Richard Petty slams dirty air at Pocono a day after Chase Elliott’s warning for future NASCAR races: “There was no passing at all”

Richard Petty voiced his opinion on the struggles of dirty air in Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at the Pocono Raceway. The comments from the seven-time Cup champion come on the heels of similar statements made by Chase Elliott following the checkered flag of Sunday's race.

On a recent installment of "Petty Race Recap" on the Petty Family Racing YouTube channel, the co-owner of Legacy Motor Club didn't hold back in his concerns about the lack of passing in Sunday's race. Petty believes that was due to dirty air and that it was more evident at Pocono than it has been all season. Here's what Petty had to say regarding the difficulties in passing due to dirty air:

"They'd run up there and get right behind him, and the air would pick 'em up and first thing you know, they're a hundred yards behind. They'd work their way back and back and back and get pretty close, and then, bam, they're gone again. One on one, there was no passing at all. Of all the races we've run so far, I think the air showed up most at Pocono than it has any place we've run, because everybody got caught up in it."

Richard Petty's comments came a day removed from Chase Elliott's warning to NASCAR about dirty air. After scoring a fifth-place finish on Sunday, the Hendrick Motorsports star spoke to Frontstretch about the challenges in dirty air and made it known that he wouldn't be the only one in the Cup Series field to talk about it.

"You're gonna hear more of it, just wait," Chase Elliott said.

Richard Petty praises NASCAR on Prime broadcast following its final race of 2025

NASCAR on Prime presented the last of its five races of the 2025 season at the Pocono Raceway. The broadcasts have received much praise throughout the NASCAR world, not the least of which being Richard Petty, who made his feelings known about the quality of Prime's presentation.

On the latest episode of "Petty Race Recap", the 200-time Cup Series winner left no doubt on what he thought of the five races broadcasted by Prime this season. He said:

"I think they did a super job. Basically, the new deal, was really probably the best coverage that I've been able to see."

Richard Petty is a team ambassador of Legacy Motor Club alongside fellow seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson. The partnership began ahead of the 2023 NASCAR Cup season as LMC was once Petty GMS Motorsports, prior to Johnson buying an ownership stake in the team.

LMC fields two full-time Cup Series cars driven by Erik Jones in the #43 and John Hunter Nemechek in the #42. Johnson, meanwhile, fields the #84 car on a part-time basis.