“…Not Good for the Sport”: Richard Petty’s Prescient Hot Take From 1988 Sounds the Alarm Bells for 2023 Season After NASCAR Record Was Set Last Season

1949 was the first season of the Cup Series. So when Richard Petty burst onto the scene, NASCAR was still a young sport. There had been winners but no one who comprehensively took the sport by the scruff of the neck. The King changed that.

What Richard Petty has done for NASCAR and for racing, in general, is priceless and immeasurable. His impeccable record as a racing driver is yet to be eclipsed – 30 years since his last race. But he didn’t stop there, deciding to step into the ownership game.

Dale Earnhardt didn’t impress Richard Petty

But a question that intrigues a lot of fans (who didn’t have the privilege to see him race) is – how did Petty do what he did? There was no one else who had done what he did, there was no precedence. What motivated him?

An interview with Orlando Sentinel’s Beth Rhodes from 1988 dissipates a lot of those doubts and misunderstandings. When asked about rivalries, Petty had a beautiful, poetic definition for them: “Rivalries are as good for racing as a cold beer for a hot day.”

While still racing, the Petty domination era had ended and he had been overtaken by Dale Earnhardt. But Petty wasn’t too impressed. 

“There hadn’t been a good rivalry lately because it’s been so mixed up. We’ve had leaders from time to time — Bill Elliott ran away with everything a few years ago and Earnhardt has led — but nobody’s been second all the time like it was with me and David Pearson, me and [Bobby] Allison, me and [Cale] Yarborough,” he said.

At the same time, he spoke glowingly of Pearson. “We could always sit down and talk. We didn’t out go buddy-buddy, we didn’t go out to eat or party, but as far as respecting each other and talking, nobody probably got along as well as we did.”

Dale ended up joining Petty in the highly exclusive 7-timers club. He might not have had a Pearson or Yarborough to look over the shoulder for, but he did find some other way to keep up.

If 1988 was bad, what was 2022?

The old interview largely deals with how rivalries were. It mentions one Dale Earnhardt leaving a plastic pile of dog feces in Rusty Wallace’s car; but this was both, rivalry and friendship. Things like this would hardly be appreciated today.

That aside, 1988 wasn’t good for the sport, per Petty. He said, “Too many winners are not good for the sport. You’ve got to have somebody for everybody to be after over a period of time, one or two races don’t get it.”

For context, that year saw 13 different winners; Petty wasn’t one of them despite finishing in 22nd position at the end of the season. Allison, who finished 33rd, featured on that list with his sole win of the season coming at Daytona. 

In comparison, quite starkly, 2022 had a record 19 different winners. While the season didn’t set a new record, it did tie with other seasons on 19. The years 1956, 1958, 1961, and 2001 – all had 19 winners each. 2022 might have the Next Gen car to ‘blame’ for this but it did make for a very interesting and thrilling season for fans to witness. But in Petty’s eyes, not so much, probably.

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A stratified field, where one or two drivers keep winning has its pros and cons. But logic and fan sentiment would possibly suggest the cons far outweigh the pros. Would you agree? Or do you think Petty was right?