Should Kyle Larson be in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs this year?
That may sound like a stupid question considering he's already won two races this year, is sitting in 3rd place in the points standings, and is generally considered one of the best - if not THE best - drivers in the sport.
But right now, he's not in the playoffs.
While the current points system is basically "win and you're in," NASCAR rules also state that for a driver to be eligible for the playoffs, they have to attempt to start every race of the regular season. And Larson didn't start last week's Coca-Cola 600 after choosing to stay in Indianapolis to run the rain-delayed Indy 500, causing him to miss the start of the NASCAR race at Charlotte. (He flew back after the race and attempted to get in the car, but the race would ultimately be shortened due to rain so by the time Larson got on the track, he didn't have a chance to get behind the wheel).
Of course NASCAR has made all kinds of exceptions and granted waivers to drivers over the years.
Just last year, Chase Elliott was granted a waiver last year not only after breaking his leg in a snowboarding accident, but he was given a second waiver after being suspended for wrecking Denny Hamlin in the Coca-Cola 600. In fact, Kyle Busch won the 2015 Cup Series championship after missing the first 11 races of the season due to an injury in an Xfinity Series race before the Daytona 500.
So yeah, NASCAR is usually pretty quick to hand out waivers.
But as of right now, Kyle Larson has not been granted a waiver, so he's technically not eligible for the playoffs.
Now, conventional wisdom is that NASCAR is going to eventually grant him a waiver: As one of the sport's most popular drivers, does NASCAR really want to keep him out of the playoffs and piss off fans?
But there are some who argue that because Larson voluntarily missed the start of the Coke 600 to drive in a race in another series (even if it was because the Indy 500 was delayed), he shouldn't be granted a waiver by NASCAR.
In fact, that's the argument that Bubba Wallace made.
During a conversation with Kenny Wallace (no relation) ahead of today's race in St. Louis, Bubba was asked whether he thought Larson should be granted a waiver. And while he didn't say that NASCAR should deny the request from Hendrick Motorsports, he pointed out that it was Larson (or his team) who chose not to start the Coke 600:
"He made a choice. He made the choice to run the Indy 500. Knew that weather was bad, knew all that stuff. Made a great attempt to get there. But he made a choice. That's all I'm going to say."
https://twitter.com/KWallaceShow/status/1797308089093226566
The crowd on hand seemed to disagree, which is a big reason that I think NASCAR is ultimately going to grant him the waiver: When the fans overwhelmingly support it, it's hard to justify keeping him out of the playoffs, especially when waivers have been handed out like candy in the past.
But until we hear a final word from NASCAR, we'll just have to wait and see - and Kyle is going to have to take the track today not knowing if he's even competing for a championship.
