The wait is finally over for Kyle Larson and Hendrick Motorsports…
NASCAR officials have granted Larson a waiver that will allow him to compete for the championship.
Larson already has two wins under his belt this season and currently stands in second place in the standings behind Denny Hamlin.
Car owner Rick Hendrick applied for the waiver under an exception after Larson missed running in the Coca-Cola 600 while attempting to “run the double” – the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 when the sam rain storm caused a four hour delay in the start of the Indianapolis race and brought an early halt to the 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
After completing the Indy 500, Larson had arrived at Charlotte and was preparing to get into his number five car – Justin Allgaier had been driving the car – when NASCAR called the stoppage of the 600.
According to the NASCAR rules, a driver must compete in all 36 point races in order to be eligible for the championship.
Senior vice president of competition Elton Sawyer spoke on the issue saying, “we didn’t take it lightly. There was a lot of discussion internally. … We ultimately landed at giving Kyle a waiver. Essentially our decision-making was, although we had the inclement weather in Indianapolis as well as Charlotte, Kyle made every attempt to get to Charlotte. He was standing in the pit box with his helmet on ready to go.”
He added, “unfortunately we had weather in Charlotte as well, and were unfortunately not able to get the race going again. That’s how we landed on our decision.”
Sawyer continued, “this was without a doubt uncharted waters for us. In the past those waivers have been given mostly for medical reasons. … This one was unprecedented in that we had a driver miss one of our races, a championship event, to be at another event. That’s why it took as long as it did. There were different views from different people. Everyone had a view on it. The ultimate decision we wanted to get to was the right decision, and we feel like we got there.”
Since Justin Allgaier started the race, he gets the credit for the race – he was in 13th place after starting the race from the back of the field when the race was called.
Larson has the waiver but will have to earn his spot in the playoffs with his driving skills and earn enough points with only 35 races instead of 36.
Speaking on allowing Kyle Larson a chance at the playoffs, Elton Sawyer noted, “to not have Kyle Larson in our playoff and give our fans the opportunity to see him race for a championship … at the end of the day, didn’t feel like that’s the right decision for us to make. So we didn’t. We felt like we got to the right spot.”
Car owner Rick Hendrick spoke on Larson’s attempt at “the double” – a feat that has only been done four times – saying, “under normal circumstances, completing ‘the double’ is one of the toughest tests in sports. Despite our best efforts, this year’s combination of weather conditions in Indianapolis and Charlotte made it impossible. We hoped race day would play out differently, but the program was still incredibly positive for everyone involved. Kyle’s performance throughout May was a great reflection on the level of talent competing each week in the NASCAR Cup Series.”
He added, “although losing ground in the standings was hard to swallow, we were especially disappointed for the fans at the Coca-Cola 600 who were not able to see Kyle race. I’m extremely proud of everything he did to prepare and the months of planning by our team and our partners at Arrow McLaren to run these two crown-jewel events. We appreciate NASCAR communicating with us throughout the effort and granting our request for a playoff waiver.”