Kyle Petty Defends the NASCAR Next Gen Car, Insists “There Is No One Solution”

It’s hard to make your point in a conversation when the other folks in that conversation are NASCAR Hall of Fame legend Richard Petty and his longtime Hall of Fame crew chief and cousin, Dale Inman.

But Kyle Petty, who joined his father and cousin on this week’s Petty Family Racing podcast recap of this past Saturday night’s regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway

“This is as far away from a stock car as we’ve ever been, as you’ve ever been in the sport,” Kyle Petty said, with his father and cousin both agreeing.

But Kyle didn’t leave it at that. He’s arguably one of the largest backers of the current car, the Next Generation/Gen 7 car. And he once again proved why he is in his conversation with Richard and Dale.

Here’s Why Kyle Petty Likes The Next Gen Car So Much

“So, what fans are asking for and what people are asking for is I don’t like this new car, give me my ‘64 Impala with a lap belt, ” Kyle Petty said. “Okay, that you understand what I’m saying? They want to go (back), and you can’t go back. Once you go forward, you can’t go back. You can tweak and you can adjust, and I will give them that.

“I’m gonna say this: I don’t believe all the racing on the racetrack is as bad as what everybody says it is. I think what you have is a group of vocal drivers who are complaining about it, who complain about the car, I can’t pass, it’s dirty air, all this stuff.

“And their fans are so passionate that whatever my driver says, that’s what I believe. Whatever my driver says, that’s what I do.”

Inman interjected, saying: “Ain’t nothing on this car looks like a stock car. No. So, we could take these three chairs and set them on an interstate and wait for a car like that to come by. We ain’t going to see it. We ain’t.”

Kyle responded, “It’s a racecar. I keep calling it a NASCAR. So, let’s call it a NASCAR Cup car, but it is a race car. And that’s all it was designed for.

“And every race car that you build is not the perfect race car. We all know that. You guys built cars you couldn’t even get around racing. You’ve got to keep working on them.”