Denny Hamlin believes Kyle Larson rubbed NASCAR the wrong way by competing in the Indy 500 and missing the Coca-Cola 600. On his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin says it’s possible that NASCAR doesn’t give Larson a waiver, meaning he would not be eligible for the playoffs.
“I think they’re pissed,” Hamlin said. “I feel as though they get offended very easily. They’re very sensitive people. They believe that they are the show in the U.S., and if you participate in NASCAR, you shouldn’t participate in anything else.
“I just don’t think they like playing second fiddle to anyone. There’s someone in headquarters that doesn’t take kindly to playing second fiddle and believes that if you’re going to be over here, then you have to say here. …That’s just my opinion. That’s what I think. I think that when he chose Indy over Coke 600, that person got very offended. And you just never know how they decide what choices they’re going to make.
Hamlin also said he’s not sure when NASCAR will make the ruling on Larson. “They could make up a whole other rule and say yeah you’re in the playoffs but you lost all your playoff points.,” Hamlin said. “They’re just no governance to keep them from doing whatever they want.”
Would Denny Hamlin give Kyle Larson a waiver?
Larson missed the Coca-Cola 600 weather cauased NASCAR to call the race with 151 laps remaining. The Indy 500 started late because of weather, causing Larson to miss the start of the Coca-Cola 600. Larson arrived in Charlotte for the Cup Series race as it was suspended.
Last week, Hamlin talked about if he would give Larson a waiver if it was up to him. “I got asked that question by a couple people at JGR. … They said, ‘Do you think he should get a waiver?’ And I said quickly, ‘Yeah, absolutely.’ They were like, ‘Really? So what if you want to go race Le Mans next year? Should you get a waiver?’ I said, ‘Hm, that’s a good point. I didn’t think about it like that.’ What defines a major event? There are lots of major events,” Hamlin said.
“Now, Kyle wasn’t missing this to go to a high-limit race. You know, he was missing this to do the Indy 500. I don’t know how NASCAR feels about him choosing Indy over the Coke 600, but I think you’d be hard-pressed to convince me that the Coke 600 is a bigger event than the Indy 500. Would anyone make that argument?”
On3’s Steve Samra contributed to this story.
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