When Martin Truex Jr. blew off his tire at Kansas Speedway and rallied 7 points behind the cutline, the entire NASCAR community was shocked. After all, this is the first time in the history of the new playoff format that a seasonal points champion could have been ousted from the playoff contention. Indeed, what happened in Kansas was not his fault; it was pure bad luck. But that didn’t help him save his day in any way.

However, Martin Truex Jr. stared down at his probable chances of elimination and, with a plus-four over the cutline, made it to the next round. Having said that, he is indeed under a lot of pressure. On that note, NASCAR veteran Kyle Petty lodged a piece of his mind at the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. Needless to say, it was not the best compliment that Truex Jr. has ever received.

Kyle Petty sent a message to the number 19 Toyota team

What makes the game of stock car racing one of the most intriguing sports out there is how unpredictable the results are. One day, you could be up on the leaderboard, and just the next, your name might vanish into thin air. Safe to say, Martin Truex Jr. did not let that happen as he finished 19th and took home 20 invaluable points.

In a three-way conversation with Nate Ryan and Parker Kligerman, Kyle Petty belittled Martin Truex Jr.’s prowess by putting him side by side with his teammate Denny Hamlin and HMS star Kyle Larson. Referring to the number 19 team, Petty said, “…at this point in time, they’re not one of my favorites to win a championship.”

According to the 63-year-old NBC analyst, Martin Truex Jr. must revamp his mindset. It is true that consecutively running three postseason races with almost no significant results is quite disheartening for someone who has 34 glorious victories in the NASCAR Cup Series. But that feeling is exactly what the 43-year-old speedster has to conquer.

Petty explained, “I think it’s in their head. They’re gonna have to come back, they’re gonna have to recover from this and say, okay, this is our playoffs. We rest right here.”

“We go back to doing what we were doing as the playoffs began, to leading races, to running up front, to having shots at winning a race,” he added.

Watch this story: $3.6 Billion Tire Company?s Blunder Cost Martin Truex Jr. His Shot at Another Title

Although Martin Truex Jr. might not be Kyle Petty’s current favorite, he surely proved the retired driver wrong about his predictions.

Former NASCAR driver Kyle Petty admits he was wrong about Martin Truex Jr.

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When Petty saw Martin Truex Jr. in probably one of the worst slumps of his Cup career, he assumed that Truex would not make it to the round of 12. And he must have had good reasons to have thought so. Looking at the current driver standings, seasoned drivers like the reigning champion Joey Logano and Stewart-Haas Racing icon Kevin Harvick are already out of the playoff rumble. That just shows how tough the postseason battle is.

But after the Bass Pro Shops Night race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Martin Truex Jr. proved Petty wrong. And the latter accepted he was wrong, with a smile on his face.

“I have to admit, that the four guys that I had out of the playoffs not making it, all of them made it,” said Petty, “I was totally wrong. That tells you how competitive the playoffs are.”

Kyle Petty admitted, “I had him (Truex) out. I thought that there is no way that this guy is gonna survive. Bristol has not been one of their best places but they grinded out and made something out of nothing,”

Petty then conveyed his takeaways from Truex’s current situation. One, he felt like the team was prepared to run for a championship. And two, a lot of pressure that Martin Truex Jr. had been shouldering, is finally off him. “He was out, he gets his bonus points back… moved to the top of the list again,” said Petty.

As his next prediction about Martin Truex Jr., he said, “I think he makes it to Phoenix.”

Do you think Kyle Petty’s prediction will be correct this time? Do let us know!

Read more: Martin Truex Jr. Reveals ?Opposite of Normal? Secret Behind Championship Finesse