NASCAR Cup Series drivers Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth have been granted playoff waivers for the 2020 season, according to announcements Tuesday (April 28) afternoon.
Newman missed three races this season after suffering a violent crash at Daytona International Speedway but was cleared to race this week once NASCAR returns.
Kenseth did not race in the first four events of 2020 but signed on to join Chip Ganassi Racing on Monday. Kenseth replaces Kyle Larson in CGR’s No. 42 Chevrolet, a development in the wake of Larson’s firing after he made racial comments during an iRacing event.
The waivers will provide Newman and Kenseth with the chance to get into the Cup playoffs despite missing those races. They must either win a race and be in the top 30 in points by the end of the season or be high enough in points to secure a playoff spot itself.
Newman has 36 points from his ninth-place finish at Daytona. Kenseth will start with zero.
A specific return has not been announced for the 2020 NASCAR season as of yet, but both drivers will be eligible once the sport returns.
Adam Cheek joined Frontstretch as a contributing writer in January 2019. A 2020 graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, he covered sports there and later spent a year and a half as a sports host on 910 the Fan in Richmond, VA. He's freelanced for Richmond Magazine and the Richmond Times-Dispatch and also hosts the Adam Cheek's Sports Week podcast. Adam has followed racing since the age of three, inheriting the passion from his grandfather, who raced in amateur events up and down the East Coast in the 1950s.