Kyle Petty reacts to Joey Logano’s Talladega rant against Austin Cindric: ‘Not uncalled for at all’

On Sunday at Talladega, Joey Logano made headlines with his Austin Cindric rant. Kyle Petty has weighed in on the situation. NASCAR is known for rough racing and rough language. So, what’s the big deal?

Kyle Petty has been around NASCAR for decades. Over those years, the concept of teammates has changed radically. Before, it just meant you had the same logo on your firesuit. Now, it means, at least at drafting tracks, a lot more.

Speaking on NASCAR Daily, Petty was asked about the radio drama. He doesn’t see a problem with it.

“No. Not uncalled for. Listen, listen, I am – I understand the teammate concept, I really do,” Petty explained. “And I came along a long time before the teammate concept. The only fight or argument that Felix Sabates and I ever got into was over a teammate when Kenny Wallace drove there. I made some comments, Felix didn’t like it, and I stood up for what I believed, and he stood up for what he believed.

“You’re going to vent about your teammates, because guess what – when you drive for Penske, when you drive for Gibbs, when you drive for Hendrick – three of those other guys out there that you’re trying to beat into submission are your teammates. You show up to race for you, you’ve gotta be selfish as a driver. I don’t think those comments are uncalled for at all.”

Joey Logano is a three-time champion. He has had to deal with teammates over the years. I’m sure this isn’t the first time he’s blown up on a Penske teammate.

Kyle Petty doesn’t see an issue with Logano comments

As he talked about Logano, Kyle Petty made it clear – teammates don’t have to get along. For as long as drivers have been racing for the same owner, they have been getting mad at each other.

It also doesn’t help that radio comms are readily available. Could social media be blowing this out of proportion?

“Here’s the difference, those same comments have been going on in the sport ever since we had teammates, the only difference is, we didn’t have access to it as the public,” Petty said. “We didn’t have it where we could play it back on the Monday morning and crucify Joey or crucify somebody on down the line, whoever it may be, for whatever they said.

“You’re not sitting in that car at 130 or 40 degrees [Fahrenheit] at 200 miles an hour with a helmet on, in close quarters trying to win a race, and that’s where they are, right on the edge. And they deserve to make those comments and vent whenever they want to; whether it’s their teammate or their mother, okay? Whoever they want to vent about, they should be able to vent about.”

Kyle Petty always has strong opinions. As an old-school racer, I’m not surprised to hear him defend Joey Logano. After all, this is stock car racing, who cares about some f-bombs and cussing every once in a while?