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It was to have lasted 30 minutes. Instead, they talked for nearly an hour, discussing the state of NASCAR, drivers and racing. They raised their voices, interrupted each other and even sprinkled in a little bit of salty language.

That's what happens when you stick three of the more opinionated TV broadcasters together, as staff writer Dustin Long did last week at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

You just never know what will be said by Kyle Petty, Jimmy Spencer and Larry McReynolds. No longer competing in the sport, all three retain ties to it. And while anybody can have an opinion, they offer an insight that is often unique. Doesn't mean it's right. Or wrong. Just theirs.

The following is an edited version of what they said:

Kasey Kahne recently questioned why NASCAR officials threw a caution flag for debris on the track, saying it was all about improving the show and bunching the cars. What would you think if NASCAR just started saying that it would throw cautions to keep the field close?

JIMMY SPENCER: NASCAR has done that their whole life. They've thrown a caution for no reason sometimes. There was debris on the track that time, so they did cover themselves.

LARRY McREYNOLDS: You know the debris cautions drive me freaking crazy. They do. But it's a catch-22. The thing that drives me crazy, and Darrell (Waltrip) has said it on our broadcast, we used to race and you maybe have to go down the back straightaway and dodge something because it was sitting in the middle of the race track. These cars are very fast, and, you know what, they can't sit there and debate. Is it something that could cause a problem or not? While they're debating, somebody runs over it and cuts a tire and hits the freaking wall. I do applaud them erring on the side of safety.

KYLE PETTY: I agree with Larry on that. The problem is when you see this car go down in the corner lap after lap after lap and that splitter drags and drags and drags and drags, then what's coming off that thing? Used to, we'd look for huge pieces of metal to cut a tire. Well, carbon fiber and some of the stuff they use now, it only takes a sliver about as big as your fingernail. You can't believe &ellipses; how sharp some of this stuff and how dangerous some of this stuff really is.

McREYNOLDS: The problem with the guy (Kahne) that you took the quote from was a very frustrated driver that has had a horrendous Chase and he was just involved in two wrecks in five laps.

It's been more than eight years since the death of Dale Earnhardt, yet he remains, at least on some lists, in the top 10 in souvenir sales in this sport. Is that more a commentary on today's drivers not being able to pass him or Earnhardt's power?

PETTY: Earnhardt left a void that hasn't been filled. Richard Petty left a void that hasn't been filled. Darrell Waltrip. Cale Yarborough. Those drivers left voids that haven't been filled. The problem we have today is if &ellipses; I go take the top 12 drivers in points and line them all up and ask them a question, they're all going to give me the same sound bite, except for Juan Montoya.

SPENCER: Watch all these young drivers coming up. These kids are so concerned about being a Sprint Cup driver that they've lost focus on what they're supposed to do. You know what they're supposed to do? They're supposed to freaking race and win. Old man Earnhardt &ellipses; he tried to win the race.

PETTY: I just laugh at this. How many times do you think on a Sunday afternoon or Monday morning that David Pearson or Richard Petty or Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison or any of those or Dale Earnhardt got up and (said), "I'd better call that guy and apologize for hitting him (on the track) yesterday. I feel really bad."

SPENCER: It makes me sick.

PETTY: How many times do you think that happens? My God! They got up Monday morning and looked in the mirror, laughed and went to work. That's the way it was. Because you know what? They had the trophy sitting in the living room and they had the check going in the bank.

McREYNOLDS: Some of the biggest disappointments I've had this year was at Martinsville when (Jimmie) Johnson knocked (Denny Hamlin) out of the way (to win the spring race) and Denny basically, he apologized in his interview. What is he doing?

PETTY: You never would have heard that.

McREYNOLDS: It's like, wait a minute: You got knocked out of the way.

Where is this series now? Where is it headed?

