Kyle Larson was finally granted the waiver this week he needed from NASCAR to remain eligible to race for a second Cup championship.
Now that the ordeal is over, Larson would prefer if the topic just went away.
“I think there’s definitely relief on my end,” Larson said Saturday at Sonoma. “There was a lot, I’m sure, discussion that went into it on NASCAR’s end and a lot of discussion. I’m appreciative of it, for sure, and look forward to hopefully not talk about waivers again.
“Thankfully nobody has to deal with the drama going forward.”
Larson last month became the fifth driver in history to attempt to run both the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. But his quest to complete 1,100 miles was ruined by rain in both states. The Indianapolis 500 was delayed four hours and, by the time Larson arrived in North Carolina for the NASCAR race, it was raining there, too, and he never turned a single lap.
Because he failed to compete in the Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR took more than a week to decide if it would grant Larson the waiver to remain playoff eligible. The exemption was widely considered to be a given since NASCAR has historically granted waivers for anything from injury, to mental health breaks, suspension and a variety of other reasons.
But Hendrick Motorsports was forced to sweat out NASCAR’s decision even though Larson heads into Sunday’s race at home-track Sonoma Raceway second in the Cup standings. His two wins have already made him playoff eligible, but NASCAR could have stripped his eligibility for prioritizing the Indy 500 over its own event.
