First, the waiver is stupid. A guy chooses to skip a race, and hell, that's okay. BS. Second, they had better not delay the ****** 600 to get Larson there. That would be even bigger BS. France Sr. always said that the sport was bigger than one driver.
I don't like the waivers either, but NASCAR has already made them an acceptable and almost standard expectation in many cases. I just don't see how NASCAR could say no to a Larson waiver request after granting one to drivers who have been suspended in the past (it is a very polluted topic in my opinion)
I also have to admit that I am not a purist and may be considered inconsistent on this topic. I like a waiver if a driver misses a race due to childbirth, but I don't like it in all other cases, especially when a driver has been suspended. I just think that the competition in the big leagues should be demanding and unforgiving enough to punish errors and even unfortunate events. Mistakes and even missed opportunities should be costly to a championship contender; there should be no mercy, but that standard has not been applied in recent years.
I will try not to rant about the Chase playoff system, but if the points were cumulative for the entire season, none of this would matter. Missing a race would already be penalized by simply receiving zero points for a non-start.
But the current system minimizes a naturally built-in penalty for a driver performing at Larson’s current level.
In that case, Larson would still make the playoffs and only suffer the loss of the bonus points that carry over into the final 10-race playoffs, eliminations, etc. The lost bonus points, including the 600s additional stage, would sting, but still they only represent a little more than 1/26th of the available opportunities.
I personally think the rewards for starting and completing the 500, in the event of a weather issue, outweigh the cost of missing the 600 based on the current waiver assumptions. The assumptions would be that he would receive the waiver and his sponsors would support the decision.
I also think there is a lot to be gained for NASCAR by having Larson compete in the 500. It is almost a no-lose situation: if he has a bad race, it would be just a one-off that could be respectfully understood, and if he competes for the win, it would make an incredible statement about the talent in NASCAR.
Missing the 600 would frustrate fans wanting to see him compete, and maybe Fox Sports, but I still see some benefits for those two groups as well.
In addition to this, I think Larson could still arrive late and finish the 600 in a relief driver role regardless of the Indianapolis weather. He obviously shouldn't get any race points in that type of situation; but his fans would still be able to see him racing in Charlotte, and that type of scenario would have tons of great storylines or built-in positives.
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