Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Richard “The King” Petty has given his two cents on Kyle Larson’s controversial contact with Ryan Blaney in Sunday’s Round of 16 race at World Wide Technology Raceway.

The Enjoy Illinois 300, which wound up being won by Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, saw Larson in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet tag Blaney in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford in the rear left as they approached the main straightaway with just seven to go in the second stage, in the battle for fifth.

The contact sent Blaney spinning, bringing out the caution as Larson went on to finish the stage in fourth, while his rival crossed the line in 18th. After the race, Blaney waited patiently for Larson to be done talking to reporters in the pit road, allowing them to work through what happened then and there.

While Blaney clearly opted for the diplomatic resolution, it seems the Pettys may have handled it slightly differently in Richard’s heyday. Appearing on the latest episode of the ‘Petty Race Recap,’ the winningest driver in Cup Series history said how he responded to the incident would have changed depending on the circumstances.

“If we’re racing for the checkered flag, is one thing,” the 88-year-old said. “If you’re racing in the middle of the race, it’s a different situation. So, when the race was over, I’d have probably said, ‘Hey buddy, don’t do that no more. Okay?’”

In response, longtime crew chief and Richard’s cousin, Dale Inman, referred to Richard’s finger-pointing during his comment, adding, “I don’t know about the finger in the chest, but he’d have to wait until Maurice (Richard’s brother) got through with him.”

Richard’s finger-pointing was reminiscent of a well-known exchange between himself and fellow seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt back at Martinsville in 1980, when the latter was just still a relative newcomer to the Cup Series.

“I started fifth or sixth or tenth or somewhere,” Richard recalled during an appearance on the ‘Dale Jr. Download.’ “Your dad was behind us. We go down the first corner, they throw the green flag. We go down the first corner, I’m turning here, here comes a car across the grass, lands on my hood. Who is it?”

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Naturally, it was a young Earnhardt. Richard then added that he headed over to Earnhardt, pointing his finger into his chest, telling him, “‘Don’t let that happen again.’ I gave him one of those finger [pointing] deals. And that’s the first time I remember Dale Earnhardt.”

Of course, no such exchange took place on Sunday, although it’s safe to say that Blaney was still frustrated with Larson even after the Hendrick star took the blame.

“He just said he made a mistake. And that’s fine, make mistakes, but at the end of the day, I still got turned,” Blaney told USA. “He came all the way from the bottom of the racetrack and hit me in my left rear. I know he most likely didn’t mean to do it, but it happened anyway, so that’s just one I’ve got to remember.”