NASCAR legend Richard Petty made his feelings known about the NextGen cars in a recent interview. The seven-time Cup Series champion called the cars "fickle," citing the increased unpredictability they introduce to race weekends.
In a recent YouTube video posted by Petty Family Racing, the 200-time Cup Series winner thought it was odd that Christopher Bell, who won the last three straight Cup races, was essentially a non-factor in last Sunday's race at Las Vegas.
Petty believes that isn't a testament to Bell's skill level, but rather how the NextGen car has evened the playing field. The co-owner of Legacy Motor Club went on to detail how it's difficult to pass in the NextGen car, adding:
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"These cars are so fickle that clean air gives you a quarter of a second over everybody else. When you're back there in the back, then all that air created just bogs the cars down. The cars don't have any horsepower, so they can't pass each other. If you go out and make a pit stop and you come out seventh or eighth, most likely, that's where you're gonna run for a long time." (7:18 onwards)
Josh Berry scored his first career Cup win this past Sunday at Las Vegas. It was in his 53rd career start and his fifth race behind the wheel of the #21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford. The win was the team's 101st win and first since Harrison Burton won in the #21 machine last fall at Daytona.
Petty co-owns LMC with fellow seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, a partnership formed ahead of the 2023 season. The team fields two full-time Cup Series entries with Erik Jones behind the wheel of the #43 Toyota and John Hunter Nemechek at the seat of the #42 Toyota. Johnson competes part-time for the team in the #84 machine.
Earlier this year, Johnson scored the team's best Cup Series finish with a third-place effort in the Daytona 500. After five races, Nemechek ranks 15th in the points standings while Jones sits 25th.
Richard Petty's team Legacy Motor Club dropped six-word message after Las Vegas Cup race.
It wasn't the best weekend for Legacy Motor Club at Las Vegas as John Hunter Nemechek and Erik Jones came home in 20th and 27th, respectively. Jones showed speed during the weekend as he qualified fifth for the event.
Reacting to the Pennzoil 400, the team's social media team took to Instagram to make it known that they gave it their all on the 1.5-mile track. They wrote:
"Left it all out in Vegas."
Jones has been behind the wheel of the #43 machine since 2022, when LMC was still under the Petty GMS Motorsports banner. Nemechek, meanwhile, is in his second season with the team.
