Report: NASCAR giving 'serious consideration' to denying Kyle Larson playoff waiver

While it seems like a foregone conclusion for many, NASCAR has not decided upon a playoff waiver for Kyle Larson missing the Coca-Cola 600. In fact, there are reportedly people in NASCAR who would like to deny Larson the waiver.

Kyle Larson is second in points this season, he has two wins, and is probably the favorite to win the championship in 2024. He is seen as the most talented driver in the Cup Series and potentially in North America. But NASCAR is thinking about keeping him from being eligible to race for the championship.

The Athletic reporters, Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi, talked about the possibility of NASCAR denying Larson a waiver on their podcast, The Teardown.

“It’s a very real issue,” Gluck said of the Larson waiver decision. “All week long I’ve seen so many people speculating. … I’m sorry to tell you guys, that is not the case. The reason that this has not been announced yet, what they’re doing is because they don’t know and not only do they not know, but there is serious consideration to not giving Kyle Larson a waiver. Let me say that again, serious consideration, to not giving Kyle Larson the waiver.

“Now, that doesn’t mean that they won’t do it. I would view it as cooler heads will prevail, perhaps. But there is factually, unquestionably, people within NASCAR in the competition department that are against the waiver for Kyle Larson and discussions are still going on. That is why we do not know. It’s not because ‘Oh they’re just making it dramatic, they’re just stringing them along.’ That is not the case. They are weighing to actually whether to actually do this or not.”

Jordan Bianchi added:

“And there is no rush to make a decision. I think you may see a decision sooner rather than later but there isn’t a drop dead, we have to have this done within a week or two. You could run this out for honestly the whole summer if you wanted to.”

Ultimately it is up to NASCAR to decide. They can pick one of two routes. One, stick by the rules and ignore the part that says they can do whatever they want. Two, give Larson the waiver and move on from this.

Last season we saw what happened when Chase Elliott wasn’t in the NASCAR Playoffs. Ratings took a step back. It felt like one of the stars of the sport was missing. Even though he made it to the Round of 8 in the Owners Championship, that’s not the one fans care about.

Excluding Kyle Larson would be worse in many ways. He’s more or less taken a 60-point penalty by missing the Coca-Cola 600 and he’s still P2 in points. Now imagine Larson ends up the regular season champion and maybe even the wins leader. Then he’s not allowed to be in the playoffs.

It would be a disaster for NASCAR.