Richard Petty slams NASCAR 'bunch of ****' as series' issues laid bare

NASCAR’s struggles are well known, a once mighty sport trying desperately to cling on to its legacy fanbase while trying to capture a new one.

Right now the natives are restless with debate raging about what needs to be done to make the sport more exciting. From the much-maligned Cup Series playoff system to that Next Gen car.

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The higher ups in Charlotte have tried to move some levers to improve the situation, but still the vibe on social media is one of a dissatisfied and alienated audience.

One man who is in a good place to comment on the evolution of NASCAR is 88-year-old legend Richard Petty. The seven-time Cup Series champ went deep on the topic in an interview with Jeff Gluck of The Athletic. So how do you fix a problem like NASCAR?

Richard Petty on NASCAR issues

Petty believes that is the question on everyone's lips, citing a number of issues that NASCAR faces that it did not in the past.

Petty explained: "The deal is when our crowd came through - the Pearsons and Allisons and Yarboroughs and Bakers - the sport was growing. You had football, baseball, basketball, maybe a little tennis, golf or something.

"But now you’ve got so much competition from so many different deals. In other words, some guy has got $100 bucks to spend - is he gonna spend it on racing? Or is he gonna spend it on something else?"

Petty also touched on the instantaneous nature of a lot of things these days, admitting that he himself even finds himself having a shorter attention span.

“The new generation has come through; everything has got to be instantaneous. We used to have fans come watch us run a 500-mile race that would take five hours. And they’d come five hours before the race," he added.

"Now, and even myself, I find my attention span is so much shorter. With kids growing up today, with all the computers and stuff, they want instant results. They’re not real willing to sit there for three or four hours to see who wins the ballgame or the race."

Petty also cited the general lack of interest in cars as another issue that could be affecting the sport, citing young drivers getting their licenses at older ages, and people these days not being as car-oriented as in the past.

"Before, if your father was a Ford man, you were a Ford man; if he was a Chevrolet man, you were a Chevrolet man," Petty explained. "Now, people are not as interested in cars, per se. The loyalty (to a brand) is not like it was 40 or 50 years ago.”

NASCAR points system a 'bunch of ****'

The playoff system might be the most controversial topic of all when it comes to how the racing can be improved. Petty for one is not happy with the current system which culminates in one championship race each November.

"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.”

None of it is working

Petty has done it all down the years, and he has seen it all. But what he sees now from NASCAR leads him to a pretty brutal conclusion. Its efforts are failing.

“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.”

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