In NASCAR, the King’s crown was earned with the grit of a full season, not the luck of a lottery. Richard Petty’s 7 championships, tied with Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson for the all-time record, were all earned under traditional, full-season scoring systems, primarily the one introduced in 1975 that prioritized consistent top finishes over a long schedule.

With points now being dramatically reset for a select number of drivers near the end of the year, a driver can have a statistically superior regular season, only to have their advantage erased. The evolution of NASCAR’s scoring system from a season-long accumulation of points to the modern elimination-style Playoff format has prompted Petty to reflect on how such a change would have altered his unparalleled career.

Richard Petty on why regular-season dominance is undervalued

Replying to a fan’s question in the latest episode of his Petty Race Recap podcast, asking Petty if he would still have had as many wins as he does if the current points system existed during his time. Petty stated, “It probably would have. I’ve never looked back, and I’ve never talked to anybody about, you know, whether I’d have won another championship or lost a couple.”

This candid admission highlights that even for a driver dubbed “The King,” a change in the rules is an unpredictable variable. During Petty‘s most dominant years, particularly his 27-win season in 1967, his massive points lead was insurmountable. Petty’s core criticism of the current system is that it turns the title into a “one or two race deal,” diminishing the value of a full year’s work.

He illustrated this point by recalculating modern championships with his preferred full-season metric, saying, “I was looking the other day, if the championships had been counted like what they were with me, then Jeff Gordon would have won seven championships and Jimmie Johnson would have won four. They would have just swapped it back.” For example, in 2007, Johnson won the championship, but Jeff Gordon had the best season-long performance, finishing the regular season far ahead.

Johnson‘s 7 titles were all won under some variation of the ‘Chase’ and ‘Playoff’ system, while Gordon, who won 4 titles under the old system, consistently amassed superior points totals throughout the entire 36-race schedule in many of the years Johnson won the title on the 10-race Playoff finale. The swap in championships between two modern-era giants like Gordon and Johnson is the ultimate evidence for Petty’s perspective.

“So again, to me, that kind of shows that the championship should be a year-long thing, not just one or two race deal,” he further stated. This critique resonates with many traditionalists who feel the current system, introduced initially as “The Chase” in 2004 to create a late-season competitive spike after Matt Kenseth clinched the 2003 title early, unfairly rewards a driver for peaking in the final 10 races over 1 who maintained superior consistency for the first 26.

A notable real-world example is Martin Truex Jr.’s 2017 season, where he dominated the regular season, won the championship race, but even if he hadn’t won the finale, he was the obvious year-long champion. Petty’s legendary crew chief, Dale Inman, a Hall of Famer with 8 Cup Series championships, reinforced this focus on singular competition, saying, “If it come down to him and a race and he had to beat one car or if he had to beat three cars to win, we’d work hard to do that.”

Unlike the old system, where Inman’s job was maximizing points over a 40+ race schedule, the Playoff system transforms the final races into elimination contests, forcing teams to focus on beating a small, targeted group of competitors. The era of Petty and Inman was defined by relentless pursuits of points across a grueling, often 48-race schedule, where car durability, team consistency, and a massive accumulation of top-5s were key. On the other hand, Petty also critiqued Chevrolet’s playoff struggles in the 2025 season.

Richard Petty sounds off on Chevrolet’s playoff slide

While the Bowtie Brigade looked dominant throughout much of the regular season with 14 wins, the tides have turned in the playoffs. Ford and Toyota have taken charge when it matters most, leaving even a legend like Richard Petty unimpressed with Chevrolet’s recent performances.

Speaking after the Talladega race, Petty didn’t mince words about what he saw on the track. “When I sit there and I watch, it’s still not racing as far as I’m concerned. The No. 42 got up there and got to leading the race. They started passing him and stuff, and in 3 or 4 laps, he was running 30th,” Petty said. Reflecting on the race dynamics, he added, “At one time, the first six cars were Toyotas. The next time I looked up, the next five cars were Fords. The Chevrolets, as a whole, weren’t as good as those other cars.”

That observation lined up with the results, including Toyotas and Ford dominating the front of the field when Chevrolet drivers lag. Only Carson Hocevar managed a top-10 finish, with Shane van Gisbergen close behind in 11th. As the playoffs head toward Martinsville, Chevrolet’s stars, Kyle Larson, William Byron, and Chase Elliott, face mounting pressure to flip the script before it’s too late.