A hot topic in NASCAR the past few days has been the possibility of an exemption for Kyle Larson, who missed the start of the Coca-Cola 600 due to a weather delay at last week’s Indy 500.
NASCAR rules require a driver to start in every championship event to qualify for the playoffs. Opinion has been strongly divided on whether Larson should be granted an exemption, and fellow NASCAR star Joey Logano drew criticism earlier this week when he commented that the decision wasn’t as clear-cut as many would like.
Logano specifically called it a “gray area.” But after receiving backlash from many Larson supporters and even from horse racing journalists at The Associated Press, he clarified his comments. “If anyone listened to what I said yesterday, I wasn’t taking sides,” Logano tweeted. “I was just pointing out the difficult decision NASCAR faces. Once again, my words got twisted… so here’s my opinion… “What Larson has done for motorsports is incredible and he should be excused.”
Kyle Larson currently sits third in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, just six points behind the lead currently held by Denny Hamlin (492 points). Martin Truex Jr. (487) is between the two, one point ahead of Larson.
The talented driver of the No. 5 car has made 13 starts this season, winning two races and earning six top-five finishes. He has seven stage wins and led 649 laps at the track. Needless to say, he has a great chance to become a Cup champion if NASCAR grants him an exemption. Logano has pledged his support for the exemption, which would allow a new driver to be in the running.
Joey Logano calls waiver issue ‘gray’ area
Below is Logano’s full statement on SiriusXM Radio regarding Kyle Larson’s waiver situation: “This is the grayest rule in our sport,” Logano said. “It could be black and white, but it’s not. And that’s why it’s pretty gray. If you get hurt in a race car, that’s a different matter.
I think it’s black and white.” The exception makes sense to me because if you’re driving a Cup car and you get hurt in a NASCAR Cup car, you can still make it to the playoffs and compete in the playoffs. If you get into a car accident on the road, would an exception be granted? Maybe if you hadn’t been driving stupidly fast on the highway. That scenario happened last year when Chase Elliott was injured while snowboarding.
Would an exception be granted? Pretty gray, pretty gray. I don’t know. I don’t know the right answer, but we all know what happened.
“This scenario, let’s be honest, is super cool. It was amazing what Kyle Larson did with the one-two win. He was put in a bad position. You know, with the rain and the delays to the Indy 500 and all that. But he made a decision — he decided the Indy 500 was more important than the Coca-Cola 600. It was him who made that decision, his guys, whoever he was in on. “Rightly or wrongly, he put IndyCar ahead of NASCAR, that’s the fact.
I don’t know. Abandonment or not. I don’t know. I’m not here to make that determination, but the fact is, he thought that IndyCar racing was more important than NASCAR racing that day.” “I don’t know what I’m going to say. I don’t know what I’m going to say. I don’t know what else to add. I don’t want to offend anyone here.
I’m just stating the facts that happened.” “I don’t want to take away from Larson’s accomplishments, but I thought it would be the craziest thing to do to try and run both races on the same day.”
