According to the Associated Press, Hendrick Motorsports has formally filed the paperwork to request a NASCAR Cup Series playoff waiver for Kyle Larson as a result of missing the Coca Cola 600 on Sunday to compete in the rain delayed Indianapolis 500.
There is no timetable for a decision to be made and announced.
Even though Larson was the championship leader entering the weekend — and has already won two races to qualify for the Round of 16 — an inability to take the green flag on Sunday night will mean he is ineligible for the championship chase unless NASCAR grants the waiver.
According to Rule 12.3.2.1.A of the NASCAR rule book: “Unless otherwise authorized by NASCAR, driver(s) and Team Owner(s) must start all Championship Events of the current season to be eligible for The Playoffs.”
Unless otherwise authorized by NASCAR
The rule was instituted in 2014 with the advent of the current championship format to effectively prevent a driver from winning a race, therefore advancing into the playoffs, and then taking races off until the final 10 weeks of the season.
Of course, the format also now rewards season long success in that victories, stage wins and regular season championship results all factor into playoff seeding. Larson lost his championship lead and fell to third in the standings due to missing a single race.
The regular season champion at the end of the year is awarded 15 bonus points towards the start of each round, second place gets 10 bonus points and third place gets eight bonus points all the way down to a single bonus point for finishing 10th.
Larson effectively gave up a better chance at the difference of seven playoff points.
At the same time, this is the first time a NASCAR playoff waiver has been requested for a driver intentionally choosing to run a race in a different series instead. Waivers have been requested and granted for driver injuries and behavioral reasons, but never for this.
And NASCAR’s leading competition official, Elton Sawyer suggested as much, when asked about the topic earlier in the week.
“It’s a bit un-chartered waters because in the past, the waivers have mostly been given for a medical reason so this one is a little bit different from that aspect,” Sawyer said. “We’ve had some preliminary discussions but we haven’t landed on a decision yet.”
Hendrick Motorsports and NASCAR are believed to have had some preliminary discussions about the topic and it’s hard to imagine Rick Hendrick would have approved the decision if there was an inkling that NASCAR would deny the waiver.
The rain delay in Indianapolis, that pushed the start back four hours, bit Larson again because the same storm ended the NASCAR race early just as he landed to take over for substitute driver Justin Allgaier.
So now the question becomes does Larson get penalized because he didn’t turn a single lap, regardless of intent?
Joey Logano played both sides, a little, in saying it was awesome but also putting it bluntly that he chose an IndyCar race over a NASCAR race in discussing the topic on his SiriusXM NASCAR Radio show.
“This scenario — let’s be honest here. Super cool,” Logano said. “What Kyle Larson did running the double — awesome. He got backed into the worst position possible for the scenario that happened, right? Because of the rain and delay of the Indy 500, all that. But he chose — he decided the Indy 500 is more important than the Coca-Cola 600. He made that decision, or his people, whoever, he is part of it. He put IndyCar ahead of NASCAR, that’s the facts, right or wrong. I don’t know. Waiver or not. I don’t know. I’m not here to make that decision, but the facts are, he thought IndyCar racing was a bigger race than NASCAR racing that day.
“I don’t know where you go with that. Don’t know where you go. I don’t know where to add to that either. I don’t want to make anyone mad sitting here. I’m just spitting the facts here of that’s what happened. I’m not taking anything away from what Larson did. I thought it was the most badass thing that anyone can do, to try to run both those races in one day.”
Larson said on Tuesday after a Goodyear tire test at Iowa Speedway that he hasn’t spoken to NASCAR officials about the topic at that time.
“I haven’t personally, yet,” he said. “At this point, I’m just fresh off trying to race it. I’m letting the team handle it. I’m sure they’re getting ready to go through the process and all that.”
Lastly, Roger Penske, who owns both a rival NASCAR team but also the IndyCar Series, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Indianapolis 500 hopes Larson isn’t penalized for making that decision.
“That’s up to NASCAR,” Penske told NBC Sports on Thursday. “I mean, certainly I want to see him not lose anything by coming to the Indy 500 for sure. But Larson came here with Hendrick Motorsports to race, they did a great job and I think it’s great for the sport.
“It’s really good for NASCAR. I know they will handle it properly.”
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.