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Richard Petty Doesn’t Sugarcoat Feelings on Playoff Format After Shane van Gisbergen Win in Mexico

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Kyle Dalton | Last updated Jun 17, 2025 12:41 PM ET

Sunday’s race in Mexico had an interesting connection to Richard Petty. The last time the NASCAR Cup Series held an international points-paying race back in 1958 in Toronto, a 20-year-old Petty made his debut.

A day after the historic race south of the border, which saw Shane van Gisbergen earn his second career Cup win and lock himself into the playoffs, The King was asked by a fan on Facebook how he felt about a driver 30th in the points automatically qualifying for the championship just because he can win on a road course?

“The way they got this thing fixed, if you win and you’re in, that can't be right,” Petty said. “From the standpoint that you got somebody, like I say, that's 30th in the points that's going to make the playoffs. Hey man, what happened to the guy that's 15th or 16th or 18th? You know what I mean?

“Been running good, finished good everywhere. You're making a championship situation by winning a road course, which is not really NASCAR to begin with. So from that standpoint, I think they're going to have to jockey around and change some of this kind of stuff.”

Petty’s feelings are not uncommon in NASCAR circles. There are plenty of fans who long for the old days of a season-long points system that rewards consistency or “finishing good everywhere” as the 87-year-old Hall of Famer suggested.

FAN QUESTION: How do you feel about a guy who is 30th in points automatically qualifying for the championship?

Via Facebook user, Ronald Rhine.

Full Race Recap and more answers to fan questions tomorrow at 8am on the Petty Family Racing YouTube channel. pic.twitter.com/X6NqW887zA
— Richard Petty (@therichardpetty) June 16, 2025

But his comments on road courses not really being NASCAR couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, NASCAR’s second-ever sanctioned race during the inaugural 1949 season was run on a road course – a 4.150-mile circuit right on Daytona Beach. Since then, there have been plenty of road courses added along the way.

Sunday’s race in Mexico City was just the latest in a trend of adding tracks with right and left turns. Including Mexico City, six of the last 10 new tracks to host a Cup race were road courses.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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