On June 4th, a full nine days after the running of the rain-delayed Indianapolis 500 and rain-shortened Coke 600, NASCAR has decided to graciously grant Kyle Larson, one of the sports few legitimate superstars, a playoff waiver, allowing him to retain his playoff eligibility.
That left most fans with one question on their minds:
Why on EARTH did it take so long?
In the past, NASCAR has handed out waiver like candy on Halloween – indiscriminately and without so much as a second thought. Per Seth Eggert on Twitter, Larson’s waiver marks the 32nd since the playoff format began in 2014. None of those other 32 took over a week to decide on though – typically waiver decisions are made within just a couple of days.
NASCAR has approved waivers in the past for off-track injuries, age, and even suspensions. So why in the world would they drag out the process of approving a waiver for arguably the sports most talented driver, who only missed the race because he chose to participate in possibly the greatest spectacle in auto racing, and only wasn’t able to get back to Charlotte in time to race due to forces beyond his control (the weather)?
It seems as though NASCAR was trying to create some artificial drama around the entire situation – and did so to their own detriment.
There is an old saying I’m sure you all have heard that says “any publicity is good publicity”. That is a sentiment that I wholeheartedly disagree with. Bad publicity is just that – BAD – and NASCAR has gotten quite a lot of it over the last week. It’s the kind of bad publicity that could turn off a new fan who only just got into NASCAR because of Kyle Larson’s attempt at the double. It’s the kind of bad publicity that can annoy current fans already disgruntled with NASCAR’s playoff format into finally cutting the cord – or at least dialing back their engagement.
It’s the kind of bad publicity that, quite frankly, makes you look like you don’t have a clue. NASCAR has some explaining to do about why this usually quick process took so long – and beyond that, they need to re-evaluate their priorities when it comes to publicity.
Image Credit: Pat Vallely
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