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NASCAR is entering the 2025 Cup Series season with a new policy for playoff waivers. Earlier in the month, NASCAR announced that any driver who misses a race for a non-medical or family emergency will lose their playoff points for the entire 26-race regular season. It is in response to Kyle Larson missing the 2024 Coca-Cola 600 in favor of the Indianapolis 500 and suspensions throughout the year.
However, not everyone agrees with the playoff waiver policies, like former NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., who believes there should be no waivers. Meanwhile, leading into the 2025 season, Kevin Harvick reacted to the new “Kyle Larson Rule” on his podcast, “Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour.”
“It is a big change,” Harvick said. “Look, I’m of the win is the waiver. I’m still in that category. I just, I don’t like rules to just have rules. I think NASCAR has to protect its turf. I love The Double. I love what they did last year with [Kyle Larson]. I hate that it worked out the way that it did… It still was a detriment to him all the way to the end. [Charlotte Motor Speedway], regular season championship. It penalized him himself. He didn’t win the regular season championship. It kept him out of the end of the year, and basically, it penalized Larson all the way through without having a rule.”
Harvick is correct, as Larson’s decision to miss the Coca-Cola 600 impacted him all the way through the 2024 NASCAR playoffs. Those extra points could have been necessary to his chances of making the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway. Either way, NASCAR has the new rule in place for 2025, and hopefully, it doesn’t need to be used.
