Kyle Petty critical of Christopher Bell after Kansas, compares him to Kasey Kahne and Kyle Larson

Kyle Petty had some interesting things to say about Christopher Bell after the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Kansas Speedway. During the post-race broadcast on USA Network, Petty went after Bell for not finishing the job on Sunday.

“Christopher Bell at this stage in his career, even though he’s won races, reminds me a little bit of Kasey Kahne and Kyle Larson. He can’t close the deal,” Petty said. “He can run up front, he can lead the laps. He’s gotta learn to close these deals and maximize these days not just leave here with these points.”

Bell finished seventh in the Hollywood Casino 400, putting him in a strong position to advance to the Round of 8 of the playoffs. During the regular season, Bell won three races, including the Coca-Cola 600.

The interesting thing about Petty comparing Bell to Kahne and Larson is Kahne and Larson are listed as NASCAR’s 75 best drivers in history. Kahne competed in the Cup Series from 2004 to 2018 and won 18 races. One of the highlights of his career is winning the Coca-Cola 600 three times.

Larson is in the prime of his career. In 359 Cup Series races, Larson has earned 28 wins and 178 top-10 finishes. In 2021, Larson won the Cup Series regular season title and the Cup Series championship.

Christopher Bell talks racing at Kansas Speedway

Bell’s P7 finish comes after earning pole for the race on Saturday. It’s the third consecutive race that Bell started at the top spot.

“I’ll tell you what, it’s the people that work on this race car that made the statement,” Bell said after winning pole, per NASCAR.com. “We showed up with probably the best Kansas car we’ve ever had. “It’s always been a great track for us to qualify, and it seems like whenever we go race, we’re always in the third-to-seventh range. Today it was different. It felt really, really good in practice. I felt really comfortable driving the car.”

Bell added: “The tough thing about Kansas is maintaining the balance. This place, with these (Next Gen) cars, it swings really, really bad. You’ll start off really comfortable, and depending on how your car is, you might go really tight, you might go really loose. Typically, the fast lane is up top, but then you have to really adjust your line to what your balance is doing. I’ve got to drive a little bit better here (Sunday) than I have in the previous Kansas races, but I definitely have the car to do it.”