Richard Petty says NASCAR‘s new Chase format could crown a champion before the final races are run. The seven-time Cup Series champion called it “not a good system” after Kyle Larson‘s dominant win at Kansas Speedway.
Petty shared his view in a video posted on X. Petty said that if NASCAR is not careful, the championship will be over before the last two or three races. He said that wasn’t how the format was designed, but that it’s how he sees it playing out.
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He also said a driver who runs well at one 1.5-mile track will likely run well at the next. “Basically, if you run pretty good in Kansas, you’re going to run pretty good in Vegas,” Petty said.
NASCAR brought the Chase back this season in place of the elimination playoffs. The 10-race format has no eliminations, and points carry through to the finale.
Larson led 235 of 267 laps at Kansas and swept both stages for the maximum 76 points. Petty called him “the class of the field, for sure,” according to EssentiallySports.
Dale Inman, Petty’s longtime crew chief, was less complimentary about the race itself. “Larson stunk the show up pretty big,” Inman said, according to the same report.
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Larson entered the Chase as the seventh seed. He has not finished worse than fifth in four Chase races, with wins at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway and Kansas. He leads Denny Hamlin by 26 points.
Petty’s concern centers on the next stretch of the schedule. The Chase moves to Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Oct. 4 and Charlotte Motor Speedway on Oct. 11, both 1.5-mile ovals.
After that, the schedule goes to Phoenix, Talladega, and Martinsville before the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 8.
Larson himself has said he isn’t sure how he stacks up on intermediates. Rain wiped out qualifying at Kansas, putting him on the front row by the rainout formula. He said Las Vegas, where qualifying is expected to go ahead, will be a better test.
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Hamlin has also pushed back on the idea that the title fight is over. He said this week that Larson won’t keep up his current average finish and that fans need to “take a breath and relax.”
Petty, known in motorsports as “The King,” won 200 Cup races and seven titles. His comments come with six Chase races left.
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