaier during a lightning hold at lap 249.

The lightning hold then turned into a delay for rain. That rain ended the 600 after 249 of 400 laps without Larson ever turning a lap.

While Larson didn’t start the 600, he practiced and qualified the car.

NASCAR rules specify this about what makes a driver eligible for the playoffs:

Subsection A is a big focus as NASCAR makes their decision. It may be a big focus for Hendrick Motorsports if NASCAR were to deny the waiver request and they were to file an appeal and get it heard.

NASCAR hasn’t made a decision on the waiver request. They also don’t have a timetable for a decision yet.

NASCAR and the playoff waiver

NASCAR has received 36 playoff waiver requests — including Larson’s request — according to Seth Eggert with Kickin’ the Tires.net.

Only four times have they ever denied a request.

In 2021, ThorSport Racing scaled Grant Enfinger back to a part-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule due to a lack of sponsorship. While Enfinger missed the Daytona road course race, he put a deal together with CR7 Motorsports to run the races that ThorSport would have him out of the truck for, which began in Las Vegas — the race after the Daytona road course.

NASCAR denied Enfinger’s request, taking him out of the playoffs. Enfinger still ran every other race that season and even finished the regular season mathematically-eligible for the playoffs.

In 2018, Kaz Grala ran the first 16 races and was 14th in Xfinity Series points. Then, a lack of funding took him out of two of the next four races. When he applied for a waiver, NASCAR denied it.

NASCAR also denied waiver requests in other instances, such as Spencer Gallagher in that same Xfinity Series season and Austin Wayne Self the following Truck season. NASCAR suspended Gallagher and Self for violating the substance abuse policy.

Gallagher won at Talladega before the ordeal happened but had to subsequently give up his playoff spot.

Kyle Larson’s case is uncharted territory

The Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 first formally began running on the same day in 1974. In the 51 years since then, including 1974, only this year did rain delay the 500 for hours and cut the 600 short.

In fact, Sunday marked the fourth time ever that the Coca-Cola 600 was cut short. It was the third time since 1974

In 2003 and 2009, the Indy 500 ran with no weather issues. Not to mention, in 2009, rain pushed the Coca-Cola 600 to Monday, preventing any conflict at all.

In 2004, rain hit in the opening laps of the Indy 500. Robby Gordon, attempting the same-day double again, had Jacques Lazier finish the 500 while he traveled to Charlotte.

At the time, Gordon was locked into a full-time NASCAR Cup Series ride with Richard Childress Racing. While the playoff format was different in 2004 than it is today, and points were far more paramount to making the playoffs than a win, Gordon still chose Charlotte over Indy.

In Larson’s defense, Gordon had run six Indy 500s before. This year was Larson’s first — a childhood dream and a focal point of hype and anticipation, even straight from NASCAR themselves.

Still, no one has ever effectively skipped a race and then applied for a waiver. Many can imagine NASCAR has never wanted to start a trend of this, whether inadvertently or not. And especially as tensions still are somewhat high as NASCAR and the teams work out a charter agreement and revenue split.

A NASCAR rep said there is no timetable for when a decision will be made on his waiver.

NASCAR has operated in the gray area with waivers over the last 11 seasons. For them, they not only have to make a decision but they also have to set a precedent.

And it’s one that could have a massive ripple effect on not only NASCAR but on The Double itself.