“Decision Makers Don’t Care”: Mark Martin Comes Down Hard on NASCAR for Disregarding Fan Sentiment Around Playoff Format

Frustrations with the Cup Series playoff format only keep growing with every major development in 2025. Shane van Gisbergen’s victory in Mexico City on Sunday has once again raised strong questions about how NASCAR champions are decided. To add further weight to this issue, Mark Martin has criticized NASCAR for its blatant refusal to listen to fans.

The Scene Vault Podcast recently held a poll on X asking fans which championship format NASCAR ought to use in the future. The options it provided were to go with the current elimination system or the 36-race full-season format that used to be the norm. At the time of writing, over 80% of the fans who voted picked the latter.

Martin conducted a similar poll just weeks earlier and found nearly identical results. Nearly 60% of fans who voted then wanted NASCAR to return to the 36-race full-season format. But it’s doubtful that the racing promotion will reverse a decision that it took after long and careful consideration. Awareness of this is what irritates Martin the most.

He wrote on X, “I did a similar poll recently and saw similar results. Problem is decision makers don’t care what the fans want. It’s all about what broadcast partners want. I’m sorry but I can’t win this battle for our great fans. It’s extremely frustrating to me.” Martin’s sentiment is certainly valid and deserves empathy.

But what was it that led NASCAR to move away from the previous format in the first place? In 2003, the iconic Matt Kenseth was crowned the champion after going through the 36 races with just a single win. Drivers who had won far more races than he were forced to settle for positions behind him, and this threw light on the issue that existed in the system.

To resolve this, the racing promotion introduced the Chase format, which then evolved into the current elimination-style format. A large section of the fanbase still believes that nobody really wanted the 36-race format to go away. The only change that was needed was to give more points to race winners.

It is entirely possible that NASCAR might have made a decision hastily. Martin has expressed critical views about the current format on earlier occasions as well. He said back in April, when discussing Joey Logano’s title win in 2024, “For me, a champion is much more legitimate if he consistently runs well all year long.

“I know a lot of classic fans, you know, feel the same way about that. Would it be as entertaining? I don’t know. I just think that the integrity of the sport is more important than entertainment. If you lose some viewers over that, then you lose some viewers.” 

As much sense as Martin and the fans make, it’s up to NASCAR to change things in the end. The question is, will they?