Kyle Petty Stays Adamant and Declares Poor Cup Races Isn’t “Next Gen Car’s Fault”

Ex-NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Petty shared his thoughts on social media drama over his comments defending 7th Gen cars.

Kyle Petty Stays Adamant and Declares Poor Cup Races Isn’t “Next Gen Car’s Fault”

Kyle Petty (Via NBC Sports)

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Since the 2022 season, when the Next-Gen made its debut, poor race product has been one of the major point discussions. The new kit-car’s aero dynamic features and issues with the underbody makes it hard to pass on the track. While many veterans and legends continue to blame the car, ex-Kyle Petty had a different opinion.

Last week he called out Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. for branding Next-Gen car not a stock and just a sportscar and received a lot of backlashes. Many from the NASCAR social media community responded to the comments and tried to change Kyle Petty‘s mind, but unfortunately it hasn’t happened as the ex-racer doubled down on his take.  

You haven’t changed my mind… We have a bolt-together car, this Next Gen car. It’s what we have. It is a NAS-Car, it is not a stock car. It is a NAS-Car. That’s what it should be called. Not Next Gen, just NAS-Car. Just like a Formula One car is a Formula One car.

Kyle Petty said via a video shared on his X page.

He asserted that the car isn’t the primary problem and every finger shouldn’t be point at that direction. Petty believes a lot of other things regarding racing needs to be addressed at the moment than just the car. At the same time he supports the complain from the driver, as he respect that fact that their feedback is superior to anyone in the sport.

And it’s not the entire problem. Although everybody in the grandstands wants to point a finger and say it’s the Next Gen’s fault, it’s not the Next Gen’s fault. There’s a lot of issues that need to be addressed, not only the car… If drivers complain, and rightly so, they should have a voice and they should complain. But

Kyle Petty added.

But even the drivers seem to have overlooked the fact that the Next-Gen cars have produced some of the closest and most entertaining race finishes the sport has ever seen. The sport is moving forward as it should with the new car and wants the criticism towards it to be positive, offering solution to the issues as well.

At the same time, they’re still putting on racing every Sunday. And they’re putting on some pretty dang good racing every Sunday, if you ask me. There’s been some close finishes, some great racing towards the end, towards the green-white-checkers. There’s been some solid moments in this sport with the Next Gen car.

Kyle Petty asserted.

Kyle Petty already explains the issue he sees with NASCAR fans perfectly

Earlier addressing the drama around his comment from last week on social media, Kyle Petty shared his thoughts with a post on X. He asserted that the car is a constantly changing and evolving piece of equipment. With time, the racing is going to get much better. But NASCAR fans, just like rest of the world chasing instant gratification is a major issue.  

Kyle Petty
Kyle Petty (IMAGO)

You’re right, innovation in the past was driven by teams, NASCAR was reactive. NASCAR has taken a proactive position in everything since February 2001. The car is a product of that. A racecar, as you know from history, is a constantly changing and evolving piece of equipment. In time it can and will change. The problem right now is we live in a world of instant gratification. No one wants to wait.

Kyle Petty wrote on X last week.

The comments from the seven times Cup Series champion Richard Petty’s son seems controversial, as he representing a minority in the community that is backing the Next-Gen cars. But he like everyone else in the sport wants to see the car gets fixed and give fans the better race product they deserve.

Also Read: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Explains Why NASCAR Needs to Reduce Road Course Races and It’s Not SVG