The NextGen car debuted amid sky-high hype and expectations in 2022, but since then, sentiment toward the latest generation of NASCAR cars has been mostly negative. Kyle Petty, however, believes the criticism is unfair.
As expected, Petty’s comments did not go down well with the fans. The 65-year-old faced strong backlash from the NASCAR community over his stance on the NextGen cars.
Fans Slam Kyle Petty’s Defense of NASCAR’s Next Gen Cars
Since hitting the track in 2022, the NASCAR Next Gen car has sparked plenty of criticism. Many fans and drivers have criticized the car’s performance despite boasting major engineering and safety upgrades.
As the backlash gets stronger, Petty has stood against the tide and emerged as one of NextGen’s vocal defenders.
Speaking on PRN, the two-time NASCAR Illustrated Person of the Year described the Next Gen car as a significant advancement and suggested that fans should be celebrating its progress. He also called out Dale Earnhardt Jr. for his Next Gen criticism.
Holy shit. The gaslighting is incredible.
— Jonathan (@goJohnnyA) August 11, 2025
“We had one of our prominent members of the NASCAR community, Dale Jr., criticize the Next Gen car the other day. I don’t think that criticism is deserved in a lot of ways,” Petty said.
“We have not raced stock cars since about 1958. We don’t race stock cars, we race NASCARs. This is the NASCAR car that we have today. People complained in the 70s when they went to tubular chassis. They complained when we went to radial tires. They’ve complained all along about the progression of the cars.
“We were still racing cars with carburetors when you couldn’t go to your local auto parts store and buy a carburetor. It was an antiquated car that we were racing, and people seemed to want to have that antiquated car.”
Petty’s stance differs greatly from the mixed feelings held by numerous fans and drivers toward the Next Gen car in its fourth year. So, Petty drew a lot of backlash from fans.
“Holy shit. The gaslighting is incredible,” one fan commented.
“Such a f****** Homer. It’s pathetic,” another fan said.
“The gaslighting is insane. But in the words of @DaleJr: WHAT THE —- DOES KYLE PETTY HAVE TO DO WITH THIS?!” another comment read.
One of the fans suggested that NASCAR paid Petty for positive NextGen PR. “@NASCAR must be paying Kyle good money to defend this garbage,” they said.
“Ouch. Worst take I’ve ever heard from Kyle Petty,” a user declared.
