“Can’t Even Get Close”: Richard Petty Disappointed by Next Gen Car’s Racing Product in Texas

The Next Gen race car by NASCAR hasn’t been received well by the entire racing community. Drivers, fans, and experts have shared their frustration regarding how the idea of racing with identical race cars has hindered the overall racing product. The race at Texas was another example of how difficult it was to make a pass, as the teams and drivers had to rely on strategies to get better track positions.

This led Richard Petty to share his honest verdict on the Next Gen. The arguments made by “The King” were pretty interesting. He emphasized how the ability has been taken away from the drivers to dictate their run in the event.

Richard Petty isn’t a fan of parity racing with the Next Gen cars

The likes of Jimmie Johnson, Christopher Bell, Josh Berry, and even Denny Hamlin all spun off the track, trying to push their luck. This was taken into account by Richard Petty, who stated that the drivers had little to work with similar race cars, and trying too hard resulted in drivers spinning out.

In conversation with Dale Inman, Richard shared his perspective on the Texas race, connecting it with the Next Gen cars. “The way NASCAR’s got the cars, they can’t even get close to each other, they can’t race each other, and if you noticed on the green flag stop, we had a caution and the guy up front, if he wasn’t careful, he’d get completely away from the people.”

He even shared the example of Kyle Larson falling off in the race, who, despite a better running race car wasn’t able to get back in the lead positions. “If you remember when the race first started, that five car just blowed everybody away, and then during the pit stops somehow, he lost the right rear wheel and he got two laps down, and the way the cautions and stuff were, he was able to make it up, but then he couldn’t go nowhere, he was back in racing with people.”

Parity racing is not just limiting the drivers’ ability to put their best foot forward. It’s sort of creating a style of racing where everyone is just racing for track position and not their rival race car drivers.

Here’s why parity racing is a big problem for NASCAR

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In the past few years of Cup Series racing, we have hardly heard about rivalries between the drivers. Now do not confuse flared-up tempers with rivalry. In a real racing sense, we did have Dale Earnhardt vs Jeff Gordon. But in today’s world, it is everyone vs everyone, all thanks to the Next Gen car. Moreover, this parity has only pushed the driver to push for a better track position, because for the time being, it’s the only way a driver is truly in command of the race.

With parity racing, it is hard to single out a race car that is actually strong on its own. Thus, the narrative or story-building aspect of NASCAR has also lost its essence, all because everyone seems to be driving a similar race car. Last time we checked, NASCAR racing was a competitive sport. So the idea of parity hardly thrills anyone, be it the drivers or fans.

It’s about time NASCAR learns from its blunder and hands the reins back to the teams and drivers to uplift the sport.