JUST IN: Mark Martin draws the line: He ‘doesn’t want’ NASCAR turning into WWE for the sake of TV ratings Mark Martin, a NASCAR Hall of Famer, expressed concern about the sport’s direction, urging it not to mimic WWE’s theatricality for TV ratings. On a 2025 podcast, Martin criticized NASCAR’s 2000s shift toward manufactured drama, like the 2004 Chase format, which he believes diluted racing’s authenticity. He pointed to incidents like Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s $75,000 fine for fighting Kyle Busch in 2024, promoted by NASCAR’s social media, as crossing a line. Martin wants racing, not staged rivalries, to drive fan interest, citing Shane van Gisbergen’s 2025 Mexico City win as pure competition. Fans echoed
Mark Martin, a revered figure in NASCAR, has drawn a clear boundary: he doesn’t want the sport devolving into a spectacle akin to WWE just […]
