Eminent Journalist Slams Kyle Petty for Going Against Popular Opinion

In the NASCAR world, fulfilling expectations has always been a tough task. It only becomes more challenging when a driver comes from a renowned family background. Unsurprisingly, Kyle Petty has been at the receiving end of criticism time and again in his career. And this time around, a popular journalist took a dig at him.

Post his retirement, Petty has been a vocal figure with his analysis and criticism in and around the NASCAR Cup Series. While his statements have divided the room more often than not, his recent take on the race at Talladega has been questionable.

Kyle Petty receives criticism for his surprising opinion on the race at Talladega Superspeedway

With the NASCAR playoffs in the Round of 12, it only gets tougher for the drivers involved. While Ryan Blaney pulled off an impressive win to book his place in the next round, the finish at Talladega couldn’t have been spicier. The Team Penske driver won by a narrow margin of 0.012 seconds to beat fellow Ford driver Kevin Harvick.

Interestingly, Blaney’s last two wins at the track have come by a margin of mere 0.007 seconds. Nevertheless, it was a close call and an exciting affair for the fans to witness. As per The Athletic journalist Jeff Gluck, 86.2% of the NASCAR fandom believed it to be a good race.

To put things into perspective, the race in the spring at Talladega got 67%. In comparison to the last 16 races at the superspeedway track, it ranked sixth. With the highest count being 94.3% in the 2020 spring and the lowest being 42% in the 2018 fall, the race on Sunday surely attracted a better response.

While Gluck himself enjoyed the race, he didn’t quite look happy with how well-known entities reacted. One of them included Kyle Petty. In Gluck’s words, “I was surprised, too…but then if you listen to podcasts like NBC (with Kyle Petty) and Door Bumper Clear, they hated the package/race.”

READ MORE – Kyle Petty Gives Chase Elliott’s Traitor a “Pat on the Back” After Their Surprising Performance at Talladega

He continued by expressing why he thought the race was worth a watch. Gluck said, “The reason cars were three wide was because they were all saving fuel, but they couldn’t really make moves. It passed the eye test though.” This reaction came after a fan questioned how the count didn’t cross 90%.

It is understandable where Gluck comes from, especially after what Kyle Petty said.

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Kyle Petty dreads the thought of racing at Talladega Superspeedway

There is no doubt that Talladega Superspeedway has provided some amazing memories. However, it is the tragic moments that seem to be haunting Kyle Petty’s mind even now. Speaking on the Motorsports on NBC podcast, he said, “It is kind of chilling when you think about it. But let’s go back in time.”

Petty continued, “How many drivers have we seen retire and they would say after they retired, ‘I’ll come back and run some other races, but I’ve never gone back to Talladega…When a driver steps away from the sport and says, ‘Okay, I’m not officially retired, I’d probably come back and run and run four or five races a year, but Talladega is not, never going to be one of them.”

It is then that he explains why he’s not excited about the racing at Talladega. Petty said, “You know what I mean, and that speaks volumes to me about the dread and the stress and the emotional toll that it takes on not only the drivers but the families when they do go to Talladega. Because we’ve seen so many so many things happen there. Some tragic and some near tragic, but really bad things have happened there,”

While Petty is entitled to his opinion, it is not something that Jeff Gluck expected of him. After all, given the viewership struggles this season, it is imperative that a positive message is sent from the NASCAR veterans.

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