Kyle Petty Declares Talladega “Was a Disaster” for Hendrick Motorsports

Ex-NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Petty has shared his thoughts on the poor performance from the HMS drivers on Sunday at Talladega.

Kyle Petty Declares Talladega “Was a Disaster” for Hendrick Motorsports

Kyle Larson pitting at Talladega and Kyle Petty (Via hendrickmotorsports.com and IMAGO)

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Coming into the NASCAR Cup Series race this Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway saw Hendrick Motorsports’ playoffs hopes crumbling. All four of their drivers, Kyle Larson, William Byron, Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman finished outside the top 25, while their rival team Joe Gibbs Racing’s drivers extended their lead with Chase Briscoe earning the win.

HMS’s lead driver Kyle Larson lost all the points advantage he had to Christopher Bell after finishing P26 in the race, finding himself at P4, one points behind the No:20 team. William Byron has 36 points from the cutline and Chase Elliott has a 62 points deficit, putting them in a must win situation for Martinsville. These has made ex-racer Kyle Petty call out Rick Hendrick’s team on his post-race analysis.

Talking about the Talladega race weekend, the eight times Cup race winner slammed the HMS racers for not effectively playing the drafting game at Talladega and missing out on the opportunity to win by not pushing each other. HMS should have given Byron or Elliott the priority and tried to push them to the win, as Larson had enough points advantage.

Why didn’t they just line up behind each other. I don’t know why they didn’t line up and push each other. All I can come up with is one was in on points, one was out on points. But in the big theory, both of them needed to win to assure themselves of going to Phoenix.

Kyle Petty said via nascar.com.

The former racer seems really disappointed with the team not going all out for getting one of their cars in the victory lane as well as earning them a championshop-4 spot. He believes the failed to do that from the winningest team of the sport’ history rendered the weekend as a massive disaster for them.

Why don’t you double down? We see it in blackjack. Get one car in and go to the house. That’s what they needed to do, that’s what I thought they were going to do. And the way the race played out, it was a disaster for them.

Kyle Petty added.

Kyle Petty explains the challenge ahead of HMS drivers

In the same conversation, Kyle Petty shared his thoughts on the challenge that is ahead of the HMS racers, with their major rivals JGR being in hot form as the have ever been. The TRD team is doing everything right at the moment according to the former race and are capitalizing on the opportunities.

Kyle Petty
Kyle Petty (Via NBC Sports)

We know that the Hendrick organization can do it. The problem is [that] right now, Joe Gibbs Racing is as hot as they’ve ever been. I think when you look at it, they are putting one of their cars in victory lane week after week after week. They’re leading the majority of races. They are doing everything at the right time of the year to be able to capitalize on it.

Kyle Petty said.

Furthermore, the veteran pointed out that if HMS driver has to beat all three Joe Gibbs Racing cars, who are in red hot form as well as the Team Penske Racing drivers who are desperate for a win, and has the history of delivering under pressure in the Next-Gen era. Petty believes its going to be incredibly hard for the team to win the Martinsville race.

So, you’re going to have to go through three Gibbs cars if you’re going to be the Penske cars. If you’re the other Hendrick car back there, you’re going to have to go through at least three Gibbs cars to win the race. To win the race. I’m not talking about points. I’m just talking about winning the race…This is the cream of the crop. But it’s going to be incredibly hard.

Kyle Petty added.

The comments from the veteran racer seems rational considering the recent performance from HMS and JGR. But if there is any team in the garage that can produce magical moments and get back to dominating races amidst massive struggle, it’s the Hendrick garage. Hence, it would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for the star driver.

Also Read: Kevin Harvick Exposes the ‘Intriguing’ Part About Chase Briscoe’s Evolution as a Racer