Mark Martin bursts into laughter over a fan’s dig at NASCAR’s NextGen update

Former NASCAR Cup Series driver Mark Martin had a hilarious reaction to a fan's dig at the new NextGen car update. NASCAR's Vice President of Performance, Dr. Eric Jacuzzi, has been working on a new safety feature to stop cars from going airborne during crashes.

Dr. Jacuzzi recently went on the Inside the Race podcast and revealed that the Stock Car Racing Association has been working on a new flap on the A-post (the front corner area of the car).

He mentioned the flap will help the car to stop from going airborne during crashes, and that they aim to get the device ready by the August race at Daytona International Speedway.

Reflecting on the same, a fan shared an image of an overloaded stock car racing car and hilariously commented on NASCAR adding doohickeys. He wrote:

"The Gen 7 car on superspeedways when they finally have enough doohickeys to keep them on the ground."

Following the same, former NASCAR star driver Mark Martin humorously reacted to the post:

"😂👇🏻"

Apart from the playful reactions, Dr. Jacuzzi pointed out that the early test revealed that the flap could raise the speed needed for a car to lift off the ground by 40 to 50% at 90 degrees.

On this same podcast, Jacuzzi also talked about NASCAR's findings as to how and why Ryan Preece's airborne crashes at Daytona and Corey LaJoie's airborne crash at Michigan happened, as well as how the presence vs. absence of grass affects how a car can lift off.

The VP concluded that the governing body tried the flap during the tire testing at Martinsville Speedway and made some changes after the trial.

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Mark Martin compared the 1994 nostalgic era's tire to the NextGen NASCAR racing

Talks of improvements in the NextGen car era grab everyone's attention, and the most discussed topic among them is the amount of tire fallout compared to the 1990s. In November 2024, NASCAR legend Mark Martin recalled a moment from the Hooters 500 and gave his verdict on the situation.

The race was held at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1994, and Martin shared a picture of himself posing in front of his car after winning the race. The latter pointed towards the visible tire falloff stuck to his hood and captioned the image:

"Look at the hood,” Martin wrote. “Tires were gummy back then. They just make black powder nowadays."

Before the introduction of NextGen cars in the 90s, NASCAR teams had to choose between Hoosier Tire Co. and Goodyear tires depending on their requirements.

However, in April 1997, Goodyear Tires became the official tire supplier for stock car racing, and the cars still use their tires.

During his 31-year career, Mark Martin secured 40 wins, 453 top-ten finishes, and 56 pole positions in 882 starts in the Cup Series. Additionally, in the Xfinity Series, he secured 49 wins, 152 top-ten finishes, and 30 pole positions.