Kyle Petty: I’m not sure I understand the BS Martin Truex Jr. threw at us after Richmond

Kyle Petty wasn’t happy with some of the comments Martin Truex Jr. following Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway.

The win slipped out from Truex Jr.’s grasp at Richmond, due to a late caution and controversial restart. However, during the latest episode of his Hot Take segment for NASCAR on YouTube, Petty basically told Truex Jr. to stop with the excuses after the No. 19 was dissatisfied with the eventual winner in Denny Hamlin.

“I don’t know if it was a race at Richmond, or an episode of ‘Winnie the Pooh.’ Once again we hear from Eeyore. Martin Truex. ‘Thanks for noticing me. I just happened to be here racing today.’ I don’t know how many times in my life I’ve seen Truex get out and be mad. Now he was mad yesterday, but be disappointed because he runs second or this or that. So many times, when he gets out of a car, we hear all the negatives. All the bad things,” Petty said, regarding the No. 19 wheelman. “The BS he threw at us yesterday, I’m not sure I understand that at all.

“It came down to a green-white-checkered. Yes, he had dominated the race. Plenty of people dominate races and get beat. But it came down to a green-white-checkered. His teammate, who was coming. Who was coming on new tires. Had a better restart. Listen, whether he rolled it or not, I’m not going to debate that. If this is a green-white-checkered, be up on the wheel and be ready to go Martin Truex. That’s all I’ve got to say to you.”

Regardless of how you feel about Truex Jr. and Hamlin, Petty makes some solid points. The two drivers were racing for the win, and maybe the No. 19 has to do a little more in that situation if it ever arises again.

After the race, Hamlin wanted to make sure everything was kosher between himself and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate in Truex Jr. and the No. 19 team. The Richmond victory actually revealed he texted Truex Jr. during the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast.

“I texted Truex, I said, ‘Am I missing something of why you’re so upset?’” Hamlin shared on the new episode of his podcast. 

As for the response from Truex Jr., the veteran just had a moment of frustration, but there’s apparently no ill-will between the drivers, “I’ll paraphrase it for you, he says ‘No, we’re all good I just lost my mind.’ That’s what he said, paraphrasing. ‘No you’re fine, I lost my mind there for a minute.’ My response is, well rightfully so,” Hamlin added.

“He obviously deserved to win the race, he had the race won, but surely that was a bad five minutes for him and the 19 team.”

Time will tell if Martin Truex Jr. will harbor any feelings of resentment towards Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 team, but it’s certainly going to be an interesting dynamic to keep an eye on as we move forward in the Cup Series.