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

Jerry Bonkowski
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NASCAR Teammate, Rival, Son: How Richard Petty and son Kyle Petty's relationship has evolved over the years

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.”

Post Edited By:Rahul Ahluwalia

About the author

Jerry Bonkowski

Jerry Bonkowski

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Jerry Bonkowski is a veteran sportswriter who has worked full-time for many of the top media outlets in the world, including USA Today (15 years), ESPN.com (4+ years), Yahoo Sports (4 1/2 years), NBCSports.com (8 years) and others. He has covered virtually every major professional and collegiate sport there is, including the Chicago Bulls' six NBA championships (including heavy focus on Michael Jordan), the Chicago Bears Super Bowl XX-winning season, the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs World Series championships, two of the Chicago Blackhawks' NHL titles, Tiger Woods' PGA Tour debut, as well as many years of beat coverage of the NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA for USA Today. But Jerry's most notable achievement has been covering motorsports, most notably NASCAR, IndyCar, NHRA drag racing and Formula One. He has had a passion for racing since he started going to watch drag races at the old U.S. 30 Dragstrip (otherwise known as "Where the Great Ones Run!") in Hobart, Indiana. Jerry has covered countless NASCAR, IndyCar and NHRA races and championship battles over the years. He's also the author of a book, "Trading Paint: 101 Great NASCAR Debates", published in 2010 (and he's hoping to soon get started on another book). Away from sports, Jerry was a fully sworn part-time police officer for 20 years, enjoys reading and music (especially "hair bands" from the 1980s and 1990s), as well as playing music on his electric keyboard, driving (fast, of course!), spending time with Cyndee his wife of nearly 40 years, the couple's three adult children and three grandchildren (with more to come!), and his three dogs -- including two German Shepherds and an Olde English Bulldog who thinks he's a German Shepherd.. Jerry still gets the same excitement of seeing his byline today as he did when he started in journalism as a 15-year-old high school student. He is looking forward to writing hundreds, if not thousands, of stories in the future for TheSportsRush.com, as well as interacting with readers.

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