Copyright sportskeeda
In the latest episode of The Kenny Wallace Show, NASCAR legend Mark Martin pinpointed that fans nowadays want tradition over entertainment when it comes to points and championships. That’s quite a claim, given that in reality, NASCAR is an entertainment sport.The discourse over the full-season points format over the current elimination-style system has been a prominent topic in NASCAR. Mark Martin shared his thoughts on what fans want from NASCAR and said (via The Kenny Wallace Show on X, formerly known as Twitter),“Tradition matters, it truly matters, and it's starting to rear its head in NASCAR that people are saying, 'I take tradition and legitimacy over entertainment.'”Mark Martin, who has 800 starts in over three decades of Cup Series racing, spent the majority of his career in the old championship format. The current format requires 16 playoff drivers to battle it out through three rounds of three races each. Four drivers are eliminated after each round before the final four arrive at Phoenix in early November.Lately, fans have been vocal about their resentment of the 3-3-3-1 playoffs format. And as a result, none of the first seven playoff races, from Darlington to Las Vegas, crossed the two-million mark in terms of viewership. The viewership started increasing after NBC Sports took over at Talladega.Per reports, NASCAR will be tweaking the current playoffs format starting from 2026 onwards. The sanctioning body, along with its internal playoff committee, is having discussions regarding the same. However, nothing has been finalized yet.“The trophy doesn’t define the entire body of work,”- Mark Martin redefines Denny Hamlin’s 2025 championship runMark Martin dropped a tweet in favor of Denny Hamlin hours ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series championship race at Phoenix Raceway. According to Martin’s post, Hamlin, who entered the race as one of the four championship contenders, didn’t need a title to define his career.Denny Hamlin bagged his 60th victory a few weeks ago and tied with NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick for 10th on the all-time wins list. With that win, he became the first driver to make the Championship 4 this year.“I’m pulling for @dennyhamlin to win the Championship today for all the right reasons,” Mark Martin wrote. “BUT also so one of the most successful drivers in this era won’t have to listen to the idiotic (never won a championship) from haters. The trophy doesn’t define the entire body of work.”In the end, it was Kyle Larson who had the last laugh. Hamlin finished sixth, which wasn’t enough for him to capture his first-ever titular win. Ryan Blaney won the race, followed by Brad Keselowski and Larson rounding off the top three spots.
