Mark Martin On What NASCAR Doesn’t Want Fans to Know About New Playoff Format: “It’s Not Up to the Fans”
What’s Happening? NASCAR legend Mark Martin recently joined Kenny Wallace for a discussion about the state of NASCAR. During this discussion,…
During a recent appearance on Door Bumper Clear, NASCAR legend and NBC Sports Analyst Jeff Burton is firing back at the perception that NASCAR’s TV partners are the final decision makers in what championship format the sport uses.
While NASCAR continues to decide the fate of the current playoff format beyond the 2026 season, drivers and industry members continue to voice their takes on the system.
During a recent episode of Door Bumper Clear, NBC Sports’ Jeff Burton addressed the current playoff format, though his comments did not focus on a potential format to use; rather, they addressed speculation of NASCAR’s TV partners’ involvement in the decision.
This idea is that NASCAR’s TV Partners, those who pay millions for the sport’s broadcasting rights, are the ones who call the shots on what decides the sport’s champion, a concept that has been in the minds of fans for some time.
But Burton cleared the air on DBC, saying, “I want to be clear about something. And I’m in these meetings. TV doesn’t make these decisions. NASCAR makes these decisions. And NASCAR takes all the information from all the people that they can take it from. And they make a decision.”
Of course, it is no secret that those at the top of NASCAR are having discussions about the future of the playoffs with a committee of drivers, stakeholders, hall of famers, and media members to discuss potential changes to the system. Though it is unconfirmed, it would not be a surprise that Jeff Burton, as a representative for the drivers, a former driver, and a member of the media, could be a part of this committee.
Nonetheless, Burton backs up his claims that TV is not the deciding factor by stating he was a part of the discussion that created the current format introduced in 2014, and even then, “TV didn’t make this decision.”
“TV didn’t say, here’s your format. This is what we’re doing. That’s not how that happened. And the fact that people think that’s how it happened, I don’t know where that’s coming from?” — Jeff Burton
Burton continued his fiery rant, saying that he, like everyone else involved, believes that all stakeholders, be that drivers, owners, track owners, and TV, deserve a seat at the ‘table’. But any thought that TV is the be-all end-all of the discussions is “bullshit.”
“If anyone thinks that TV wrote a prescription, ‘here’s how you’re gonna do this’, that’s bullshit. It’s such a misrepresentation of how this happened. I’m not saying they don’t have a voice, ’cause they do have a voice. They should have a voice, but they didn’t make this. This was a collaborative effort, from many different places, all in this industry, that created this.” — Jeff Burton
When asked if he thinks TV even prefers a Playoff format, as opposed to a full-season points system, Burton said he was not sure, and that TV representatives are likely just as spread out on opinions as those in the garage area, though, in his opinion TV just wants to make sure NASCAR is the best it can be for the fans.
“Honestly, from day one, when I started working in the industry, they [TV] want grandstands full. They want a great at-track experience for the fans. They want a TV broadcast and races that are fun to watch.” — Jeff Burton
Though there is no clear-cut evidence that TV has the final say, there is talk from those inside NASCAR about the significant role the networks have in these discussions.
Throughout the 2025 season, NASCAR fans, drivers, broadcasters, and industry members alike have debated the validity and future of the sport’s current playoff format. While the four-round, 16-driver, single-race championship format has its fans, it also has its detractors.
One shining example among these are Hall of Famer Mark Martin, who, despite never winning a title under the 36-race format, which saw points collected from races one through 36, has vouched for the format’s return. One group in the sight line of Martin throughout his campaign has been NASCAR’s TV Partners.
During an interview with Kenny Wallace on Wallace’s YouTube channel, Martin claimed that NASCAR doesn’t want fans to know that the decision on the championship format is not based on fans, but rather in the hands of NASCAR’s TV partners.
“They don’t want the fans to know that it’s not up to the fans. It’s up to the TV,” Martin said.
