Kyle Petty admits "inconsistency" but still supports NASCAR’s controversial Chicago decision

A late-race caution has become the biggest talking point coming out of the Chicago street race, and former driver and commentator Kyle Petty offered a nuanced take. He defended the NASCAR officials while still pointing out the broader issue of inconsistency on yellow flags.

With two laps to go, Cody Ware suffered a frightening brake failure at 93 mph and slammed head-on into the Turn 6 tire barrier. Yet, the yellow flag wasn't flown until nearly 35 seconds after the crash, a delay that ultimately allowed Shane van Gisbergen to take the white flag and win the race under caution.

NASCAR has since acknowledged the delayed response and admitted that it didn't have visual confirmation of the impact in real time. Cup Series managing director Brad Moran later explained (via SiriusXM):

"We didn't have the actual footage of the impact of the car getting into the tire barrier... If we would have had the shot of Cody's impact there, the caution would have come out immediately... So, that's on us."

Believing Ware might reverse out of the barrier, officials waited before making the call, a decision that effectively froze the race once SVG took the white flag.

While many questioned the delay, given Ware's impact and the historical sensitivity around delayed cautions, Kyle Petty defended NASCAR's logic in real-time decision-making.

"We've seen cars up there in the past, who have run into the tires and backed out and continued on their way... So, you don't know what the driver is thinking. So, NASCAR has to allow the guy time, whether it's 20 seconds or 30 seconds. These guys are coming off the final turn, and he's all the way over in turn six, they can throw the caution in turn four or five," he argued in the Petty Family Racing podcast (19:04 onwards).

But Kyle Petty also noted how unpredictable the caution calls are:

"We've seen NASCAR throw cautions when a bird lands on the racetrack, as debris. So, we've seen the inconsistency and we know that. But I'm not going to argue this one in this particular situation." (19:45 onwards)

Cody Ware's violent impact happened deep in the street course, far from the leaders. He expressed his surprise at the delay, but was more focused on safety protocol than officiating judgment:

"Yeah, especially given the speed of how fast we were going into the barrier. Obviously I'm not going anywhere and there's not much I can do at that point. But, obviously at that point I'm just focused on getting out of the car and getting to a safe spot. But, I thought it was a great race." [via Frontstretch]

SVG, who was leading comfortably over Ty Gibbs at the time, took the checkered flag to earn his second Cup win at Chicago and avoid a possible overtime restart.

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Richard and Kyle Petty disagree over SVG's Playoff legitimacy

Former NASCAR driver Richard Petty with his son Kyle Petty on the 2025 NASCAR Hall of Fame red carpet. Source: Imagn

While Shane van Gisbergen's Mexico City win made him playoff-relevant, his dominant victory in Chicago added even more weight to the conversation around road course wins and who deserves a playoff spot. With seven races left in the regular season and 12 different winners so far, SVF, currently 27th in points, is locked in via wins.

The fact that doesn't sit well with Richard Petty.

"I still don’t think road racing should get you into a Cup situation. I still think you need to go round and round," the NASCAR Hall of Famer said in the podcast (17:15 onwards).

Van Gisbergen's road course prowess is unquestionable. However, his results on ovals - the core of the NASCAR calendar - have been a work in progress. Before Mexico, his only other top-10 was a sixth-place finish at Circuit of The Americas, another road course.

Kyle Petty, in contrast, emphasized consistency in how playoff spots are determined, regardless of specialty.

"I understand what you are saying but... the answer was everybody went into the season, knowing those are the rules. So whether you like it or whether you don't like it and he (Richard) doesn't like it, you just got to live by that," he said (17:30 onwards).

He also compared SVG's road course dominance to superspeedway strategies used by teams in the past, who made the playoffs by targeting select races.

"You can't argue SVG and the road race, because then you'd have to argue about some of these guys that just go to Daytona and Talladega and say that's our only shot," Kyle Petty added (18:20 onwards).

As things stand, SVG's win in Mexico, by over 16 seconds, is the largest Cup Series margin of victory in nearly 16 years. Combined with the Chicago triumph, it virtually seals his playoff spot.

Whether critics accept his route to the postseason or not, the Kiwi is in and, as Kyle Petty insists, those were always the rules.