Mark Martin did not hold his back on the current state of NASCAR and the direction it is being taken. He questioned why the sport needs to change and why it is selling out to big money.
Following the NASCAR Cup Series race in Mexico City, NASCAR’s Executive Vice President and Chief Venue and Racing Innovation Officer Ben Kennedy confirmed the organization’s desire to expand its footprint globally. He said, “We’re very bold about continuing to bring our NASCAR Cup series internationally. Mexico is a very great place to do it. This weekend is a great example of that. And I would say we’re very hopeful to be here long term.”
He later added, “This is more of a strategic move as a sport to expand our footprint globally and internationally and to a new, massive fanbase. Just being in a country with 90 million people and over 20 million people in the larger Mexico City metro alone that in and of itself is a success. You guys probably came, you got to drive around town, see the billboards, see all the activations that OCESA did. That is a success for us. So I would say, in my opinion, that carries a lot more weight than the economics or financials of the event. Sure, it is a variable that we consider, but strategically it’s more important that we focus on those factors as we make those decisions.”
NASCAR EVP Ben Kennedy on how Mexico City fits in NASCAR’s scheduling philosophy and whether the financial performance of the event would impact whether NASCAR returns next year. @NASCARONFOX pic.twitter.com/Q4Dt2WkZj4
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) June 16, 2025
Martin was asked about Kennedy’s comments and NASCAR’s focus on expanding overseas and internationally during an interview with Kenny Wallace. He first shared that he can’t really speak on it because he’s not privy to NASCAR’s internal data to determine whether or not it would impact the sport in a positive way.
Nevertheless, he said, “They could expand their audience in Mexico by giving them a race and getting people fired up. There was a lot fan enthusiasm at that race. So, I understand from that standpoint.”
However, he questioned, “What’s wrong with being the size we are? What was wrong with our sport? Why do we have to sell out to big money? We all made it. In the 80s, when Rusty [Wallace] and I went NASCAR racing there wasn’t much money in the sport and we got rides and we drove cars. Why do we have to sell our soul 100% and change our product 100%? That’s the question. And a lot of old people believe that. But, you know what? I’m followed by a lot of young people that I’m shocked if they got to see me race. If they got to see me race, they were little kids, if they even did. There are a lot of people that follow me that weren’t race fans in the 90s or 80s. And, some of them follow me because they like my content and have respect.”
Next, he questioned, “Why do people love the races on YouTube from the 90s? Why? They’re not as exciting as today’s racing, but yet they say they are. Why? Because they’re different. That’s why.”
Later in the interview while discussing why NASCAR declined in the late 2000s and early 2010s, Martin pointed to the sport not having superstars and the fact that NASCAR neutered up-and-coming drivers. He said, “I truly believe that the drivers today are not nearly as vanilla as they appear to be. And I’ll guarantee you Jimmie Johnson was not. In fact, Jimmy Johnson’s one hell of a character, but he never, never showed that because of the commercialism of the sport. I think that has stopped these next generation as emerging as big superheroes.”
“I watched the race Sunday and I’m looking at those guys out there and they’re driving their asses off. It’s incredible, but yet so many people they don’t realize that. There’s just not enough superheroes,” he added.
After Kenny Wallace claimed that Jeff Gordon wants his Hendrick drivers to be vanilla, Martin shared that was not the case when he drove for Hendrick, but he speculated, “There may not always be pressure to conform. It may be that’s what you think people want or expect from you. Therefore, you do it. So, I’m not sure they’re always stifled down. I think that’s what’s expected of them in some cases. So that’s what they are.”
Martin would also discuss the 70% decline in viewership that NASCAR suffered in 2006 and what caused it. While he noted that the driver’s criticizing the car did not help, he primarily pointed to the TV deal, “The race car didn’t help things, but this is just my opinion, I think the TV deal that was signed, sold us out. And it took time for that to catch up. That’s where the Chase came in. That’s where you couldn’t predict-.”
From there he noted how the ’07 TV deal was sold as potentially bringing in billions and providing the sport a lot more money. However, he said, “I didn’t notice I got more money. I’m sure I made more money, but it was not that much. It didn’t change me. It didn’t change my team. It didn’t change anything except now when it rained during practice, they just called practice off because they couldn’t televise it. You could always predict everything in NASCAR prior to the big money TV deal. After the big money TV deal, it just threw me for a loop. All these decisions were being made that were different than had ever been before. And that clued me in to, ‘Oh, so TV’s the boss.” Like, we’d never just not had practice and then just went into a race, but now we do because we can’t televise the practice.”
Much later in the interview, Martin declared, “TV people need to work harder. They need to change this to more traditional and stick with what we are and who we are to the core, who we were. And TV needs to work harder to make it exciting. They can. It ain’t going to be easy if you don’t have playoffs and cut off races and all this stuff. Work harder. Make this interesting. Go to people’s shops. Follow these drivers around. Look at these teams. Look at these crew chiefs. Bring other information into it. And bring other interest into it.”
What do you make of Martin’s comments?