For many, he is the right fit in the senior leadership role at NASCAR. Given his experience and vision to change the sport for good, he is likely to do well in this position. One of the fans even asked the former Roush Racing driver whether or not he would be willing to take this opportunity. His reply, “I’m waiting for the call,” sent waves across the NASCAR community. Although Martin wasn’t getting back behind the wheel, his calling the shots behind the scenes sounded exciting.
But, given his unfiltered opinions and callouts against NASCAR, it seemed a little off that Martin was open to making his comeback. Well, the veteran driver cleared the air about his future involvement with the sanctioning body. And let’s just say his response broke a lot of hearts.
Opening about his routine as a retired driver, Martin said, “I don’t know. I can tell you this much: I don’t have time for a job. I’m the busiest guy. I rarely do; once in a while, I’ll have to do certain things I don’t like to do. But most of the time, I’m doing stuffs that I wanna do. I stay really busy, taking care of my motor, taking care of it, driving it, traveling and visiting friends, making memories. It’s a really really good life. I love being retired,” Martin added.
This was followed by the question where Mark Martin was asked about him joining NASCAR as a Senior Vice President. To which he bluntly replied, “No, of course I’m not going to get the call, that’s why I said it. I was being a smart a–. And I wouldn’t accept the job if I had to work with the committee, which isn’t gonna happen either. I would only take the job if I had a hundred percent say, and that’s not gonna happen.”
NASCAR, like many other industries, has individuals who view and operate it with a business-oriented mindset. Many fans have expressed the need to replace NASCAR executives with drivers in their roles. For example, we have the former driver Ben Kennedy, who currently serves as the Executive Vice President and Chief Venue and Racing Innovations Officer for NASCAR.
So yes, fans would definitely wish to see a former driver like the NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, in the committee. But that isn’t going to happen given how often the two parties are at odds with each other. Also, Martin’s social media callouts don’t make him an ideal candidate. Well, there’s something fundamentally wrong with the sport, which the veteran driver feels is just adding to NASCAR’s criticism.
Mark Martin isn’t a fan of NASCAR’s officiating calls
The sanctioning body has received a lot of heat at the start of the season where they didn’t have a clear idea on how to end the race at Daytona. Erik Jones seems to have snagged a win in the second Duel race at Daytona and was waiting to celebrate his win on the start-finish line. But NASCAR made a strange call on the last lap caution and snatched a win away from Jones and handed it to Austin Cindric.
As it turns out, when the caution light came out, it was Cindric who led the field. Surprisingly, officials flipped out on their own call during the Daytona 500, and despite the last lap of the race ending with a wreck, they allowed it to go green, and William Byron was announced as the winner. And this flip-flopping is one of the reason Mark Martin feels NASCAR is often at odds with its fanbase.
“All the crown jewel events, a lot of times the winner isn’t the winner, you know, they get disqualified. Why? Because there are so many rules. Why is there so many rules? Because when I raced, we went around the rules, so they had to make another one. So you have to continue to officiate these things; they’re necessary, but it messes things up.”
No wonder Mark Martin doesn’t want to get involved in making such decision calls. Perhaps he is better suited sharing his honest take on racing through social media and enjoying his retired life.
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