NASCAR grants Larson's playoff waiver.

NASCAR is not known for screwing the racers.

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | June 4, 2024 10:47 AM ET

Kyle Larson has been granted a waiver by NASCAR to remain eligible for the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs after not starting the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“It was in uncharted waters,” said NASCAR senior vice president of competition Elton Sawyer. “The decision-making process, it took the time it did to make sure that we got this right. The reason the waiver is in place, or one of the reasons it’s 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.

I'm not about to announce to several thousand Good 'ol Boy fans that the weather screwed them out of watching one great race, unless I want to spend the rest of my life living inside the speedway under armed guard.

The fans can chant "F Joe Biden" all they want. That MF'er deserves it. NASCAR is not known for screwing the racers....most of the time...if they would quit cheating, and for sure we are not a bunch of IMSA bastards or lieing Formula1 officials telling you that 10 teams make a race.

“The prior precedent that was set with allowing waivers, those were quick decisions. This one was unique in the fact that obviously Kyle raced with another series and wasn’t there to start our event… I commend our process, proud of our team and everyone had a view on it, and the ultimate decision that we wanted to get to was the right decision. We feel like we got there.”

Hendrick Motorsports requested the waiver after Larson was kept in Indianapolis to compete in the 108th Indianapolis 500. The start of the race (May 26) was delayed by 4 hours due to inclement weather. Larson qualified fifth (in the middle of the second row) in his Arrow McLaren machine and finished 18th after a late-race speeding penalty.

Justin Allgaier started the Coca-Cola 600 in Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and because of the driver change, Allgaier dropped to the rear of the 40-car field for the green flag.

The plan was for Larson to complete the Indianapolis 500 and take over his Cup Series car after arriving at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Larson arrived on pit road in Concord at approximately 9:30 p.m. ET and was preparing to get into the car when the race was red-flagged because of rain and then went into a lightning hold.

A severe thunderstorm then moved into the area, and NASCAR deemed the race official nearly two hours later due to the weather and high humidity hampering track drying efforts that would likely have pushed the resumption of the event past 1 a.m. ET.

Allgaier ran the race’s 249 laps and finished 13th. He will be the driver of record for the Coca-Cola 600, with Larson not earning points for the event because he did not start the car.

“We went into that weekend all communication with (Hendrick Motorsports) was (NASCAR) was their priority,” Sawyer said. “That was their day job. And unfortunately, the weather situation threw them a curveball, threw the industry a curveball and something that we had to deal with. But ultimately, the effort that they made, without the weather, they’re going to be there. We feel confident that was going to happen.

“To not have Kyle Larson in our playoff and give our fans the opportunity to see him race for a championship and compete against some of the best drivers in the world, at the end of the day, didn’t feel like that’s the right decision for us to make. We didn’t. We felt like we got to the right spot.”

The waiver was necessary for Larson to remain eligible for the postseason because the NASCAR Rule Book states, “Unless otherwise authorized by NASCAR, driver(s) and Team Owner(s) must start all Championship Events of the current season to be eligible for The Playoffs.”

 

Larson relieved to get waiver and put all the 'drama' behind him.

Drama was behind me all right.

I was so glad to finally find a bathroom and take a long and deserved crap.

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | June 8, 2024 6:05 PM ET

Kyle Larson is ready to put all waiver talk behind him as the NASCAR Cup Series goes racing at Sonoma Raceway.

NASCAR granted Larson a waiver to remain championship-eligible earlier this week. The Hendrick Motorsports driver needed a waiver after he did not start the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (May 26) because he ran in the Indianapolis 500. Larson’s attempt at the double fell by the wayside when the start in Indianapolis was delayed by four hours due to rain.

The same severe weather moved to North Carolina, ending the Coca-Cola 600 after 249 laps. Larson never made a lap in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

“I think there’s definitely relief on my end even though I really wasn’t paying a ton of attention to it – to the waiver,” Larson said Saturday before qualifying at Sonoma Raceway. “At least now knowing that I do personally get to race for a championship feels good. I’m sure there was a lot that went into it on NASCAR’s end and a lot of discussion and [they] just wanted to be right. I think we all — probably even them — figured we would get the waiver. I think they were just trying to make sure they had all their ducks in a row first.

