If you’ve been wondering what Richard Petty thinks of the current crop of NASCAR Cup drivers, you need wonder no more. There’s been considerable debate among fans about whether or not the motorsport series has gone downhill. Now Petty has weighted in big time.
What set the King off was the whole debacle over tires at Bristol. A lot of drivers and teams were whining about the experimental tires Goodyear tolled out, saying they degraded too fast and ruined strategies.
Well, Petty isn’t having any of that. Taking to his own podcast, the man who holds the record of 200 NASCAR Cup Series wins during his illustrious career had a few thoughts about these kids who think they’re so great.
His biggest piece of criticism is aimed at the drivers and teams focusing on tire and fuel management, not pure racing techniques. Like he said, once the race began in Bristol, everyone was obsessing over their strategy of when to change tires, not how to drive the best.
He argues many of the current NASCAR drivers can’t adapt at all to changing conditions, like when a new tire compound is used. Then they blame their lack of driving skill on the car. Petty doesn’t like that one bit, and his rant was epic.
Here’s a taste:
“The car is what it is. Every time they change the tire, the people can’t keep up with the car because they don’t know how the car and the tire is going to react. And the drivers, they’ve got to learn to drive these cars. They’re not Rolls Royces where they can just sit around and cruise around”
Petty’s tired of the bellyaching from Primadonna NASCAR drivers who can’t adjust and drive hard, but instead expect to be pampered with perfect car and track conditions for every race.
Now we know the King believes, as do a growing number of fans, that the level of skill and competition in NASCAR has gone downhill.
Listen to Richard Petty’s entire rant for yourself, because it’s great to hear.
Image via Petty Family Racing/YouTube