Martin even called out NASCAR as being “beholden to the almighty dollar,” saying, “The people on the committee are all beholden to the almighty dollar. And so there’s no way they’re gonna go back to 36 races because they think that that won’t please the TV networks.”
Martin’s comments, as he is one of the most prominent drivers of all time, are quick to grab the attention of the base, though he isn’t the only committee member to speak about TV’s roll in the playoff discussion.
What’s Happening? NASCAR legend Mark Martin recently joined Kenny Wallace for a discussion about the state of NASCAR. During this discussion,…
Though it has had its detractors upon since it’s introduction, opposition to the playoff format has grown throughout its ten-plus years in use. A recent spike in fan discontent has led to NASCAR reviewing the format via the aforementioned playoff committee.
While the format looked likely to change as the summer months rolled on, during the week of July 28 through August 1, the narrative shifted to a potential hold on changes until the 2027 season, with NASCAR Managing Director of Racing Communications Mike Forde saying on Hauler Talk that there are barriers to getting changes for 2026 such as NASCAR needing to speak with NBC, who broadcasts all ten NASCAR Cup Series Playoff races.
In a similar conversation earlier that week, Jeff Gluck of The Athletic, a member of NASCAR’s Playoff Committee, said during an episode of The Teardown that, despite the wishes of a portion of the fan base for NASCAR to return to a full-season points system, he thinks the TV partners are insisting on some form of playoff.
“TV wants a playoff. They want eliminations… I don’t know exactly what they want, but they want something close to, I think, what is happening now,” Gluck said.
While there is evidence that this is the case, the thought will undoubtedly continue to linger in the minds of fans when, or if, NASCAR introduces an updated Playoff format. As of press time, NASCAR has yet to announce any changes to the format for 2026, though it seems increasingly likely the sport could do so. We have covered NASCAR’s search for a new championship format in depth via the link below.
What’s Happening? NASCAR is publicly seeking a new Playoff or even Championship Points system for the future. This story will unfold…
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An email sent by former Joe Gibbs Racing Competition Director Chris Gabehart claims that resentment towards him from members of the Gibbs family made him feel that the future of JGR was a “no-win situation.”
Last week, Joe Gibbs Racing filed a lawsuit against former Crew Chief and Competition Director Chris Gabehart, claiming that the former Daytona 500 Champion had schemed to steal vital information from the team in the lead-up to his departure from JGR for Spire Motorsports.
Not even ten days since JGR filed this lawsuit, the two have continued to trade barbs and accusations back and forth through the court system.
In a filing earlier this week, Gabehart accused the team of misleading him in his duties as competition director in 2025, and specifically calling out JGR’s No. 54 team, driven by Joe Gibbs’ grandson Ty, alleging that the team received “differential treatment.”
Friday, an email sent to JGR CFO Tim Carmichael by Gabehart in November 2025 (released as part of this lawsuit) showed just how uncomfortable he had grown working at JGR during his tenure as Competition Director, with the industry veteran stating that Ty Gibbs and his mother, Heather, held “resentment” towards Gabehart.
The now former Competition Director went on to say in this email that, as the two were the future bosses of JGR, “I’m afraid that leaves me in a no-win situation.”
These exchanges, including the claims made by Gibbs in his filing earlier this week, have swept fans into a whirlwind of sorts, with the two sides even meeting in court today for the lawsuit’s first official hearing.
Of course, Gabehart’s claims about the state of operations at JGR pale in comparison to the accusations made by the Gibbs team in their initial lawsuit.
On Tuesday, the team even added Spire Motorsports, Gabehart’s current employer, as a co-defendant, and requested the court force Gabehart to sit out at least the 18 months since his termination before doing any work in NASCAR similar to his role at JGR.
The team is also asking that any information procured by Spire from Gabehart be returned, though the CEO of TWG Motorsports, which owns Spire, Dan Towriss, told Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports Friday that “Spire doesn’t want data from Joe Gibbs Racing. It doesn’t have data from Joe Gibbs Racing. No point in time has it had data from Joe Gibbs Racing.”
