NASCAR grants Larson a waiver to compete in playoffs after missing Coca-Cola 600 for Indy 500
NASCAR has granted Kyle Larson the waiver he needs to remain eligible to compete in this year’s playoffs despite missing the Coca-Cola 600 because he instead ran the Indianapolis 500
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR on Tuesday granted Kyle Larson the waiver he needs to remain eligible to compete in this year's playoffs despite missing the Coca-Cola 600 because he instead ran the Indianapolis 500.
The decision came after nearly nine days of internal NASCAR debate over whether Larson should be punished for choosing to stay in Indianapolis, where rain delayed the May 26 race by four hours. That meant Larson had zero chance of making it back to Charlotte in time to start the Coca-Cola 600.
But it was always his intent to race at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Larson did make it to the track, only to have the race called for rain before he ever turned a lap in his No. 5 Chevrolet. Justin Allgaier started in Larson's place and was credited with a 13th-place finish.
“This one was unprecedented in that we had a driver miss one of our races, our championship races, to be at another event,” said Elton Sawyer, NASCAR senior vice president of competition. “The time we took, which was a week, was exactly the right time we needed to make the decision.”