“I’m appreciative of it, for sure, and look forward to getting through this week and, hopefully, after this press conference not have to talk about waivers again. It feels good, and [I’m] thankful that nobody has to deal with the drama going forward.”

NASCAR did not consider the waiver until Hendrick Motorsports officially made the request. It is unclear when the team formally submitted the request, but it was not done during race weekend. Larson went into the Cup Series race last weekend in St. Louis not knowing if he was still eligible for the championship.

He didn’t have much to say about the process as it played out. The playoff points he accumulated before the Charlotte event, 17, were taken off the NASCAR championship points report until the waiver decision was made.

“Sure, I cared, but the thing I cared most about was the owner championship, at least in that moment [of uncertainty last week], because that’s what pays the bills,” he said. “That’s kind of where I was coming at it.

“I was a little less stressed out…than I think what everybody would imagine. I’m just happy that if I do win a championship now, I can have my name on the record books.”

In missing the race at Charlotte, Larson fell from the championship point lead to third in the standings, but he is still in contention for the regular-season championship and its 15 additional bonus points. He finished 10th in St. Louis and is 21 points behind leader Denny Hamlin going into Sonoma.

“I personally didn’t have any communication with NASCAR, but I know Jeff Gordon and Jeff Andrews and Rick Hendrick were in constant communication,” Larson said. “I was appreciative of the support through my race team, and I just let them handle it. I didn’t really know if there was anything I could say, and I’m pretty bad with words sometimes, so maybe I could have just dug myself a hole a little bit if I was to communicate.

“I’m just thankful that we don’t have to deal with it again. I’m happy to get to race for a championship, so thanks to everybody there and especially the guy who put that extra roll of toilet paper in the port-a-john..”

 

Larson plays tactics right in Sonoma win

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | June 9, 2024 7:15 PM ET

A different pit strategy and having to march through the field were no problem for Kyle Larson at Sonoma Raceway Sunday.

Larson cycled out ninth after making his final pit stop — from the lead — with 30 laps to go. When the pit cycle was complete, Larson was in sixth place and over six seconds behind the race leader.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver made the winning pass with nine laps to go. Larson erased the deficit to Chris Buescher and Martin Truex Jr. and passed Truex a few corners after the Joe Gibbs Racing driver had finally overtaken Buescher.


Larson led 19 laps on his way to his third win of the season in the Toyota/Save Mart 350. It’s his second win at Sonoma Raceway and the 26th of his Cup Series career.

“I didn’t know what we were doing as far as strategy; I was just out there banging laps away,” Larson said. “I don’t know — we study all the strategy, but it’s like doing homework. I don’t really know what I’m looking at. So, I was like, ‘Well, these guys are going to have to pit another time, maybe.’ Then we had to go race and pass those guys. I got a bit nervous; I knew I’d be quick from the get-go, but I thought when the tires would come up to (temperature), it even off too much.

“Thankful that we had enough grip. Thankful, too that those guys got racing and Martin never got clear to where I would get stuck in third, and that really saved the race. I thought, too, once he got the lead that, man, I hope he doesn’t have someone to judge off here into (Turn) 4 and misses his apex, and sure enough, he did, and I had a big run. Just an awesome, awesome race car.”

Michael McDowell finished second after overtaking Truex on the final lap as Truex ran out of fuel.

Truex finished 27th. Truex’s Toyota Camry ran out of fuel and slowly coasted to the finish line. He was the last car on the lead lap.
The first driver out of the race was Denny Hamlin, who finished last. Hamlin blew an engine in his Toyota Camry on lap 3.

Hot damn I get to go home early!

 

'I'm not sure why we didn't try to save' fuel at Sonoma.

I guess the wrong people were betting in Vegas, - Truex

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | June 9, 2024 7:44 PM ET

Martin Truex Jr.’s eventful day at Sonoma Raceway ended with his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry barely reaching the finish line.

Truex ran out of fuel on the final lap of the Toyota/Save Mart 350. He was running second when it went dry and Truex coasted, at a snail’s pace, the final 100 yards or so to the finish line. By the time he made it there, he was the last car on the lead lap in 27th position.

