What NASCAR Drivers Have to Say About Kyle Larson’s NASCAR Waiver Drama After a Failed Double

The NASCAR Cup Series bandwagon has arrived at the World Wide Technology Raceway after a rain-washed Coca-Cola 600 event. And without any surprises, all the talk before Sunday’s race is about Kyle Larson and his chances of receiving a waiver from NASCAR. The HMS star driver decided to run the Indianapolis 500 race over the points race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It wasn’t a deliberate snub, but the inclement weather conditions forced him and his team to make the call.

Usually, NASCAR has handed out waivers to suspended or injured drivers, but it’s the first instance where a driver chose to miss the points race. As per the recent updates, Rick Hendrick and HMS have submitted their request for Larson’s waiver. However, there’s no clarity on when NASCAR will make the judgment call.

Although the governing body is taking its time to review the unique waiver request, most of the Cup Series drivers feel that a decision should come in favor of Larson.

Kyle Larson remains tight-lipped on his waiver saga

The 2021 Cup Series champion interacted with the media for the first time since last week’s disappointments. A whole bunch of questions were thrown at him: “Are you surprised NASCAR hasn’t (referring to his waiver)? In response, he said, “I don’t know.” He further backed his stance when forced into the corner, whether he felt he should get one. “It’s not up to me.”

However, as far as his rivals were concerned, pretty much all of them voiced their support for Larson. In a perfect outcome, without the weather hiccups, the HMS star would have scripted history and completed “The Double,” becoming only the second to complete 1100 miles of racing after Tony Stewart. Therefore, backing his intention for the betterment of the sport, Kyle Busch stated, “It’s Kyle Larson, the guy is doing more for Motorsports than anybody else.”

Denny Hamlin did have his doubts about the outcome, knowing how tricky this situation is. When asked for his opinion, the JGR star stated, “Yes and no; I mean I don’t know when they submitted it. What is the timeline of accepting or denying? They certainly made their best efforts to get there. I understand NASCAR’s part of wanting to protect themselves in the future, but I think they made good faith efforts to race.”

“I think he’ll get it, and he should get it. In some rather unique circumstances, you know, I like the drivers wanting to double; I think that’s good for our sport; it’s good for our industry as a whole.” Brad Keselowski chimed in with his take. Moreover, he expressed his concern about future attempts at double, in case Larson’s waiver isn’t accepted. “Yeah, for everybody, and I don’t think anyone wants that, I don’t want that. I see value in it.”

Meanwhile, Keselowski’s teammate, Chris Buescher, wasn’t sure if the waiver held significance, considering how often it was handed out to drivers recently. “No, I’m not surprised on it. I know that they’ve become pretty openly given out at this point, so it doesn’t feel like there’s much use for them at all.”

It wouldn’t be a pretty sight for NASCAR to see its star driver miss out on a chance to compete for the title. And while this could be a real possibility, Michael McDowell was baffled to know that Larson’s omission from the playoffs is even up for debate.

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Before Larson missed out on the points race at Charlotte, he was leading the drivers standings, with two wins already to his name. These results also saw him secure his playoff spot, which is now a serious threat. The NASCAR rule clearly states that drivers need to start all 26 points-paying races. Failure to do so would require the team and driver to obtain a waiver from the governing council.

Michael McDowell, in an interview ahead of Sunday’s race, expressed his concern about Larson’s waiver situation. “To sit here and say that he’s not going to get a waiver because… he tried to do the double and brought a tremendous amount of eyeballs on our sport and a tremendous of eyeballs on IndyCar and just helped motorsports all together is crazy.”

He did acknowledge the sticky situation NASCAR finds himself in, but he just couldn’t quantify a decision that would take Larson out of the equation to win the championship. “I know that there’s arguments to that, but I mean, come on, we’re talking about the best driver that’s ever sat in a stock car and we’re not going to give him a pass? That’s crazy.”

There hasn’t been this long of a delay by NASCAR in handing out waivers. While the chances are he is likely to get one, as long as there’s no official word on it, this situation will keep making headlines.