Richard Petty Questions the Fairness of NASCAR’s Playoffs Following Shane van Gisbergen’s Mexico Victory

We all knew this was coming. Shane van Gisbergen won in Mexico City on Sunday and stirred up a hornet’s nest that was just waiting to be disturbed. The Kiwi’s performance throughout this season has been largely underwhelming and he was pretty far-strung on the points table. Regardless, he secured himself a playoff spot by winning at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

Several drivers, insiders, and fans have weighed in on the questionable system of granting a playoff spot for a single win, taking sides on van Gisbergen’s postseason eligibility. At this juncture, Richard Petty’s strong voice has delivered a verdict.

Answering a fan question on his social media handle, the legend detailed where he stood on the entire matter. Petty said, “The way they got this thing fixed, you win and you’re in — that can’t be right. From the standpoint that you got somebody 30th in points that’s going to make the playoffs. What happened to the guy that’s 15th or 16th or 18th?”

Petty doesn’t think it’s fair to oversee them despite their consistent finishes and good results, just because they couldn’t reach Victory Lane. But the most surprising words came after this. He continued, “You’re making a championship situation by winning a road course, which is not really NASCAR to begin with.”

NASCAR is far from what it was even two decades ago. Road courses have become an inevitable part of the show and are now considered as important as superspeedways and intermediates. These track types may not reflect NASCAR’s traditional roots, but they’re a crucial piece of the puzzle today.

Denny Hamlin expresses a strong understanding of the situation

Van Gisbergen was brought into the NASCAR Cup Series for a reason. Trackhouse Racing’s owner, Justin Marks, always knew that the Supercars champion wasn’t going to be able to beat the likes of Hamlin and Kyle Larson on NASCAR’s traditional ovals. But the driver was a different beast on road courses. Why wouldn’t he want to take advantage of that?

Hamlin explained this on Actions Detrimental. “It’s that’s what he was built to do — is come over here and win some road course races and then be somewhat competitive as he could on the ovals. And so you got to go through 31 or 32 races of pain to get to the five or six that you really got a shot at it,” he said.

The playoff system might need some tweaking to it. But van Gisbergen has earned his right to be in the playoffs fair and square. Judging by his performances so far, it can be inferred that he may not last long in the playoffs. Drivers who missed out on a postseason berth despite consistent results can take some consolation in that.