I don't think this discussion is "for nothing" at all. It's a discussion that many people have had, and are still having in the industry. And I would say that more people than not are annoyed that Kyle will get the waiver, and they are annoyed that he chose (that's the operative word here folks...he "CHOSE") to miss the 600. He put the Indy 500 first. That doesn't sit well with many.
Did him doing the double bring attention to NASCAR? Sure, I guess. But that's not why he did it. He did it because he wanted to. Period. That's the end of the list of reasons why it happened. Anything else is just a byproduct. And I am 100% cool with drivers doing things because they want to. It's their right. I would support any driver racing in different series. I 100% support Chase snowboarding. Who cares. But Kyle ran the Indy 500 because Kyle wanted to. That's the only thing that should be on trial in this thread.
How do I feel about it? It's pretty simple...and I think Andy touched on it several times in this thread...the waiver rule was put in place for this EXACT situation. If you're able to race in a NASCAR event, then you better show up (and make no mistake about it..Kyle was plenty able. He chose not to. That's where it differs from injuries and suspensions, etc). And as long as that rule is there, he should NOT be granted a waiver, he should have come back for the 600. Do I think that's fair? No, it's a stupid rule that's written pretty black and white in an otherwise grey world. Was I happy Kyle stayed for the 500 instead of the 600? Personally, absolutely. Made watching the 500 that much more fun for me. If I were a Kyle fan, would I have wanted him to stay? Personally, absolutely. I've seen Kyle win a zillion NASCAR events, would be super cool to watch him at Indy. But, he broke the rule for selfish reasons. It's really that simple.
(Plus...if Kyle REALLY wanted to promote NASCAR, he would have said "sorry, but our third most important race of the year is much more important than your most important race of the year. Sucks your race got delayed, but I have to be heading back now to the premier racing series in America - you all should tune in. I'll try this again next year!" That's how you promote NASCAR. What he did had the opposite effect.)
Last thought - Kyle has a responsibility to NASCAR. His sponsors, team, fans, the entire industry really. He makes millions of dollars and has made even more millions of dollars in the past, and this commitment is what is asked of him in return. I personally feel like he broke a lot of trust with a lot of people, and let a lot of people down with his decision. I was very close to Kurt when he did the double. We had many, many, many different scenarios and schedules based on just about every single situation you could think of under the sun. None of those situations had Kurt choosing to miss the 600. It would have taken a helicopter crash, plane crash, or Indy 500 injury for that to happen. Kurt knew where his bread was buttered...and more importantly, he chose to CARE about where his bread was buttered.
TL;DR: I'm personally glad Kyle stayed to race Indy. But he really shouldn't have and should probably have been punished.
