This is the most invested and involved Mark Martin has been in NASCAR since his retirement after the 2013 season.<\/p>\n
For a while, even on both sides of his Hall of Fame induction in 2017, he just didn\u2019t know what he was supposed to do within the space after practically four decades of driving at the highest level. He would still watch races but didn\u2019t know what his role was supposed to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt definitely took a while to find my ground afterwards,\u201d said Martin during a media availability on Tuesday at NASCAR Productions. \u201cIt seemed like, probably, the best way for me to handle it was to be away and have some distance in there, and what happened is that I\u2019ve grown into being a fan because I didn\u2019t know what to be when I quit driving.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had been part of a racing program for 40 years and I liked that power and I felt like my edge was knowing more about the track, the tires, the car and aero, and I lost all of that when they first tested at Charlotte without me in 2014.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the no ride height rules test, and as soon as it ended, I felt weird because I didn\u2019t know the cars anymore or the setups, what the rules were so it took me awhile to grow back into being a fan. I feel like the fans have given me the opportunity to become their voice and that\u2019s what has drew me back in the last year with the conversation about the points format and how they do the championship.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why Mark Martin isn’t as disgruntled anymore<\/p>\n
To wit, Martin was one of the leading voices that drove NASCAR back towards a points based format that resulted in a return of the Chase for the Championship. He has a podcast now on the Kenny Wallace Media channel. Martin is a member of the NASCAR Alumni Network and is finishing a book about his career.<\/p>\n
He is very plugged in with the modern product and despite a willingness to criticize, says he doesn\u2019t have a lot of complaints right now either.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn January, I got to go to the tech center and spent some time with (John Probst, NASCAR senior VP of racing development) and he gave me a deep dive into the car,\u201d Martin said. \u201cWe had deep discussions on why this and why that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got answers that the fans haven\u2019t gotten and I left there not as disgruntled with the car as I did going in, because now I understand why the tires are so wide. I know why the back of the car was short, at least to me, and why so many of these things were done — why the single lug that a five lug steel wheel would be awfully heavy at that width.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Next Gen test?<\/p>\n
With that said, and Martin has said he isn\u2019t interested in driving race cars anymore, but he has one exception if it means he could help NASCAR continue to improve on the NextGen platform as he sees fit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish they would let me do a test and dictate what was done on the car, just one time,\u201d said Martin. \u201cLet 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\u2019s have a group of cars come and run that, because I have my own beliefs, and yes, it\u2019s based on 40-year-old information, but \u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
And this is where he says he and Probst had a conversation about aerodynamics and that he pointed out something that the NASCAR official agreed would be more efficient.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I don\u2019t know,\u201d Martin said. \u201cRight now, the racing is good and I\u2019m going to be scared to mess with anything but I sure would like to have my finger in that because I was more than just a driver, I was a car guy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a car guy before I came to NASCAR. The reason I got a pole in my third outing is because I was a car guy. I was always a car guy and an aero guy and I still believe a lot of those principles from back then still apply.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read Also:<\/p>\n
We want your opinion!<\/p>\n
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?<\/p>\n