NASCAR’s judicial wisdom has been under the spotlight for two weekends in a row. At North Wilkesboro Speedway, the All-Star Race witnessed a mid-race conflict unfolding. The climax occurred when Ricky Stenhouse Jr punched Kyle Busch in the face. The former landed a hefty fine, while his initial aggressor went scot-free, drawing criticism for NASCAR. Now the higher-ups are being pressured to give a free pass to Kyle Larson.

As Larson recovers from a heartbreak-riddled weekend, he faces another dilemma. Since the Hendrick Motorsports driver prioritized a different series over NASCAR, the latter has the power to eject him from the playoffs. But executives should give him a clean chit, as Dale Earnhardt Jr reasoned.

Dale Jr justifies Kyle Larson’s Memorial Day decision

Kyle Larson had dreamed about doing the Double a year ago. That dream was supposed to materialize on Sunday until the weather shattered it. The Indy 500 started 4 hours late, and the HMS team decided to miss the start of the Coca-Cola 600 race. But a speeding penalty robbed Larson’s front-row ambitions as he pieced together an 18th-place finish.

Some fans mocked this deplorable situation, stating that Kyle Larson’s dismissing NASCAR ultimately did not work out. But in a recent DJD podcast episode, Dale Earnhardt Jr denounced this notion, highlighting the immense work put into the Indy 500. “The way I feel about it is like, Kyle Larson has to run the Indy 500. They have so much invested in that race. They’ve prepared all month, practicing, qualifying…money has been spent. There’s no way he can back out of trying to run that event…That’s the choice they made…Kyle may miss the 600, and I’m totally fine with that.”

Truckloads of preparation fuelled Kyle Larson’s Indy 500 ambition. Hendrick Motorsports aligned with Arrow-McLaren, an IndyCar car manufacturer. Then months of practice, strategy, and deliberation went into it with IndyCar experts like Tony Kanaan. Larson’s efforts paid off as he recorded the second-fastest lap in qualifying. He also led four laps on D-Day, winning the Indy 500 Rookie of the Year title.

Hence they could not just throw away the gargantuan effort. Thus ditching Charlotte for Indy was the way to go, as Dale Jr emphasized. “That decision was not made Sunday. That decision was made way back when Kyle Larson said, I wanna do the Double. Because when you make that choice, you gotta know that anything could happen…to make it tough, to make both events. So he made that choice a long time ago, and I’m fine with it…I do not think he should have left Indy and come to run the 600.”

The most popular voice of the motorsport has sanctioned Kyle Larson’s actions. Now all that’s left is for NASCAR to seal the deal. But an irksome waiver policy stands in the way.

Dale Earnhardt Jr is fed up with the waiver rule

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NASCAR has a way to deal with driver absence. It introduced the current waiver system in 2014 and accommodates injury, family emergency, or death in the family. However, recent events have revealed potholes in this policy. Last year, officials waived injuries incurred in outside hobbies, with Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman. Now Kyle Larson’s situation also does not fit in with the official policy. The unpredictable weather compelled him to make the hard decision.

Dale Jr had a solution to this; do away with the waiver policy altogether. “Because every time this comes around, every time a driver gets hurt and misses a few races, why they got hurt, whether they were racing or skiing or whatever, right, we have to debate it. And I’m really sick of it. I’m sick of it. I’m sick of the next waiver conversation we’re gonna have to have. I just assume, get rid of the waiver. Let’s not have it.”

Although Dale Jr’s suggestion seems out of the cards, let us wait and see what NASCAR officials have up their sleeves.