“I’m not sure why we didn’t try to save a little at the end,” Truex said. “I was clearly not going to catch [Kyle Larson] or pass him. It’s a shame that we went around the last corner and went from second to wherever we finished. It sucks, but it was a tough day, and we had a good car. We battled and did a good job. We were going to have a good day, but just one corner short.”

It was a disappointing end to a day where Truex looked primed for a fourth Sonoma victory. However, it wasn’t going to come easy after being spun by Will Brown during an accordion effect on lap eight. Truex fell to 37th place and finished the first stage in 19th place.

He finished the second stage in third place. The final stage is where the No. 19 began to make up ground.

Their final stop came on lap 68. Truex cycled out second to Chris Buescher and was on the RFK Racing driver’s bumper in the final 12 laps. Truex made a pass on Buescher for the race lead with nine laps to go but missed his mark a few corners later, which opened the door for Larson to make the winning pass.

Larson drove away from Truex over the final laps. The end result was just the second time in the last six Sonoma races that Truex did not finish inside the top three.

“It was a tough day,” Truex said. “I got spun out early and had to work hard to get some track position back. James (Small, crew chief) did a good job on our strategy. Our car was pretty good out front; thought we were going to have a shot to win there and just couldn’t quite get by the No. 17 (Chris Buescher) quick enough.

“I finally cleared him; I made a mistake and the No. 5 (Kyle Larson) was right there to pounce and then obviously ran out of gas, so it didn’t matter.”
Tough Tuna Charley!

 

Larson says frustration prompted social media response to Bristol criticisms

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | September 26, 2024 12:30 PM ET

Kyle Larson said a long post he wrote on X about the reaction to Saturday night’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway was borne from frustration.

“It’s frustrating sometimes to see people in the industry, out of the industry, whatnot, have an opinion and want to blame… certain things, and none of us have any clue why a race or tire wears like it does or why cars handle bad in traffic,” Larson said. “It just gets annoying after a while.”

In the post, Larson wrote that NASCAR Cup Series races at Bristol have not produced many high tire wear races. The Hendrick Motorsports driver also noted that there is a good chance that drivers who lose track position from a speeding penalty will fall a lap down, and that passing at the half-mile track has always been tough.


At the end of the post, Larson said expectations should be tempered because the field is driving spec cars. The post was made a few days after the race, by which point the opinions about the car, the tires, short track racing, and what makes a good race had been flowing through social media and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio from fans and the industry.

Larson won the Bass Pro Shops Night Race after sweeping the stages and leading 462 of 500 laps.

“I don’t ever get on social media anymore but I was just annoyed,” Larson told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “There are so many people in the industry that they see a car lead 462 laps and they automatically think it’s a terrible race. ‘Oh, there’s no tire wear. There’s no this. There’s no that.’ There’s never been tire wear at Bristol besides one race in the last 10 years. So, it’s like everybody forgets about the past.”

There were eight lead changes Saturday night. The spring race at Bristol produced 54 lead changes and high tire wear for reasons still not fully understood. Larson believes the expectation was for Saturday night to be more of the same due to Goodyear bringing the same tire compound.

Larson, however, felt last weekend was more of a typical Bristol race, and not necessarily a bad one. According to the NASCAR loop data, there were 2,287 green flag passes in Saturday night’s race compared to the 3,589 in the spring.

“Everybody wants to blame Goodyear and everybody’s got the answers,” Larson continued. “Nobody has the answers. Goodyear doesn’t have the answer. NASCAR doesn’t have the answer about their car and why it doesn’t run good in traffic. Us — the drivers and the teams and engineers — we don’t have the answer either. So, I don’t know. It’s hard to have opinions, and hard when you don’t have the facts to back anything up.

“It’s just frustration. And it’s not like I’m defending our dominating run; I’m just in a way trying to defend our sport and defend Goodyear, because they get such a bad rap every week like they’re the problem of why our racing sucks. It’s not the

 

Kyle larsen kicks butt...or is it double butt?

What Kyle Larson JUST DECIDED after TERRIBLE IndyCar CRASH is INSANE! What a bunch of crap.

Actually..... now the subject line has become click bait BS.

Racing when you can and making as much money as you can is what a professional racer does.

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What Kyle Larson JUST DECIDED after TERRIBLE IndyCar CRASH is INSANE!