Kyle Petty issues 4 word response after NASCAR makes Bobby Allison’s win official after 53 years

Former NASCAR driver Kyle Petty had a splendid four-word response after NASCAR handed Bobby Allison a race victory after 53 years. Petty's father, Richard Petty, competed against Allison in the controversial 1971 Cup Series Myers Brothers 250 at Bowman Gray Stadium and finished as runner-up.

NASCAR recently recognized and announced Allison's 1971 Myers Brothers 250 victory that took place at Bowman Gray Stadium. With this, Allison has officially become the driver with the fourth-highest Cup Series victories. Prior to this, Allison was tied with fellow Cup Series driver Darrel Waltrip at 84 victories.

Bobby Allison is a former NASCAR driver with 718 Cup Series entries to his name, where he raked in 85 career victories, including the recently announced win from 1971. NASCAR wrote a post on X.

"Today, NASCAR announces its recognition of Bobby Allison as the official winner of the 1971 NASCAR Cup Series race at Bowman Gray Stadium. Allison, who drove a Grand American car to victory that day, now counts this win toward his NASCAR Cup total, bringing him to 85 career wins."

Interestingly, it was Petty's father, Richard Petty who thoroughly objected to Allison's victory from Bowman Gray Stadium. Petty, who was a fellow competitor, finished second in the race behind Allison.

However, the latest tweet from his son, Kyle Petty did not hesitate to congratulate the veteran NASCAR driver from his official social media account.

Here's what he wrote reacting to the announcement from his official X account,

"Heck YEAH!!!!!! @NASCAR GREAT job!"

Allison throughout his Cup Series career notched in 447 top 10s and 59 pole positions in over two and a half decades of racing. He is also a Cup Series champion, as he claimed the 1983 Championship.

Besides Cup Series, Allison's Xfinity Series boasts 43 races in over seven years, where he took two victories and claimed 22 top 10s. He also took part in the NASCAR Grand National East Series, where he raced 17 times and triumphed six times.

Bobby Allison is also a NASCAR Hall of Famer, claimed NASCAR's most popular driver seven times, and was named one of NASCAR's 75 Greatest Drivers. Bobby Allison is regarded as one of the best NASCAR drivers, and one would not disagree after coming across such an illustrious career.

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What was the controversy about Bobby Allison's 1971 Cup Series victory?

Bobby Allison checks out the newspaper during qualifying trials for the Nashville Pepsi 420 NASCAR Grand National race at Nashville International Raceway on July 13, 1984. Credit: Imagn

The controversy surrounding the 1971 Cup Series Myers Brothers 250 at Bowman Gray Stadium began even before the race started. To increase the field size of both the Cup Series and Grand National and its momentary Grand American Series, NASCAR announced that six races would be a combination event for both racing divisions.

This meant that the Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro, and AMC Javelin were up against the larger Grand National Series cars, such as the Ford Torino Talladega, Chevrolet Chevelle, Plymouth Roadrunner Superbird, and Dodge Charger Daytona.

The first race of the combination event was the 1971 Cup Series race at Bowman Gray Stadium. Throughout the race, a section of drivers and teams objected to the idea. Richard Petty, who qualified in the pole for the race, and behind Allison was one of the leading men objecting to the idea.

“They ought to send them home and leave them,” Petty told reporters as he quickly left the track as per NASCAR.com. “If we’re running Grand National races, let’s run Grand National cars.

Despite Bobby Allison coming out as the race winner, there were controversies surrounding the race until NASCAR announced the race win officially on October 23, 2024. NASCAR CEO and Chairman Jim France and Vice Chairman Mike Helton paid a visit to the 86-year-old driver to inform him about the recognition.