Over the course of his long and illustrious career, Mark Martin retired a handful of times. But despite announcing his retirement from NASCAR, he’d continue racing in a part-time capacity or return as a full-timer, like in 2009, until he finally retired in 2013. And now, the veteran has hinted at another return, but only if a particular condition is met.

Mark Martin is itching to have a run in the Next Gen

In a recent public appearance, Mark Martin expressed his desire to take a test in the Next Gen car. The last time Martin raced in NASCAR was in a Gen 6 car, which preceded the current generation. Martin claimed he wants to take a test to see what was ‘done on the car’.

“Let me have one car, one team, and let’s have them do the things that I want to do and if the things that I want to do show something, then let’s have a group of cars come and run that, because I have my own beliefs, and yes, it’s based on 40-year-old information,” he described as per Motorsport.

Having said that, he acknowledged that in the current era, the racing product is good and he feels scared to ‘mess with anything.’ But despite that, Mark Martin emphasised he wants to have a go at it simply because he’s more than just a racecar driver, that he’s a ‘car guy.’

He claimed he’s been a car guy even before he came to NASCAR. Martin made his first start in the Cup Series all the way back in 1981. And in his third start, he scored a pole position, which he credits to his interest in cars.

Martin added he’s also interested in aero-dynamics and believes a lot of principles from back then still apply in the modern era of NASCAR.

Martin was happy with his retirement from NASCAR

In a 2021 interview, the same year NASCAR introduced the Next Gen car, Mark Martin spoke on how he feels about his retirement life. After starting in over 800 races between 1981 and 2013, Martin called time on his legendary career.

And in his retirement, Martin claimed he feels happy. “I enjoy seeing and spending time with family and seeing friends and traveling and seeing the country. Arlene (his wife) and I have done a good bit of motor coaching,” he said.

However, he also mentioned that he missed the aspect of people from racing and working in a family-like environment in a garage. But after competing for four decades at the highest level, he felt he was done with the things he missed and enjoyed.

Martin revealed he’d get invites and offers to take part in practice sessions or test sessions. But he had no interest in driving a racecar after 40 years of competing against names like Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, and Jimmie Johnson.

But in the light of his recent comments now, Mark Martin might be warming up to the idea of sitting behind the wheel of a racecar, especially after his admission of interest in Next Gen cars.

Do you think he should put on his race suit again and make a sensational comeback? Let us know in the comments below.