Since the running of the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600, much has been made on social media about Kyle Larson and his attempt at “the double”. Due to a major storm that affected both Indianapolis and Charlotte the 500 was delayed four hours and the 600 was cut over 150 laps short.
Kyle Larson had arrived at Charlotte Motor Speedway and was in the process of putting on his helmet, gloves, and other gear in preparation for climbing into the number five car to take over the driving duties form Justin Allgaier who had started the race when NASCAR called an end to the race.
According to the NASCAR rule book, a driver must compete in all 36 scheduled races in order to be eligible for the playoffs and a run for the championship.
After numerous conversations and meetings NASCAR decided to grant Larson a waiver that would allow him to be eligible for the playoffs.
NASCAR vice president of competition Elton Sawyer explained the reasoning behind all of the meetings and eventual decision saying, “this was without a doubt uncharted waters for us. Despite difficult circumstances, NASCAR ultimately decided to grant Larson exemption from the above rule to compete in this year’s postseason hunt. Sawyer credited leadership from John Probst, NASCAR’s chief racing development officer.”
He added, “we stayed the course. We had our internal meetings. We had more internal meetings. We continued to have dialogue around it. And then the other part of it is in front of us was a race at World Wide Technology raceway that (we were) all getting prepared for. So again, the number one thing was to get to the right decision, take the time. We felt like the time that it took was the right amount of time to get to the right decision.”
Allowing a driver to earn a waiver was originally put into play in order for a driver who sustained injuries during a race could continue to compete once he returned. However, the process expanded when Tony Stewart and Chase Elliott were granted a waiver for injuries sustained in an off track event. Granting a waiver to Kyle Larson was way outside the original parameters and required a great deal of consideration.
Admitting that having a driver miss one race for another was complicated, Sawyer noted, “one of the reasons (the waiver is) in place is to give our fans some certainty that if they buy a ticket to come and watch our athletes and our stars perform, that they’re going to see them. So the prior precedent that was set with allowing waivers, those were quick decisions, as I said earlier. This one was unique in the fact that obviously Kyle raced with another series and wasn’t there to start our event.”
In attempting to run “the double”, Larson had a very busy month of May and wracking up some series frequent flier miles. However, he did practice and qualify his number five Hendrick Motorsports car prior to the 600; as well as, put his number 18 Indy Car in the top five. The efforts made by Larson and HMS were a deciding factor in granting Larson the waiver.
Sawyer noted, “all communication with HMS was (Charlotte) was their priority. That was their day job. “And unfortunately, the weather situation threw them a curveball, threw the industry a curveball and was something that we had to deal with. But ultimately, the effort that they made — without the weather, they were going to be there. We feel confident that was going to happen.
He added, 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. And we didn’t. We felt like we got to the right spot.”
Sawyer added “everything was on the table” as officials determined the best ways to move forward, which may have included options to penalize Larson for missing a Cup Series event. But if you look at the rule book the two options were grant it or not to grant it. And anything in between that or outside of that would have been us digging deep into the rule book to do something that just didn’t feel right.”
But by never being able to get into the car, Larson lost much more than a race on the 36 event schedule…he left a lot of points on the table. Winners earn five points per race plus with a four stage event instead of the normal three, there was an additional potential to earn as many as 40 points. Larson is currently in second place in the point standings; 21 points behind leader Denny Hamlin.
NASCAR officials noted that they want to see drivers continue to attempt and complete the Indy-Charlotte double, Larson or otherwise.
“Obviously, the Coke 600 is a huge race for us, as well,” Sawyer said. “But if we look in motorsports in general, the Indy 500 is a big event. We embrace the double. We think it’s great. We want to see other drivers have that opportunity. So we have to just make sure that we’re looking out, first and foremost, for the fans that again buy the ticket that were here in Charlotte. And it felt like Kyle and the team gave every effort to be able to get here. He was ready to go and had his helmet on. And unfortunately, we were not able to get going and get him back in the car.
Sawyer concluded, “I know it’s a little bit of a cliche, but every situation is different. And I feel like that we had the parameters in our rule book and the team here at the R&D Center to ultimately make the best decision and that’s what we were hired to do.”