Larry McReynolds sparks heated NASCAR playoffs debate with suspected shade at Mark Martin

Larry McReynolds sparked a huge debate about the NASCAR playoffs after allegedly throwing shade at Mark Martin. On Sirius XM NASCAR Radio, McReynolds was speaking to Danielle Trotta about the playoff committee, and Trotta said there is one driver on the committee who is passionate about going back to the old points system to determine the champion.

“I bet it’s a driver that has not won a championship,” Larry McReynolds said. Trotta confirmed that it was a driver who never won a NASCAR Cup Series title, and when one NASCAR fan on social media heard the conversation, the person sent the clip to Mark Martin.

A debate began on X/Twitter about the playoff format, and Trotta sent a message to Martin. “Mark, you know I love you, but what we got is a whole lot better than what we used to do,” she wrote. “We need a playoff, we need eliminations, we need to reward winning and consistency. This format does it all & is highly entertaining!”

“Martin saw Trotta’s post and replied, “No we don’t.” He later replied to a fan that said most of the fans love the current playoff format. Martin responded, “Prove it. I can prove they don’t.”

Mark Martin explains why he doesn’t like the NASCAR playoffs

Martin may have never won a championship, but that doesn’t mean he had a disappointing career. The 66-year-old won 40 Cup Series races and finished in the top 10 453 times in 882 starts. There were multiple times Martin just missed out on winning a title, finishing second in points in 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002.

In June, Martin spoke to Kenny Wallace about the playoffs and sounded off on Joey Logano winning the title last year despite being 20th in points. “Joey [Logano] being 20th-place in the points and winning the championship last year, that should’ve been the nail in the coffin for that playoff system,” Martin said.

“…The word playoff is very catchy. It’s wonderful, except we ain’t playing. Nobody plays, and there’s not two people out there. It’s not the same as ball sports. I don’t like it being called playoffs, because it’s not a playoff. Even the last round, if it was really a playoff, there’d be four cars on the track, not 36.”

NASCAR began a playoff format in 2004 and has evolved over the last two decades. Currently, 16 drivers qualify for the playoffs, and they compete in 10 races. The top four drivers in playoff points after nine races battle for the title at Phoenix in November.