Son of NASCAR legend Richard Petty and former race winner himself, Kyle Petty didn’t hold back in his analysis of the South Point 400 in Las Vegas. Joey Logano pulled off a dramatic, unexpected win by capitalizing on a fuel-saving strategy, staying out while others pitted late. The race was witness to several consequential wrecks, including a major one involving playoff drivers, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, and Denny Hamlin, which shook up the playoff standings.

Logano’s victory locked him into the Championship 4, marking another clutch performance in his even-year success streak. However, the crash led to widespread discussion on playoff implications heading into the last few weeks. Kyle Petty gave a brutally honest analysis of the race and claimed there are three drivers that no one can catch up to in the playoff points table.

One winner, lots of losers

In a breakdown uploaded to the NASCAR YouTube channel, Petty shared his honest thoughts on the state of play in the top tier of stock car racing. Unsurprisingly, he started by calling Joey Logano the “big winner” of the weekend. Logano’s turnaround amazed Petty, as he went from being out of playoff contention a few weeks ago to becoming the first of the final four.

Petty exclaimed, “Man, what a change in one week, what a drastic change.” Logano was out of playoff contention after the checkered flag in Charlotte, but a twist in fate saw Alex Bowman get disqualified. The #48 failed a post-race weight inspection and lost his playoff spot to Joey Logano. Points aren’t a matter for him now as he has already qualified for the Phoenix race. Meanwhile, a bunch of playoff drivers got into a messy wreck in Vegas.

The crashes had massive championship implications and Petty pointed out Tyler Reddick’s wreck, which took out several top drivers. Ryan Blaney, for one, had a tough day. Petty shared his thoughts on the lap 88 incident that sent Blaney to the wall: “I feel so bad for him ’cause he had speed, but he got caught up in that wreck.” The crash set the tone for Blaney’s entire weekend, and he wasn’t able to recover, finishing 32nd in Vegas. Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney are both in playoff contention and would require a stellar performance in Homestead for a chance at making the Championship 4. Reddick’s wreck also more notably took out Chase Elliot, who now sits right at the bottom of the playoff standings at -53.

Petty emphasized how tough it will be for those below the playoff cut line, such as Ryan Blaney, to recover after this race. “You can’t make up points,” he stressed. “You’re not going to make up points on Joey Logano and Kyle Larson and William Byron. It’s just tough.” Logano currently sits +17 above the cutline with Bell at +42 and Byron at +35.

Risk and impatience are an expected result of the title battle

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Petty felt that the crashes in Vegas were avoidable and a result of rash driving more than anything. “That wreck, in particular, was caused by impatience and somebody trying to make something happen early,” said Petty. With these Next-Gen cars pulling so much power, race restarts become critical to setting the tone. The crash involving Reddick and Elliott was after a restart and saw Reddick’s impatience lead to the end of his race.

In the end, Las Vegas proved that one wrong move, either from yourself or someone else, can wreck your entire weekend. Even as consistent as Kyle Larson is, his pit crew messed up a pit stop and had Larson two laps behind everyone else as he clawed his way to P11. As Petty put it, “When you’re racing for a championship, you’ve got to make something happen.” Larson did make something out of a dire situation, but team no. 5 will have to be much better at Homestead for a spot in Phoenix.

With only a couple of races left before the season’s grand finale, the scene shifts to Homestead, Miami for the next act of this playoff drama. Blaney and Elliott look for redemption, while Byron, Larson, and Bell want to keep their top-15 streaks going. As Logano waits to learn his opponents for the final, who do you think will make the championship 4?