Alongside Spire, Gabehart adamantly denied any wrongdoing in a post to social media last week, saying, “I feel compelled to speak out today and forcefully and emphatically deny these frivolous and retaliatory claims.”
What’s Happening? Former Joe Gibbs Racing Crew Chief and Competition Director Chris Gabehart has filed a new response slamming JGR as…
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A few years ago, I looked at the racetracks preserved on iRacing that no longer exist in real life. After digging deeper, I expected to find one common reason they all shut down. Instead, each one tells a completely different story — from booming cities and land value spikes to ownership changes, broken promises, and even mysteries that still don’t have clear answers.
Some tracks were pushed out by urban development. Some lost the one person fighting to keep them alive. Others faded due to declining support — or were never meant to last forever in the first place. No two closures are the same, and that’s what makes this deep dive so fascinating.
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NASCAR’s documentary series “Full Speed,” which used to live on Netflix, had its first two seasons look back at entire playoff runs. But now, NASCAR is shifting the series to Amazon Prime Video for its third season, and the scope of the series will also shift to new storylines.
Dropping on March 5, the new season is aimed at zooming in on one event: the 2026 Daytona 500. Instead of a multi-episode run, this time it’s a single-episode documentary that goes all in on one race.
The film will follow big names and storylines from the Daytona 500. It will spotlight the winner, Tyler Reddick, and lean into driver storylines around the weekend. That includes Kyle Busch trying to get his groove back, Brad Keselowski clawing his way back after a broken leg, Connor Zilisch being pushed as the next big thing, and Noah Gragson bringing chaos wherever he goes.
Some fans might question the move away from Netflix, especially after Season 1 pulled in 3.4 million views in the first half of 2024. Then in 2025, the docuseries clocked 900,000 views after its early May release and added another 200,000 between July and December.
But with Prime Video stepping in as one of NASCAR’s broadcast partners, moving the series lines up with a bigger play to keep content under one roof.
Amazon has already dipped into NASCAR storytelling with projects like the docuseries Earnhardt about Dale Earnhardt. Moving Full Speed to Prime follows the same playbook. And for fans who still haven’t seen previous installments, the first two seasons are also heading over to Prime Video.
However, Reddit fans are divided in their opinions about the decision. Some fans actually get why NASCAR changed the format and platform, while a chunk of fans think leaving Netflix is risky because Netflix is where casual viewers stumble into shows. Others push back, pointing out that Prime actually has a massive reach in the U.S. and strong marketing muscle.
While one fan commented, “Makes sense. I highly doubt they were gonna make a new season around a points format they don’t use anymore,” another stated, “Idk the semantics and numbers and everything behind it so I’m probably talking out of my ass….buttttttt….at what point does nascar take the less money for the exposure. You need to be on Netflix, people watch Netflix. People don’t watch Amazon video as much. Who’s gonna watch this that isn’t a nascar fan already. You have a higher chance of getting people lost on Netflix than lost on Amazon Prime Video.”
One fan commented on the news, saying, “100%. I have Amazon Prime and Netflix. AP is a train wreck for videos especially now with their ad program with videos. I steer clear because Netflix is still ad free.” Another fan supported NASCAR’s move, saying, “Prime actually has slightly more subscribers in the USA and in my opinion is better at marketing. It’s a lateral move.”
Another backed NASCAR, stating, “Most NASCAR fans will find some way to be on prime in the month of June. I think they are counting on people watching it then if they have not already seen it. Similar to the Earnhardt documentary that dropped in June last year.”
Another fan comment implied something less glamorous yet very real, pointing out that the Netflix seasons didn’t see a surge in viewership. The first season did okay, but later numbers dipped: “Netflix didn’t seem to work that well for the 2 playoff seasons.”
Will you be watching on Prime Video? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
