Richard Petty delivers blunt assessment: Brands COTA race is ‘worse than what’s on TV’

The COTA Street Race stands out as a pinnacle event in NASCAR, renowned for its immense popularity and significant economic impact on the region, irrespective of the weather conditions.

However, the outspoken critique from experienced American racer Richard Petty has sent shockwaves throughout the audience, as he boldly highlights various shortcomings of the event.

Richard Petty drops major criticism of COTA

The COTA Race was anticipated to be an extremely thrilling event, filled with action and exciting moments throughout the challenging tracks. However, the reality has been widely different from expectations, despite the presence of award-winning drivers on the tracks.

However, the seven-time Cup Champion, Richard Petty, has finally decided to be vocal about the bad conditions of the race in terms of entertainment. He has also stated that attending the COTA event in reality was much worse than watching it on television.

On YouTube, he stated, “I guess if you’d been there, it’d have been worse than what it was on TV… That track does not lend itself to a good cup race. The track’s too long. If they shortened it up a little bit, it might be a little bit better, but you know, like you said, we get to go back to Richmond [this Sunday]. At least if you are sitting in the grandstands, you’ll be able to see all the cars.”

Additionally, the track layout has also been a major part for the disappointing experience, due to the tracks being unnecessarily long compared to short tracks like Bristol, Richmond, etc. It also lessens the focus level of a driver on a single section of the track, due to which the race becomes extremely boring.

Denny Hamlin criticises COTA with Richard Petty

On the other hand, Denny Hamlin also joined Richard in criticising the entire event. Hamlin was one of the drivers who had the hope of securing a successful victory at COTA. Additionally, the JGR driver clinched victory in stage 2 of the race before the ultimate race winner, Byron. However, despite this immense success, he ultimately finished in 14th place and labelled the race “uninteresting.”

He said, “It was not the most exciting, but I thought it was still a compelling race. I thought that you had many stories, right? In the sense of, you know, the No. 24. Obviously, they start up front, and they lead early on. And at that point, you know, when I rewatched the race, I’m thinking, you know, let’s just pretend I didn’t know the result.”

Do you think the COTA race was boring? Let us know about your opinions in the comment section below.