Richard Petty: Matt Kenseth 'lucky' to receive only two-race suspension

Jeff Gluck | USA TODAY Sports

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Richard Pettysaid Matt Kenseth was “lucky” to get off with only a two-race suspension instead of three after wrecking Joey Logano two weeks ago at Martinsville Speedway.

Despite many fans and drivers saying they believed Kenseth’s move was old-school payback, Petty said that type of incident rarely happened in his era.

“I don’t ever remember but one or two occasions when that happened — where somebody deliberately took someone out,” the seven-time champion said Saturday at Phoenix International Raceway.

Petty said if he took someone out, it wasn’t intentional but “always a racing deal.”

“It wasn’t a deal where I went out and took somebody out because they took me out,” he said. “I never got into that deal.”

The NASCAR Hall of Famer and part owner of Richard Petty Motorsports said he always confronted another driver after the race if there had been an incident. Without media in the garage, he said, the drivers could just go behind their hauler and settle their differences.

“I went straight to him and said, ‘OK, let’s get this crap straight,’” he said. “Quick as the race was over, I’d go find whoever it was and we’d have it out right there.”

As for those who said NASCAR should have stepped in to meet with Kenseth and Logano prior to the incident, Petty said he didn’t think that was possible. He felt Kenseth pushed his anger aside after an initial crash at Kansas Speedway and it bubbled up again after a crash at Martinsville.

“Everybody was anticipating something to happen, but they didn’t know what it was going to be,” Petty said. “(NASCAR) couldn’t get ahead of that deal. There was no way to get ahead of it.”

Petty also said Saturday that Sam Hornish Jr. will not return to the No. 9 car next season.

Hornish is in his first season driving for Richard Petty Motorsports. The Indianapolis 500 winner is 25th in the Sprint Cup standings and has just three top-10 finishes on the year.

Petty did not indicate Saturday who will drive the No. 9 next season, but stressed sponsorship would play heavily into the hire.

Contributing: The Associated Press

Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck

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