NASCAR Driver Takes Subtle Dig at Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick & Kyle Busch for Bristol Dirt Criticism

It has been nearly a week since the NASCAR Cup race at the Bristol Motor Speedway. However, the speedway has continued to divide a lot of people, especially because of the addition of dirt. The likes of Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Kyle Larson, and many others have spoken out against this. Admittedly, there are a fair number of voices on the other side of the camp, supporting the decision.

One of them is Petty GMS Racing driver Ty Dillon, who bagged his first top 10 finish of the season. To be fair, he already comes from a dirt racing pedigree, so his performance comes as no surprise. So, Dillon is not too happy with the colleagues who are criticizing NASCAR for going back to the dirt arena.

As it turned out, Dillon took a dig at everyone in the anti-dirt camp. He declared that the drivers simply like to complain because they are bored. The #42 driver said “I mean, I think you’ve just gotta look at it a lot less selfishly. So what if you get a little dirty? … We’re all on the same track, and we’re all doing it together. The only thing that’s gonna make this sport continue to grow and be good for everyone is to have a positive outlook and see what worked and how we can make the things that didn’t work as good or better and move forward positively.”

What did Kyle Larson and the other anti-dirt NASCAR drivers say?

One of the big naysayers was Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch, which was hugely ironic. This was because he eventually went on to win the Bristol dirt race. In the build-up to the weekend, he echoed Richard Petty’s comments from 2021, where he said that ‘dirt takes our sport backwards.”

READ MORE: Kyle Busch Reveals the “Biggest Thing That Hinders” Him From Enjoying Record NASCAR Win at Bristol

Another surprising opponent was defending champion and dirt expert, Kyle Larson. One would think that a driver who absolutely revels on the dirt, would be pro-dirt in the NASCAR arena. He said, “I’m all for not putting dirt on Bristol, whether we have windshields or not. I think the racing at Bristol is amazing just as normal.”

Aside from Busch and Larson, veteran driver Kevin Harvick was also unhappy with track preparation. It is also worth mentioning that Chase Elliott expressed a similar opinion to his teammate, Larson. Unfortunately for the detractors, the dirt event was a resounding success; according to Fox Sports’ numbers, more than 4 million people watched Sunday’s race, and there are plans for another dirt race in 2023.