Toyota stole the show at Phoenix, the championship track, annihilating the competition to dominate the race, leading 298 laps out of the 312 to end Chevrolet’s streak. Except for Todd Gilliland, no other driver outside the Toyota camp could lead in any manner as the TRD drivers swept the desert track like a firestorm.

Reflecting on the eventful race, 7-time Cup Series champion and NASCAR’s “King” Richard Petty tipped his hat to the Japanese manufacturer, singing praise for undermining the American manufacturers.

Richard Petty lauds Toyota for its stupendous run at Phoenix

The scene was not so great for Chevy and Ford fans as Joe Gibbs Racing and 23XI Racing drivers put on a show, outclassing their competition, walking them down like anything to win stages and eventually winning the race.

Reflecting on this stellar performance, Richard Petty couldn’t help but shower some praise on the manufacturer. During his fan “FAN QUESTION” segment, Petty and his long-time crew chief, Dale Inman, cleared the air about the Japanese raid of Phoenix. He said, “The whole deal got wound up that Toyota really out-handled the other cars. If you watch qualifying and all this stuff on TV and they have those ghost cars, nobody outruns anybody down the straightaway, it’s all corners. So I think Toyotas were just better at handling cars, and they had the advantage from that standpoint.” 

Inman also doubled down on this fact, saying, “I think Toyota has got a real good package for everywhere, going back to Daytona, qualifying, really disappointing, starting the 150-mile races, and then they were great, they didn’t win the race but they were there. They’ve been competitive at every race. They just got to make it happen with pit stops, track position, qualifying, pit crews, and everything.”

While the Toyota versus Chevrolet debate took the center stage after the conclusion of the Phoenix race, the race at Las Vegas had quite a different story as the weather once again played spoilsport with gusty wins proving to be an obstacle. And while many wonder how that even matters, Petty once again cleared the air in a conversation with Inman. The veteran revealed how detrimental such environmental factors can be for racing.

Petty talks about the weather and horsepower failure at Las Vegas

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As the veteran crew chief pointed out, the Toyotas were competitive all around. Even in Las Vegas, where Kyle Larson was on a mission to rack his first win of the season, Tyler Reddick was breathing down his neck towards the end of the race, closing the gap and picking up the pace in the final section of the race. While Larson, Reddick, and several others found speed, Petty brought to the community notice how even weather can influence a race.

When you’re going at mind-bending speeds reaching over 186 miles an hour, even the slightest of pressure variation or the faintest of winds can be treacherous. And Cup Series’ Las Vegas race contenders got to experience that first hand as the high gust on the track was uncontrollable, which even led to unexpected events like when a polythene bag getting stuck to the hood of the #24 HMS Chevy of William Byron.

Speaking on his post-race analysis show ‘Petty Race Recap – Las Vegas I’, Petty said, “The fastest thing out there was the wind.”His podcast co-host Dale Inman agreed, saying that the breeze reduced backstretch speeds by around six mph. However, the veteran also indicated that in situations like these, what’s even more important than horsepower to push through is better airflow management. Adding a conclusion, Petty said, “See, it was strictly a handling racetrack. Had nothing to do with horsepower or anything.”

Joe Gibbs Racing Insider Reveals How They Got “Leg Up on Everyone” at Phoenix With Christopher Bell

Well, if Richard Petty himself says it, there’s nothing we can do to refute him. After all, he’s called The King for a reason, isn’t it?