Chaos unfolded on the final lap of the Charlotte Roval race. After getting passed by Denny Hamlin, Ross Chastain knew that he was losing the fight against Joey Logano. So he drove deep into the final corner, running into Hamlin’s car and spinning it out. Unfortunately, Chastain also spun as he put the car in reverse while crossing the finish line. Logano escaped with a Round of 8 playoff berth. Yet Richard Petty is ready to do without this climactic story twist.

The 7-time Cup Series champion belongs to an era when drivers in the middle of the pack rarely caused so much chaos. All the drama belonged to the frontrunners, who were contending for a win. Hence, Richard Petty sounded off on NASCAR’s Roval racing, agreeing with other veterans of the sport.

Richard Petty was not bothered at all

The 17-turn, 2.28-mile hybrid oval road course debuted in 2018. Since then, drivers and fans have been scratching their heads about the layout. From the surgical turns, rattling racers to the obstructed views reducing excitement for fans, the track has many concerns. During the last-lap chaos on last Sunday’s race, Denny Hamlin confessed he “had no clue” about what position he was running, whether it was 10th or 25th. “The right thing to do is to put us on the oval,” Hamlin declared about shifting to Charlotte Motor Speedway’s traditional course. Even Jeff Gluck agreed: “The Roval might have run its course.”

Now, Richard Petty also added to this debate. In a recent video uploaded on his official Instagram account, ‘The King’ confessed his utter apathy about the Roval race in four words: “I wasn’t even interested.” He continued, “‘Cause to me, nothing was interesting in it. At the end of the race, it all settled. And the ones that had run up front wound up being up front. I’d like to see a race finished like that.”

And the stage racing made things even more confusing. Ross Chastain and Joey Logano were hardly contending for the trophy – and yet ended up creating jaw-dropping chaos just in the hope of scoring more points. Hence, Dale Inman, Petty’s former crew chief, declared: “They still don’t need to have them stages on a road course.” Richard Petty unequivocally agreed, as that situation makes the Roval more chaotic and unpredictable. “That’s gotta confuse a regular guy sitting there watching the race,” he said.

This falls in line with Richard Petty’s views just a month ago, when he bashed NASCAR for trying to mimic other sports. He 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.”

The King has rolled out his verdict about the Charlotte Roval. Meanwhile, the track’s latest winner is biting his nails about other tracks.

Admitting the steep learning curve

Despite Richard Petty’s criticism of the Charlotte Roval, nobody can doubt its winner’s prowess. Shane van Gisbergen put up a flawless streak of five consecutive road course race trophies. What is more, he won the Roval with a 15-second margin from his nearest competitor, Kyle Larson. Fans are already comparing him to legends, with Denny Hamlin setting him above Jeff Gordon. Nevertheless, SVG’s difficulty with ovals is no secret.

The Kiwi speedster recently admitted to his queasy feelings about the following races. SVG said, “All tracks are difficult. Like Vegas next week, going there and having to hold it wide open at 320 and 190, probably, whatever miles that is, it’s a crazy feeling and something I’m not comfortable with.”

He continued, “It’s just taking time. Martinsville, the short tracks, they’re getting better for me, and finally starting to get results at them too. Martinsville, I think I did a decent result last year, and hopefully we just build on that. We had a bit of a shocker at the start of the year with wheels falling off literally, so hopefully we can be better.”

Yet SVG is on the path to improvement. While competing in the Cook Out Summer Shootout Series in July, he captured his first pavement oval win in a Legends car. Then, a few small steps: he qualified 11th at Indianapolis, snagged the pole at North Wilkesboro, and started 10th at New Hampshire. In Kansas, he climbed from the rear to claim his first-ever top-10 finish on an oval.

Hence, the Charlotte Roval winner is slowly but surely matching up to NASCAR’s traditional tracks. Let’s see if SVG can excel on a track better loved by Richard Petty and others.