The NASCAR that Richard Petty dominated in his day was far different than the one we see today. Like anything, the sport has evolved — some would argue for the worse, some for the better.
What can’t be argued is that NASCAR isn’t as popular in the mainstream today, as it was before. Petty, speaking with Jeff Gluck of The Athletic, cited several factors. One, in his belief, is that there’s so much competition for eyeballs in today’s sports landscape. The “new generation” isn’t as “interested in cars,” Petty said, adding it’s difficult to ask fans to show up to the racetrack and invest three to four hours of their time.
The other problem? The lack of superstars, Petty said. Petty was one himself. Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Darrell Waltrip were that in the 1980s. The 1990s and 2000s, meanwhile, gave us Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson among others. Petty doesn’t see a “leader” in today’s field.
“Right now, there’s too big of a crowd. We’ve got no leaders,” Petty said. “We’ve had, what, 15 different winners this year? That does not create a following. No matter what happens, you need a fox out front. We don’t have any leader — whether he’s good, bad or indifferent.
“When Darrell was winning a bunch of races, they’d call him ‘Jaws’ and people would come to see him either win or get beat. Same with Earnhardt: You wanted to see him win a race, or you wanted to see somebody beat him. Right now, we don’t have that. So, I think it takes a little prestige away from what we’re doing.”
Richard Petty: NASCAR trying to ‘modernize,’ keep up with other sports and it’s not working
Gluck’s conversation with “The King” later shifted to the ongoing playoff and championship format debate. There are those who love the 10-race, elimination style format — adopted in 2014 — in which the championship is decided by a one-race finale. Petty is not one of them.
Mark Martin has been outspoken against the system, advocating for a return of the 36-race, full-season points format. Petty agrees with Martin.
“OK, I’m still from the old school. I’m with Martin, that they start races in February and you run all year to November and it’s, ‘OK, who was the best that year?’ They should be champion,” Richard Petty said. “When they give points for leading different [stages] in the race and they give points for all this other stuff, that’s a bunch of crap, OK? If you’re sitting there and watching a football game and the team has been behind the whole game and they kick a field goal and they win the game, the guys who lost got a zero.
“That should be the same way in NASCAR racing. I don’t care if you lead 499 laps of a 500-lap race — if you get beat, then you’re not the winner, and you shouldn’t have any [extra] points. They’re trying to modernize stuff, and they’re trying to keep up with other sports. They’re trying to come up with new ideas. And so far, I haven’t seen any of them really working.”
The playoff format could, in fact, change in the near future. NASCAR put together a playoff committee consisting of former drivers, media partners, team owners, manufacturers, track representatives and independent media to determine if the playoff should change in 2026, such as potentially doing away with the one-race finale. There has been no word yet from NASCAR if there will be any changes for next season.
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