NASCAR veteran Richard Petty gave his thoughts on the recently concluded Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. While defending the race against critics of modern NASCAR, who argue that the racing has become about fuel-saving and tire-saving, he also spoke about how fiercely the drivers in the front raced.

"The King" recently discussed the race on his podcast ‘Petty Family Racing’ with another NASCAR legend, Dale Inman. 

"I thought it was one heckuva good race. Where did the (No.) 7 come from? The right side tire to me was the whole race. Those five or six guys, they raced like it was three laps to go. I mean, this is a 600-mile lap race, and they was racing the first ten miles. It didn't look like anybody was saving gas, okay. Nobody was saving their tires. They was all just really trying to be in front."

NASCAR called off the Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on lap 373 of the 400 laps due to the inclement weather that plagued the track. However, this decision left fans divided. 

Some fans argued that the weather and quick strategy calls are what make NASCAR racing fun. While others debated that NASCAR should have finished one of the most iconic races of the year under a green flag.

Despite being shortened by the rain, the Coca-Cola 600 provided the fans with great on-track action.

Richard Petty Recalls His Maiden Win At The World 600

The King won the World 600 in 1975 after 13 unsuccessful attempts at the event. He beat Cale Yarborough to win his first 600-mile event. 

While discussing his win from 51 years ago in a 2015 interview with the Charlotte Observer, Richard Petty was questioned about what he remembers about that triumph. 

"You know, I don’t really remember a whole lot," Petty replied. "We’d run over here since they opened the race track (1960) and felt like we always run good, but we just never could win the race. We'd get close and just kind of were snake bit."

During that race, he led 234 out of the 400 laps after starting the race in third. Runner-up Cale Yarborough, who led 149 laps, finished a lap down, third-placed David Pearson finished four laps down, and Darrell Waltrip and Buddy Baker completed the top five for the event, five laps down. 

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Written by

Chionia Libania Colaco

Edited by

Yask Kotak