SPENCER: This series is in trouble. This series is in serious trouble. All you've got to do is look at the grandstands. And when you do, you see less and less people involved in this sport. It's not the drivers. It's not the car builders. It's simply competition is not where it needs to be.

People say it's also the economy that's keeping people out of the stands.

SPENCER: I don't agree with that. I think the people will come to events if it's worth coming to. One of the best races I've ever seen in my lifetime, ever seen in my lifetime, was right here in the all-star race. I will put that race up against any race in the history of the sport. Six guys had a shot at winning that race.

I listened to Kurt Busch last week at California. The poor (guy) was scared to death. They didn't want to make no adjustments. That's one thing that Earnhardt, Pearson and Petty and Allison ... they never had any fear. You know why? They knew how far they could go. These guys don't know how far they can go.

This (car) is the best thing that ever happened to our sport? Bull &ellipses; It's the safest thing that has ever happened to our sport. Absolutely the worst car you will ever see in your life. No driver will tell you that because they're scared to &ellipses; death.

PETTY: What was your question again?

(The question is repeated about where the sport is headed.)

PETTY: To me that is the big problem. The sport is not headed anywhere. I think that is the issue with the sport. It's not headed anywhere. That's why everybody is questioning things. We felt like the sport was doing this (gestures that it was sloping up), so nobody questioned anything while we felt like it was crowning. Now that we've plateaued, now which direction do we go in?

I am going to say this, as Jimmy said, part of the blame goes to the cars. Part of the blame goes to the complacency and the vanilla-ness of the drivers. Part of the blame has to go to the economy. But at the same time, it circles back and you can say there's not as many butts in the stands and there are just not as many eyes on the TV on Sunday afternoons.

Who has the most to lose for next year if they're not prepared for the 2010 season?

PETTY: We all have a lot to lose. The whole sport.

McREYNOLDS: I was trying to figure out how to say that, but you're right.

PETTY: If we are sitting still, if we don't move again, then we've lost, so we all have a lot to lose, meaning from the sponsors to TV to the drivers, to the owners and, as important as anything, the fans. We have a lot to lose in what we have invested in the sport.

SPENCER: I think NASCAR really needs to look at the competition side of it, figure out how to get teams like Childress and Roush back involved and keep Ganassi involved. Get the Gibbs teams picked up.

PETTY: There's some stupid saying, and I wish I was more educated, where if you don't study history, you're doomed to repeat it. All we're doing right now is we're on the verge -- and this is a Kyle Petty opinion, probably nobody else's in this room -- of repeating exactly what happened to CART and IRL (when the IndyCar series broke into two series and divided the fan base, just as NASCAR's popularity was taking off).

SPENCER: We're closer than you probably realize.

PETTY: With drivers coming in with cash, buying rides, the consolidation of a single car that all look alike with the same wing angles and the same stuff, with two or three engine manufacturers, lining them up in cars and let's go racing. It killed those races. It killed those series. We're right there at that right now. It's not going to be a step or two more. If we don't study what happened to those two organizations 10 or 15 years ago &ellipses; then we stand right on the edge of that abyss ready to leap into it.

Petty mentioned that the drivers are not as much a part of this car, can't carry the car like the old cars and all of you agreed. Jimmie Johnson leads the Sprint Cup Chase and may be headed for a record fourth consecutive title. Is Johnson that good?

SPENCER: He deserves it. Let me tell you why. Richard Petty was one of the greatest drivers of all time. Dale Earnhardt. David Pearson. Why? No matter what they drove, they won. If I gave Jimmie Johnson a completely different car against his other competitors, he would still excel in that car. He will win no matter what NASCAR does to the car.

PETTY: Cream rises.

SPENCER: The guy can win.

McREYNOLDS: Just look at the three championships. Completely in an old car (2006). Half in a new, half in an old (car in 2007). A year in the new (2008). Add two more drivers (to the Chase), give bonus points for wins ...

PETTY: To me, that makes it as impressive as anything.

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long @news-record.com