Cliff Daniels has some interesting thoughts on what NASCAR should do with the waiver system after the Kyle Larson situation. The Hendrick Motorsports crew chief was asked by Kevin Harvick about abolishing the waiver system while appearing on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour.
“To be honest, I don’t know that I have a hard opinion should we have a waiver or not,” Daniels said. “…I was kind of glad that NASCAR took the time to think through it and understand it. There was kind of this overall perception from folks because it was taking a while that it was more emotional-based. I don’t know that to be true. In my mind, giving NASCAR the benefit of the doubt, their current series point leader missed the start of their crown jewel event for we would all agree [Indy 500] is probably the biggest race in the world.
“…So understandable from all sides for them to be thoughtful in evaluating the yes or no piece of granting it to Kyle. But I was also thinking at the time maybe moving forward they are setting the precedent now that they will be a bit more thoughtful moving forward on cases like this.”
Daniels went on to ask what will NASCAR do if multiple drivers attempt to compete in the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 next year. “I think in this case, they’ve set the precedent that they’re going to have to be thoughtful on a case-by-case basis,” Daniels said.
Cliff Daniels says NASCAR made a ‘good decision’ on Kyle Larson
“Do we need one or not? I don’t know. I can certainly argue no, if it’s a win and you’re in type-environment, which is really what we’ve created in the sport. I can see that. But under the context of now we do, I think NASCAR has set a good precedent that they’re going to evaluate it closely. There was a lot of communication they had with us, leading up to and after the fact. And I think they were right in taking some time to make a good decision.”
Larson attempted the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 last month. He didn’t complete it because both races were impacted by the weather. Larson earned a P18 finish in the Indy 500 after a nearly four-hour weather delay. He then traveled to Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600, but the race was stopped due to rain and lightning in the area. NASCAR then called the race, meaning Larson was ineligible for the playoffs at the time. NASCAR then granted Larson a playoff waiver for his unique situation.
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