NASCAR legend Mark Martin has never been one to sugarcoat his strong opinions. Whether shutting down Kevin Harvick and his call for action against Kyle Busch at COTA or pointing out the problem with the current field of drivers, he has always been the voice of reason and honesty. With over 3 decades of racing experience, the legendary driver drove for some of the biggest names in the sport. But, now he is concerned.

Mark Martin recently took aim and pointed out what he thinks is the biggest problem in NASCAR today, the missing ‘bad boys’ element. Fans and critics alike also agreed with Martin’s belief that the sport has become too sanitized, with drivers not expressing what they feel and that “the drivers have pretty much gone silent.”

NASCAR needs it Bad Boys

In a previous interview with Chase Holden, Martin admitted that he wants NASCAR to return to the original and raw nature of the sport it was back in the day, giving the example of Tony Stewart as the kind of driver that NASCAR needs today.

“We need Tony Stewart. Tony Stewart did not give a damn. He was so good they could not crush him. It would have crushed me… But we need a guy that is so talented, a guy on the level of Kyle Larson, which is not Kyle’s style, but we need a guy with that level, generational talent to come in and just be real, you know.” Tony Stewart was famous for his legendary confrontations, whether it be with fellow drivers such as Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, or Joey Logano, the list goes on and on, but he had the talent to back all this talk up, as he proved with his multiple championships, in NASCAR and IndyCar.

Mark Martin in a recent tweet doubled down on his demand for drivers who have this talent and the fearless nature that could bring NASCAR to the levels of the olden days, “Never lift. To keep one’s foot firmly planted on the accelerator pedal with complete disregard to the possible outcome; can often end with catastrophic results, but with proper execution has been known to create legends.”

Another name that comes to everyone’s mind when reading this tweet from Mark Martin, is none other than Kyle Busch, ‘The Rowdy’ himself. Someone who kept his foot planted regardless of the outcome? Check. Can often end up with catastrophic results? Check. But with proper execution creates legends? Double Check. Someone who was not afraid to say what he wanted? Well, Rowdy was famous for that, remember back in 2018 at Chicagoland where he won after battling Kyle Larson and emerged from his car to the boos of the crowd and delivered one of his iconic post-race interviews? “I don’t know what y’all are whining about, but if you don’t like that kind of racing, don’t even watch.”

Busch’s career has entered its twilight years and we don’t see the Rowdy of old anymore, we have a new contender who fits the mold that Martin is talking about. Spire Motorsports’ young star, Carson Hocevar, famously said, “There’s only so much I could do…I’m not going to apologize for having the shot to win a race,” after his incident at Atlanta with Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain where he secured second place finish and impressed everyone with his aggressive nature.

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Is this the End of the line for Rowdy?

It has been 62 races since we saw Kyle Busch in the victory lane, a contrasting situation compared to his 19-year winning streak that was broken last year. Last weekend in his home race at the Las Vegas, he started the race in 4th place, just in touching distance of his first victory since his victory in Illinois back in 2023. As everyone was waiting for Busch to break his winless streak, there was his debut that was being talked about.

But not on the racetrack, this debut was in the broadcasting booth with CW for an Xfinity race replacing Parker Kligerman, and he was good in the booth, like a natural. Busch himself took to social media, quite satisfied with his performance, “Good time in the broadcast booth today. Who wants more?” Is this a sign of what’s to come? Will we see Busch in the broadcasting booth instead of on the race track, well Denny Hamlin certainly thinks so.

“I wanna give a shoutout to Kyle Busch. What a great job. He should quit racing. He called the Xfinity race… He did really really well… I thought Kyle blended in there really well like he has been there for quite some time,” Denny Hamlin said on his podcast praising Busch’s talent in the booth and hinting at maybe it is time to hang up the racing boots.