Richard Petty carries a voice few do in NASCAR. He’s one of three drivers in Cup Series history to boast seven championships, and is NASCAR’s all-time wins leader with 200 trips to Victory Lane. So, when he talks about a driver, people stop and listen. As it turns out, not always so happily.
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Petty has made it clear he’s not a fan of Next Gen drivers. “Bunch of amateurs”, he called the sport’s young field at this year’s All-Star race in Dover. But it’s a resurfaced comment from 2025 about Connor Zilisch, one of NASCAR’s brightest youngsters, that has fans most riled up.
What Petty said about Zilisch’s rookie season
Zilisch was one of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series’ best drivers in 2025, winning 10 races. It was his first full-time season in the series, having made his debut in 2024. But Petty felt it was all because Zilisch was driving the fastest car, his No. 88 JR Motorsports.
“You don’t see him back in 25th and working his way through traffic. So that’s where the real drivers come in. But he’s in the number one car,” said Petty in an interview with Jeff Gluck of the Athletic.
A year on, Zilisch, after finishing second in the Championship, made it to the Cup Series and is currently driving for Trackhouse Racing. But it’s been a humbling experience for the 20-year-old. And the NASCAR community, in its rare weekend without a race, found Petty’s comments.
Petty’s argument centered on the belief that young drivers often benefit from elite equipment before proving themselves by racing through traffic. In his view, consistently starting near the front in top-tier machinery does not always provide the same test as climbing through the field against experienced competitors.
However, Zilisch’s first full Cup season has unfolded very differently from the scenario Petty described.
Despite driving Trackhouse Racing’s No. 88 Chevrolet, the teenage rookie has endured one of the toughest campaigns in the garage. He sits 34th in the championship standings, ahead of only Rick Ware Racing’s Cody Ware, with just one top-10 finish and eight DNFs. The numbers, however, don’t tell the complete story. Zilisch has repeatedly shown flashes of speed.
During the Goodyear 400 in Darlington earlier this year, he started 32nd and managed to pass a huge chunk of drivers and eventually finish 18th. Before that, at COTA, he had started 25th and completed the race in 14th position.
This, sadly for him, has not been an isolated occurrence. Trackhouse Racing has struggled as a team, and luck hasn’t been on his side either. He completed just 52 of 373 laps at Charlotte, 71 of 300 at Nashville, and only eight at Michigan before another early exit. Then, at Indianapolis, slight contact with teammate Ross Chastain damaged his right-front suspension and ended his race.
In many ways, Zilisch’s rookie Cup campaign has challenged the very point Petty was making. Rather than cruising at the front in superior equipment, he has spent much of the season battling through traffic and trying to recover from setbacks.
As Petty’s remarks circulated again across social media, fans quickly weighed in.
Fans push back as Petty’s comments spark debate
Many fans argued that Petty’s criticism overlooked just how different modern NASCAR is compared to the era in which he built his legendary career.
One fan pointed to one of the most controversial moments of Petty’s career, writing on X, “Richard…tread lightly…I’ve rarely seen a clip of the 43 doing ANYTHING that was impressive from the driver’s seat…more like that oversized motor just drove around people…unless the 21 showed up then Maurice’s power could only get you to 2nd…”
The comment referenced the 1983 Miller High Life 500. Petty’s Pontiac was found to have an oversized 381.983-cubic-inch engine, exceeding NASCAR’s 358-cubic-inch limit. NASCAR allowed his 198th career victory to stand but issued a then-record $35,000 fine and deducted 104 championship points.
Another user argued that the Next Gen era has fundamentally changed racing itself: “Almost no one can go to back and drive through the field in today’s car. I love Richard Petty, but this sport has passed him by. Nothing today is like when he drove.”
Many teams now operate with nearly identical specifications under NASCAR’s parity-focused rules. This makes large swings through the field far less common than during previous decades when technical advantages were more pronounced.
Others questioned Petty’s own equipment advantage. “I KNOW Richard Petty ain’t talking about some best car. Only reason he had success is cause he was being handed the best car.”
Petty’s previous opinions also resurfaced. One fan posted, “I know you’re anti-Connor, but no one should take anything this old head has to say seriously. He and his kid both suffer from the idea that their opinion is the right opinion about everything in NASCAR. Same guy who said NASCAR was too good to make Bristol dirt again.”
That referred to Petty’s criticism of NASCAR’s decision to convert Bristol Motor Speedway into a dirt track. Back then, he argued dirt racing was “not professional” and compared the move to an NFL team playing on a high school field.
Finally, another fan reignited a long-running historical debate by writing, “Hot take: Richard’s 200 wins don’t carry the weight NASCAR claims it does because the field wasn’t even close to being as competitive as it is now.”
Undoubtedly, Petty’s 200 victories remain an unmatched benchmark. However, critics argue that modern Cup fields feature deeper manufacturer parity, stricter technical regulations and a far more level competitive landscape. This makes sustained dominance significantly harder to achieve.
As for Zilisch, there’s no doubt that top-tier machinery helped him reach the highest highs of his young career in 2025. But he also had defending champion Justin Allgaier and Carson Kvapil as teammates, and neither came close to matching his 10-win tally. There was clearly something special about him, and the Cup Series garage saw it too.