Mark Martin didn’t hold back when sharing his thoughts on NASCAR’s Next Gen cars. Although these vehicles represent substantial progress in driver safety and engineering, they have faced scrutiny regarding their performance. Mark Martin’s candid opinion suggests he is not a fan.
Mark Martin and NASCAR Insider Slam NASCAR’s Next-Gen Cars
The NASCAR Next Gen cars have struggled with performance over the past three seasons. Last weekend’s qualifying session at Circuit of the Americas clearly illustrated the problems plaguing these cars.
Motorsport content creator Bozi Tatarevic shared qualifying times from COTA on X. His findings revealed a surprising performance gap. The Xfinity Series car clocked in at 1:37.26 seconds, while the Cup Series car finished at 1:38.08 seconds. That means, the supposedly inferior Xfinity cars are outperforming their Cup series upgrades.
Preach https://t.co/UfQDKhgP9n
— Mark Martin (@markmartin) March 4, 2025
Veteran spotter Freddie Kraft reacted to the statistic by saying, “I want to jump on the bandwagon and complain that the Xfinity cars are still faster than the Cup cars. But I’m afraid that it would result in them finding a way to slow them down, instead of what we all really want to see.” Martin echoed this concern, responding with a simple, “Preach.”
Fans Express Their Concern As Well
The performance anomaly drew sharp criticism from fans, who, inspired by Kraft and Martin, questioned the car’s design. One fan questioned why the Xfinity Series car, introduced in 2011, has remained consistently strong, while the Cup Series car has struggled for two iterations.
Another fan wondered why, if Cup cars are designed with superior safety and competitive balance, the Xfinity series cars aren’t brought up to the same standards. The fan suggests that NASCAR doesn’t have equal safety concerns for Xfinity and Cup series participants. NASCAR would likely have a hard time providing a satisfactory response to this allegation.
In recent years, the belief that Xfinity Series races on Saturday are more exciting to watch than the Cup Series races on Sunday has gained traction. Someone highlighted this sentiment by claiming that the Xfinity car provides thrilling racing action. He added that he often finds the Saturday races more entertaining than the Sunday ones, and many agreed with him.
NASCAR decided to reduce horsepower to create a safer racing environment with the Next Gen cars. Unfortunately, this decision to slow the cars down has produced multiple undesired side effects, as fans and analysts have pointed out.
