Mark Martin shared his thoughts on recently publicized text messages from NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps disparaging Richard Childress and at one point describing him as a “total ass-clown.”
At the end of last week, a conversation between Phelps and NASCAR’s Chief Media & Revenue Officer Brian Herbst were publicized as part of the ongoing lawsuit between NASCAR and 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports. In that conversation Phelps disparaged Childress saying, “Childress needs to be taken out back and flogged. He’s a stupid redneck who owes his entire fortune to nascar.”
In another message, Phelps added, “These guys are short sighted and self serving. Childress is an idiot. If they don’t like the state of the sport, sell you charter and get out.”
Still in another message he posted, “Did I mention that Childress is an idiot? … If he’s that angry (and apparently he is) sign your charter extension and sell. He’s not smart – is a dinosaur – and a malcontent. He’s worth a couple hundred million dollars – every dollar associated with nascar in some fashion. Total ass-clown.”
He then reiterated his claim that Childress is an idiot while discussing the cost of NASCAR’s Gen-7 car’s underwing, “No different than the bike car – they all spent millions chasing speed under the car. He’s an idiot.”
There’s a lot here in this August 30 2023 text thread with Steve Phelps, Steve O’Donnell and Brian Herbst
There’s not great conviction in their broadcast chances in 2030/31 unless the sport is in a better place
They were really frustrated with Richard Childress at the time pic.twitter.com/a8lR7VxCsW
— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) November 22, 2025
Martin shared an initial reaction over on X writing, “This has been going on in the sport I love. I’m just disappointed all the way around. There were plenty of problems before Charters and the RTA but I’m not sure how you ever fix all this now.”
This has been going on in the sport I love. I’m just disappointed all the way around. There were plenty of problems before Charters and the RTA but I’m not sure how you ever fix all this now. https://t.co/3iLLmT4XzC
— Mark Martin (@markmartin) November 23, 2025
He shared more during a podcast appearance on The Scene Vault, “I was disappointed as well. Once I got started reading, I was disappointed at the disdain that you read there. However, jokingly I consider myself a redneck and I consider a strong portion of the base, a reasonable portion of the base rednecks. And I believe that they’re what make the sport. So I wasn’t offended with the word. And I wasn’t really offended with him saying stupid redneck. However, it got worse from there as I read on.”
“And to be real honest with you, I did become totally furious with the ‘ass-clown’ with him calling him that. That is totally a bridge too far,” he continued. “And Rick knows, I’m going to sit here and defend Richard Childress because I have respect for everything that he has done in his career. I’ve got a reason to not particularly care for Richard Childress. I feel like he was responsible for me not winning the 1990 championship when he drug the official over there and pointed at my carburetor spacer and said, ‘Right there it is.’ That never had any influence on how I felt about Richard Childress, the racer that he is and the things that he had done.”
“You have to remember, I saw Richard when he drove the 3 car. I saw him with no money. No money. When I showed up in 1981 my car was nicer than his and I didn’t have anything,” he added. “So to hold a grudge towards him because he’s made a fortune in racing is just wrong. … And I’m going to say that Richard was instrumental in Dale Earnhardt growing the sport more than any other person in that era. The only other person that’s on the same level would be Richard Petty in the prior era. Those two are responsible probably more than anybody else put together in the sport. You just have to have respect for the man. He knows about racing. He goes to every race. He knows about the mechanical stuff. He’s not just a business man. He’s a racer. And that was tough to see.”
Martin then pretended to be whoever is above Steve Phelps, “The day I find out that these things are going to be exposed, I gotta fire him.” As for why NASCAR did not do that Martin speculated that it would make the organization look vulnerable in its lawsuit against 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports.
Later in the appearance, Martin said, “We shouldn’t forget who we are and where we came from. Unfortunately, over the past 15 years or so, we really have lost track of where we came from and what our roots really are.”
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