NASCAR insiders heatedly debate controversial NASCAR rule after failed Kyle Larson double attempt

Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic are in major disagreement over Kyle Larson‘s failed Double attempts and if the concept is dead. After Sunday’s double DNF in the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600, Larson is unsure if a third attempt is in the cards.

This year, NASCAR made it more difficult on any driver attempting the Double. It implemented a rule where playoff points for an entire season would be stripped should a driver arrive late to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600. It never came to that point for Larson, who crashed out on Lap 91. But if he would have continued in the race, there would have been no way for Larson to get to Charlotte on time. Even if Larson was running in the top-10, Gluck believes Hendrick Motorsports would have pulled him out of the car.

“Honestly, yeah. I think they would have pulled him because of the new NASCAR rule, which is freaking stupid,” Gluck said on Monday’s Teardown podcast.

Bianchi’s counter to the rule was based around the IndyCar Series, and his belief that the Indy 500 could start earlier than 12:45 p.m. ET. He defended NASCAR, saying they need to know its star driver will be at one of its Crown Jewel events.

“If I’m NASCAR, I’m OK with this. … I want my star driver there. The driver who is considered one of the best in the world, I want him there,” Bianchi said. “I don’t need him racing somewhere else. I want to know that the people that are there to see him are going to see him. He’s not going to roll in there late and maybe not get in the car. That’s not how this works.

“If I’m NASCAR, I’m protecting my business interests, and I want to protect that. It’s not my job to boost the Indy 500. Yeah, do I want to see the Double? It’s great. At the end of the day, I’m a businessman and I’ve got to do what’s best for business. … Did NASCAR’s ratings shoot up incredibly because Kyle Larson did the Double?”

Gluck argued that Larson was helping NASCAR’s business by being a part of the biggest race in the world. Larson went on a seemingly non-stop media tour, where he routinely brought attention to the Coca-Cola 600.

Insider blames NASCAR’s new rule for death of Indy-Charlotte Double

But if Larson hadn’t have crashed, and finished the Indy 500, he would have been late to Charlotte. His Championship hopes would have been torpedoed, Gluck said, and that comes down to NASCAR’s rules. He added it will prevent other drivers from attempting the Double in the future.

“It’s OK if he doesn’t make it on time,” Gluck said. “You don’t have to take all of his playoff points for the entire season away and torpedo his Championship hopes, which is what the new rule is. He would have lost all of his playoff points of which he is the current leader and all future playoff points for the rest of the regular season. He had no choice but to come back and that is why you won’t see Christopher Bell, you won’t see Ryan Blaney, you’re not going to see any other NASCAR driver try this anytime soon because of this rule. It’s not because IndyCar has a start time that’s 20 minutes later than it was before. And it’s not because of NASCAR’s start time.

“It’s because of this rule that is going to limit drivers from wanting to put the effort into doing this because they know the consequences are. It’s a gamble. You’re gambling with the weather, the time and the red flag. All this effort this entire month, the people it took to go back-and-forth, the logistics, the travel planning, the practices. … There’s an unbelievable amount that goes into this, just to park your car in the middle of the race or not get to do it after all that, it’s not worth it. The Double is dead. The Double is dead, for now, and it’s because of the NASCAR policy. It’s not because of anything else, in my opinion.”