Richard Petty is indubitably one of the greatest NASCAR drivers of all time. If anyone wants to start an argument on this statement, he has the statistics to back him up. After all, 7 Winston Cup championships and 200 wins are nothing to turn up your nose and sniff at. Naturally, he had some opinions on the current crop of NASCAR drivers, and some of them were pretty interesting.
Although, both Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson have been able to match Petty’s record for championship wins, all three of them are completely different drivers. Not just from the racing stand points but their upbringing, exposure to competitive races and the technology that changed along the way. It wouldn’t be a fair comparison if you picked one driver out of the three as the “Greatest of all time.” But, after Johnson, none of the drivers have been able to make that leap that would bring them into this conversation.
Well, that is what happens when you take the tools away from mechanics in the shop and force parity on the racetrack. Forget seven championships; drivers in the Next Gen era struggle to get a race-winning streak. While the racing is tough, there has to be one or two drivers who would stand tall alongside Petty and his era of racing. Although it was a tough call, the King identified two individuals who would fit right in during the era of the 70s, when NASCAR was still shaping itself to be the dominant force in the sporting world.
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Richard Petty heaped a lot of praise on both Kyles
Of course, Petty knew that it would be difficult to compare NASCAR legends from different eras. After all, there are a lot of parameters to consider, like the evolution of the cars, safety standards and driver caliber as well. However, with that being said, Petty was of the opinion that Larson and Busch would not be out of place in his era.
Petty answered on his Instagram, “You know, people don’t understand. There’s no way to compare what happened 20 years ago, to what happened today from the drivers’ standpoint. The cars are completely different, all these guys grew up under different circumstances. If you put him back in our crowd and he grew up in that environment, then he would probably fit in pretty good. Him or Busch, you know, but the majority of them wouldn’t fit into that category.”
Kyle Larson is perhaps the most talented NASCAR driver of his generation. He can hop into a midget car, sprint car, open-wheel IndyCar or a stock car, it doesn’t make a difference, he’s destined to compete for wins. We saw him attempt the historic Double last year and he’s doing that again this year. Meanwhile, Rowdy Busch is a different beast altogether.
The No. 8 RCR car hasn’t served him well, but that doesn’t take away his past accolades and achievements. With 64 Cup wins to his name, he stands tall among the rest of the active drivers. He has a 19-year long one race win per season streak, and he still is the most decorated Truck Series driver with 67 wins to his name. So, Richard Petty knew what he was looking for as he snubbed the rest of the field.
Despite not winning a race last season and things not looking rosy this year, it would be foolish to rule out Busch. Back in 2023, when Busch triumphed at the Auto Club Speedway, he broke a massive record. He is now the driver with the most consecutive seasons with at least one win, a record previously held by Richard Petty. Busch has a 19-year streak compared to Petty’s 18-year win streak.
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How goes the 2025 season for both drivers?
Recently, Larson opened his account with a win at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. This not only seals a Playoff berth but also puts him as a strong contender for the 2025 championship. We know that mile-and-a-half tracks are his strong suits, and it was certainly visible from the Phoenix and Homestead races. Interestingly, Larson didn’t have the best of the race cars last weekend, but he never gave up and gave his all to secure a sweet win.
“Proud of myself. Proud of the team. Just a lot of gritty, hard work today between damage on pit road, qualifying bad, bad restarts. All that stuff. Just super pumped. One of the coolest wins of my Cup career because of all the heartbreak I’ve had here.” Larson said after the race win.
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On the flip side, Busch had a good start to the season when he raced up front at Daytona and Atlanta. Had it not been for Christopher Bell, the No. 8 RCR Chevy would have enjoyed a victory lane celebration. While he did show flashes of brilliance at Phoenix as well, the last two races have been a repeat of last year: lack of speed and inability to improvise. He finished 33rd in his backyard at Las Vegas and then had a 21st-place finish at Homestead.
So there’s a lot of work that needs to be done within the #8 team, whereas Larson is expected to run well and rake up more victories.