Did you know that Mark Martin, at the beginning of his NASCAR journey, drove for six different teams from 1981 to 1987? That kind of bouncing around would’ve rattled most young drivers. But for Martin, it became a masterclass in understanding how teams and, most importantly, team owners operate. He’s worked under just about every management style you can imagine. From hard-nosed independents to corporate powerhouses, Martin has seen how different leadership personalities shape a garage and a career.

So when Mark Martin speaks on what it’s like inside a NASCAR powerhouse like Hendrick Motorsports, people listen. And in a recent conversation alongside Kenny Wallace, the Hall of Famer offered a surprisingly personal take on his time there and why his experience might’ve looked very different from the “robotic” system Jeff Gordon is now being accused of running.

Have NASCAR drivers been told to mellow down?

On the latest episode of his podcast, Kenny Wallace didn’t mince words. “Jeff [Gordon] wants robotic. He wants corporate drivers. He doesn’t want anybody bucking the system,” he said, aiming straight at Gordon’s management style at Hendrick Motorsports. According to Wallace, Gordon, now Vice Chairman of the team, is shaping HMS in a way that discourages personality in favor of polish.

For example, the 7-time most popular driver, Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott, has been accused of this in his interviews and media appearances ever since his suspension for right rear hooking Denny Hamlin. Wallace feels that Gordon does not want any off-track comments stirring up drama and putting a stain on Hendrick Motorsports’ elite image. However, Mark Martin doesn’t feel that way.

Martin stepped in and added some much-needed nuance. He first reflected on his time at Hendrick Motorsports back in 2009, saying, “Rick [Hendrick] really, really wanted me to come drive there, and I really didn’t want to run full-time, so I turned him down twice,” Martin said. When he finally said yes, it was on his terms, and his flare was not held back one bit by Rick Hendrick’s team. “When I came in, there was zero pressure on me to be anything different than who I was,” Martin added.

In 2007, Mark Martin drove part-time in three races for Hendrick Motorsports. It was only in 2009 and 2010 that he went full-time racing with the team. Martin then parted ways with Hendrick Motorsports at the end of the 2011 season. He was already a veteran of the sport by then, so perhaps that’s why he got the luxury of being who he wanted, a luxury current HMS drivers can’t afford as they all joined as rookies or while they were still making a name for themselves. This is why Martin feels it is the drivers who mellows down on their own, not under Jeff Gordon’s orders.

Mark added, “It may be that that’s what you think people want or expect from you. Therefore, you do it.” In other words, the silence isn’t always imposed from the top. Sometimes, it’s self-inflicted. Rookies and sometimes even well-known drivers walk into a team like Hendrick, see the legacy and the pressure, and instinctively button up. “So, I’m not sure that they’re always stifled down,” Martin said. They act “corporate” not because someone asked them to. However, they believe that’s what will keep them employed and popular among NASCAR fans.

Mark Martin gave an example of Jimmie Johnson, “Jimmie Johnson’s one hell of a character, but he never, never showed that because of the commercialism of the sport, and I think that that has stopped.” Long-time fans will nod in agreement. Because they remember when drivers weren’t polished media products. Rather, they were personalities. Unapologetically bold. Whether it was Dale Earnhardt’s intimidation, Tony Stewart’s outbursts, or even a young Kyle Busch stirring the pot, personality was part of the show.

In today’s NASCAR, sponsors want reliability. Consistency. Someone who won’t go viral for the wrong reasons. NASCAR, too, wants to maintain a clean image of the sport as it expands globally. Owners want drivers who will keep their heads down, hit their marks, and smile in pressers. You can see the appeal of “vanilla” when millions in branding dollars are on the line. But for longtime fans, it’s hard not to miss the days when drivers had rough edges and weren’t afraid to show them, and while Kenny Wallace is pointing fingers at Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin feels it all started well before him.

The point is that the pressure to go “robotic” might not always come from Jeff Gordon, Rick Hendrick, or any team boss. Sometimes, it comes from the drivers themselves, just trying to survive in a sport where personality can feel like a liability.

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Mark Martin reflects on the playoff format that changed everything

In the same episode, Mark Martin also talked about how it’s not just the drivers; the sport overall isn’t what it used to be. “The integrity of our sport is important to me. I feel like what I accomplished in my career is being diminished by gimmicks.” Martin’s frustration centers on what he sees as an overemphasis on manufactured drama at the expense of genuine competition. He took direct aim at NASCAR’s playoff format.

Mark Martin believes the playoff format undermines the value of a full-season championship. “Joey [Logano] being 20th-place in the points and winning the championship last year, that should’ve been the nail in the coffin for that playoff system,” he said. And well, he isn’t wrong. Logano won only one race in the regular season. But then? He ends up winning three of the ten playoff races, and bam, he is the champion, with an average finish of 17.1, the lowest ever!

Martin insists that the current format, with its single championship race among the Championship 4, is too arbitrary and doesn’t reward consistency or true excellence. “If it was really a playoff, there’d be four cars on the track, not 36,” he quipped. Martin sees that as a fundamental disconnect between NASCAR’s format and traditional sports playoffs. Martin’s discontent is shared by many long-time fans. Recent polls on X showed 80% of respondents preferring a full-season championship over the current playoff system. When Martin saw these results, it only deepened his frustration with NASCAR’s leadership.

Ultimately, Mark Martin’s message is clear! NASCAR needs to return to its roots, where racing (not entertainment) was the priority. “In the golden age of NASCAR, the sport would never consider compromising racing for entertainment,” he wrote on X. “The racing was entertaining to the fans, and there was no need to try and attract people who had no interest in cars and car racing. The sport was BIG enough! Bigger than it is now.” For Martin, NASCAR’s current direction is not just a matter of taste. It’s a betrayal of what he and so many others achieved on the track.

What do you think of the direction NASCAR is heading in? Let us know in the comments!