Kyle Larson was able to regain his eligibility for the Cup Series Playoffs on Tuesday thanks to a waiver granted by NASCAR authorities.
Hendrick Motorsports requested the exception after Larson was delayed by weather in the Indianapolis 500, where he finished 18th in his IndyCar debut, then missed the Coca-Cola 600 on May 26. This season, Larson has won twice, earning a spot in the 16-driver Cup Series postseason competition.
Section 12.3.2.1.A of the NASCAR Rule Book addresses eligibility. It reads as follows: “To be eligible for the Playoffs, driver(s) and team owner(s) must start all Championship Events of the current season, unless otherwise authorized by NASCAR.” The driver(s) and Team Owner(s), in the Series Managing Director’s judgment, must have tried to qualify for the race if a starting spot was not earned.
Senior vice president of competition Elton Sawyer stated on Tuesday, “We didn’t take it lightly.” There was a great deal of internal debate. In the end, we decided to grant Kyle a waiver. In essence, Kyle made every effort to go to Charlotte despite the bad weather we were experiencing in both Indianapolis and Charlotte. Wearing his helmet and prepared for action, he stood in the pit box.
“Unfortunately, we were unable to resume the race due to weather that also occurred in Charlotte. That’s how our choice was made.
In the Cup Series qualifying session on May 25 at Charlotte, Larson secured the 10th starting position for his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. He then took a plane to Indianapolis in an attempt to become the fifth driver to run the Coca-Cola 600 and the Indy 500 on the same day. Larson stayed to start the 500-mile race in Indianapolis after storms caused a four-hour delay. Justin Allgaier, a backup driver, geared up to start the 600-mile race in Charlotte for the No. 5 team.
An Xfinity Series regular, Allgaier started last in the running order but moved up when rain and lightning stopped the race at Charlotte with 249 of the 400 laps planned completed. When the race was stopped, Larson had just arrived at the No. 5 team’s pit box after taking a plane from Indianapolis. He got ready to get back in the car for the remaining 600 miles of the race, but it was abandoned when the track-drying operations reached a standstill.
Without a question, this was new territory for Sawyer and the team. “Those waivers have typically been granted for medical reasons in the past. This one was special since a driver had to cancel a race—a championship event—in order to attend another race. It took as long as it did for that reason.
There were varying opinions held by various individuals. On it, everyone had an opinion. We believe we have arrived at the correct choice, which was the final conclusion we sought to reach.
In his first Cup Series start since 2022, Allgaier was officially recorded as the starter of record, finishing in 13th place. Larson lost his lead in the Cup Series standings and did not receive any championship points for the race. Larson was second in the points standings after finishing 10th in Sunday’s Cup race at World Wide Technology Raceway, 21 points behind Denny Hamlin.
“In the end, I didn’t feel like that was the right decision for us to make—not to have Kyle Larson in our playoff and give our fans the chance to watch him race for a championship,” Sawyer remarked. Thus, we didn’t. We thought we had arrived at the ideal location.
The 2021 Cup champion Larson has already won twice in this season’s Cup Series, the first time coming in a commanding win in Las Vegas in March. Two months later, he won his 25th career victory in NASCAR’s premier tour at Kansas Speedway, winning by 0.001 seconds in the closest finish in series history.
Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick stated in a statement that “doing the double” is one of the hardest tasks in sports under regular circumstances. “This year’s mix of Indianapolis and Charlotte weather conditions made it impossible, despite our best efforts. Although we had hoped for a different outcome on race day, everyone who participated in the program had nothing but pleasant outcomes. Kyle’s May results were excellent examples of the kind of skill fielded in the NASCAR Cup Series each week.
“While it was difficult to lose ground in the standings, we were particularly sad for the Coca-Cola 600 spectators who were unable to witness Kyle compete. I’m incredibly proud of everything he accomplished in preparation for these two crown jewel events, as well as the months of planning that our team and our colleagues at Arrow McLaren put in. We value NASCAR being in touch with us during the process and agreeing to our request for a playoff waiver.