Last October, the Las Vegas incident where Bubba Wallace shoved Kyle Larson garnered a lot of criticism. With NASCAR seeing Wallace’s actions as a “dangerous act,” the 23XI Racing driver was suspended for the following week’s Homestead-Miami race. However, the governing body’s decision did not sit well with NBC Sports analyst Kyle Petty.
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Viewing the governing body’s penalty as an inadequate punishment, During a broadcast, Kyle Petty said, “He should have been suspended for the rest of the year. Rest of the year.” And now, Petty has another “controversial” take on Ryan Blaney.
In a recent appearance on the NASCAR on NBC podcast, Petty was asked to share his big takeaways from the four races of the 2023 season. Explaining how he was worried about Team Penske, Petty said,
On the latest @NASCARonNBC Podcast, @kylepetty assessed the early season performances of @TeamHendrick/@TeamTrackhouse/Chevy, @Team_Penske/Ford and Toyota. Here’s a clip (full podcast audio here spoti.fi/3ZrpGbm; discussion at 30:00 mark):
This infuriated a lot of NASCAR fans. Upset by his comments on Blaney, some Twitter users pulled out Petty’s career stats and earlier comments to criticize his take on Blaney.
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NASCAR fans react to Kyle Petty’s take on Ryan Blaney
While some Twitter users compared Petty’s career stats with those of Ryan Blaney, others outrightly denied the need for any comparison between the drivers. Instead, they simply defended Blaney’s performance over the years.
Kyle Petty: Starts- 829 Wins- 8 Top 5- 52 Top 10- 173 Ryan Blaney: Starts- 273 Wins- 7 Top 5- 61 Top 10- 114 Freezing cold take here 🥶 But this is this the same guy that wanted Bubba suspended forever, for doing the same thing he did to Davey Allison. So it’s not a surprise.
On the latest @NASCARonNBC Podcast, @kylepetty assessed the early season performances of @TeamHendrick/@TeamTrackhouse/Chevy, @Team_Penske/Ford and Toyota. Here’s a clip (full podcast audio here spoti.fi/3ZrpGbm; discussion at 30:00 mark):
Kyle Petty has become a bomb thrower who is apparently trying to stay relevant because he is not beloved. His book was just awful. He has a history of attacking fans on twitter. It is very sad.
@kylepetty riddle me this... Ryan Blaney is unfulfilled potential when he was the best Ford driver in each of the last 2 years? I use full season points because it fairly compares drivers' seasons instead of a crapshoot playoff system that ruins any integrity of a championship.
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Apart from Blaney, Petty also said that he was concerned about Team Penske driver Austin Cindric. Claiming that he brings a lot to the table, Petty shared his disappointment with Cindric “not shoeing up” since Daytona 500 last year.