"It just really kills a race": Goodyear's tire strategy draws criticism from NASCAR HOF inductee Richard Petty

The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Richard Petty recently sat down with his son, Kyle Petty, and Dale Inman for an interview on the Petty Family Racing YouTube channel. During the interaction, the former NASCAR driver criticized Goodyear's tire strategy.

Petty began his Cup Series career decades ago in 1958 and has more than enough experience in stock car racing. He has secured 200 wins, 555 top-five finishes, 712 top-ten finishes, and 123 pole positions in 1185 starts in his 35-year stint.

Also, the former stock car racing driver has experienced the NASCAR convertible division and secured a win. Reflecting on his experience, Richard Petty believes that Goodyear is trying to make everyone happy.

Petty claimed that the governing body should pick four or five types of tires instead of experimenting. Petty stated (via YouTube):

"I think somewhere where it's the drivers and most likely not the owners, NASCAR, or the TV or whoever is telling Goodyear, and they're working their butt off trying to please somebody. Really, they just need four or five kinds of tires and run them the rest of the year. And with that much fall off, it just really kills a race. You know, if it's just a second fall-off over a period of time, everybody can adapt to that particular deal." [07:50 onwards]

"But when you run a tire and it falls off a second and then suddenly it just quits and you're 3 seconds slow, that just ruins everything. Goodyear is trying to please somebody and they're spending a lot of money and a lot of research, and I think they're wasting their time because it really messes up the race," he added.

Richard Petty's son, Kyle Petty, agreed with his take on Goodyear's tire strategy. Furthermore, the last race of the regular season, the Coke Zero Sugar 400, is scheduled for Saturday, August 23, 2025, at Daytona International Speedway.

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"From my standpoint, it's a toss-up": Richard Petty got candid about his two beloved racetracks

Earlier this year, in April 2025, former NASCAR driver Richard Petty was featured on the same Petty Family Racing podcast and was questioned about his favorite home track. Petty seemed to be confused between two options, and instead of naming one of them as his home track, he named both Rockingham and Martinsville Speedway equally.

The former #43 Pontiac driver secured 15 wins at Martinsville Speedway and 11 wins at Rockingham Speedway. Reflecting on the same, he stated (via YouTube):

"From my standpoint it's a toss-up. I was fortunate enough to win 15 races at Martinsville but we won 11 500-mile races at Rockingham and didn't run near as many races. So it's kind of in between…I guess you would have to say those were my two favorite tracks besides Daytona." (9:09 onwards)

The former Cup Series driver's son further revealed that the two tracks were close to each other, and Martinsville's grandfather clock trophies gave Petty an edge.