NASCAR legend Mark Martin opens up on his fan oriented approach

NASCAR legend Mark Martin opened up about the state of modern-day stock car racing, explaining why he continues to advocate for the 'classic race fan.' He elaborated on his efforts to voice the frustrations of purist racing fans on social media while acknowledging the challenges faced by the sanctioning body.

Martin was among the most respected drivers, often setting the standard for racing etiquette. The NASCAR Hall of Famer continues to follow the sport closely and shares his opinions on social media. He also uses his large following to share the views of 'classic race fans,' who have gradually lost interest in the sport.

Mark Martin made an appearance on the recent episode of Door Bumper Clear after the Martinsville Speedway race weekend and was asked for his opinion on the state of the sport. Martin shared that in his interactions with race fans at local tracks, he has often encountered their frustrations with the sport.

The 66-year-old also acknowledged that the sanctioning body is often in a lose-lose situation when making tough decisions. He said that NASCAR has produced some epic races recently and criticized the lack of respect in junior racing categories, referencing the Xfinity race at Martinsville.

"What I try to do is be a voice for the classic race fan. I try to speak for them, they're pretty frustrated. I'm critical of NASCAR, but I also feel really sorry for them too, because they're often put in terrible positions where any decision they make is a losing proposition; they're gonna lose with somebody." he said.

"It is entertaining, we've seen some epic racing and we've seen some that we don't call racing, as classic race fans." he added.

Regarding the Xfinity Series debacle, Martin opined that NASCAR shouldn't step in to police incidents during the race. He insisted that drivers should handle it themselves, with team owners also playing a crucial role in disciplining their drivers.

Voicing the opinion of a classic race fan, Martin recently reposted a tweet that cheekily suggested a "36-race playoff" format, implying that the sport should crown its champion based on full-season points standings rather than the playoff system.

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Mark Martin calls out Xfinity Series "embarrassment" for NASCAR

Mark Martin called out the lack of respect and poor racing etiquette in the Xfinity Series race at Martinsville Speedway. The 250-lap race featured 14 caution periods, with drivers behind the pace car for 104 laps.

Martin described the race as an embarrassment for the sport and suggested that change can be brought with collective effort to clean up the racing. He said that a bump and run once in a while is good, hard racing, but using it on every lap is unacceptable.

"Saturday’s race was an embarrassment to our sport. We can’t have that, and we should all — as an industry — be able to come together and say, ‘Hey, that was a complete crap show, and we don’t want to see that anymore. That’s not good for our sport.’ Collectively, I hope we can come together and try to clean that up. Good hard racing, a bump and run once in a while is good. But if you’ve got a bump and run going every single lap, it’s not good." he said on SiriusXM Radio. (via On3.com)

The NASCAR Hall of Famer agreed that a points deduction can be an effective deterrent, but highlighted his former boss, Jack Roush, parking Ricky Stenhouse Jr. as another form of punishment would leave a lasting impact. Brad Keselowski also suggested that team owners should be willing to park their drivers for egregious moves.

On the other hand, Denny Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. suggest that race officials should hand out penalties immediately, as such moves are easily distinguishable.