"That is a huge statement": Kyle Petty surprised with current trajectory of the NASCAR playoff drivers

Former NASCAR driver Kyle Petty recently shared his take on non-playoff drivers outperforming playoff drivers this season. Only two drivers in the playoffs have emerged as winners in the first four playoff races, Joey Logano at Atlanta, and Kyle Larson at Bristol.

In the other two playoff races at Watkins Glen and recently at Kansas, non-playoff drivers, Chris Buescher and Ross Chastain emerged victorious. Speaking about this trend recently on GoPRNLive, analyst and former driver Petty said:

"The playoff drivers make so many mistakes, so many mistakes when they have control of the race and they reliniquish it to another playoff driver, who makes a mistake on pit road or on the racetrack and they give it up." [02:45]

"We've run four races in the playoffs and half of them have been won by non-playoff drivers," Kyle Petty added. "That is a huge statement right there, and it's not that playoff drivers couldn't have won these races, shouldn't have won these races -- they took themselves out and put themselves in a position to be beaten by these guys."

Adding to Petty's take, Brad Gillie said NASCAR drivers tend to "calm down a little" after making it to the playoffs because every team has an agenda and they're always planning to get as far as they can into the playoffs while making the right calls during a race. He mentioned that at Bristol, drivers gave each other more room on the racetrack unless they were in a position where they had to protect something.

Gillie pointed out the Bristol incident to Kyle Petty involving Chase Briscoe and Kyle Busch when the SHR driver had to 'protect something' while Busch was trying to pass him.

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Denny Hamlin joins Kyle Petty in sharing his take on the approach of non-playoff drivers in the playoffs

Along with Kyle Petty expressing his wonder at non-playoff drivers winning in the playoffs, Denny Hamlin also shared his take on this on Actions Detrimental.

Hamlin, who's had a less than memorable playoff campaign himself, with only one top-five finish in four races, claimed that for non-playoff teams to win a race is "something very gratifying."

Hamlin further opened up on non-playoff drivers having an advantage over drivers like him. He said:

"They don't care about the stage points. You're going to see us at (Charlotte) ROVAL, and all these racetracks selling out for stage points. What happens is that all the cars that flip, they're just going to end up front, they're going to be the ones that are racing for a win, not the playoff cars. Teams become more conservative in the playoffs. I know it's the unpopular opinion but it's totally true."

With that said, how the upcoming playoff races turn out will be interesting. Whether there will be a winner from the playoffs, or whether more non-playoff drivers play spoiler, that is something only time will tell.