After Kyle Larson was granted a playoff waiver by NASCAR following his missed Coca-Cola 600 start in May 2024, when he opted to remain at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to compete in a rain-delayed Indy 500 instead of fly to Charlotte Motor Speedway, a decision which prevented him from competing in NASCAR's crown jewel race once it was shortened due to rain itself, NASCAR made some changes to the waiver system.
Playoff waivers can still be given out to drivers who do not run all regular season races, and that is true across the Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and Truck Series.
These waivers effectively remove the requirement that all drivers must compete in every regular season race to be playoff eligible.
But this year, NASCAR gave themselves the ability to strip all playoff points from any driver to whom they grant a waiver, should they so choose.
NASCAR debuts new rule at Bristol, and in a crucial way
Denny Hamlin missed the Cup Series race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in mid-June for the birth of his third child, and that was considered an acceptable reason for a missed start, so NASCAR allowed him to keep all his playoff points.
But in the case of Austin Hill, who missed the Xfinity Series race at Iowa Speedway in early August because he was suspended for hooking Aric Almirola in the right rear at Indianapolis Motor Speedway one week prior, they understandably took a different stance.
Instead of Hill beginning the Xfinity Series playoffs sitting behind only JR Motorsports teammates Connor Zilisch and Justin Allgaier in third place in the point standings with 2,027 points, as he earned 27 playoff points with his three race wins (15), six stage wins (6), and fifth place points finish (6) in the regular season, he finds himself last among the 12 playoff drivers with 2,000.
None of those 27 playoff points count.
It marks the first instance of NASCAR's new waiver rule in effect.
Hill is once again eligible to score playoff points in the playoffs, but even if he advances to the round of 8 (by winning or via points), he would once again start the round with 27 fewer playoff points than he's actually earned this year, since the 27 from the regular season he would have scored are effectively gone.
The penalty has also changed the early complexion of the round of 12 cut line. Joe Gibbs Racing's Taylor Gray and JR Motorsports' Carson Kvapil find themselves tied for the eighth and final provisional spot in the round of 8 at 2,005 points, with Hill sitting five points out.
Had Hill not been penalized, Gray and Kvapil would be on the outside looking in, one point behind Big Machine Racing's Nick Sanchez for the final spot in the next round. Hill would instead be sitting 22 points above the cutoff.
Also below the cut line are Haas Factory Team's Sheldon Creed (-2 instead of -3) and AM Racing's Harrison Burton (-3 instead of -4).
The round of 12 is scheduled to feature races at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway, and the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.
The first race of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs is scheduled to take place this Friday night at 7:30 p.m. ET. Tune in to the CW Network for the live broadcast of the Food City 300 from Bristol. Be sure to begin a free trial of FuboTV now and catch all of the action!