Mark Martin remains forthright in his criticism of the sport's playoff format. Martin has argued that a single round shouldn’t determine a champion, especially when non-contending drivers can still influence the outcome of the title race. He has doubled down on his stance, and that too in a ruthless manner.Martin, a 66-year-old Arkansas native with 40 Cup Series wins, mostly in the No. 6 Ford for Roush Racing (now RFK Racing), has been vocal about his opposition to the championship format. With NASCAR introducing a playoff committee this year, he wants the sport to return to the traditional points system, which crowned champions like Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt Sr.Speaking on the Spake Up Podcast with Shannon Spake, Mark Martin laid out his case for scrapping the current playoff system and didn't mince his words.“It has all shifted from the daily performance. One round is not a way to determine a championship. In all these other sports, you don't have 36 competitors, you don't have 36 teams out there and you're trying to beat this one team, and you've got all these other guys in the way. The sport is different,” Martin said.After acknowledging that some fans worry the sport could become less exciting without playoff eliminations, Mark Martin argued that the media should step up if they want to keep fans engaged under a traditional points system, saying:“I think that the broadcasters and the media... this is a mean way to see it, but I think they need to work harder. You have a ready-made talking point all week about the playoffs. You can talk all week about the cutline now.”“But if you didn't have that, you can spend the week talking about who ran second... Katherine Legge, running 19th. It didn't get talked about,” he added.The current playoff format features three elimination rounds (Round of 16, Round of 12, and Round of 8) leading up to the championship race, usually held at Phoenix Raceway. In each round, four of the 16 playoff drivers are eliminated, leaving four to battle for the championship in the final race. This system contrasts with the traditional points format, where points determined the champion even several races before the final weekend.Joey Logano is the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion following a debated playoff run. He was eliminated after the Round of 12, but was reinstated when Alex Bowman was disqualified for failing the post-race inspection. The following week, he won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to secure a Championship Four spot before bringing the title home at Phoenix Raceway.“Damn, cover the race”: Mark Martin on NASCAR Xfinity Series broadcast team talking about the playoffsMark Martin didn't hold his sentiments back against the CW Sports last week. He urged the broadcast crew to focus on the on-track action during the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Iowa Speedway rather than constantly discussing the upcoming playoffs.In an X post, Mark Martin wrote:“Every other sentence on today’s broadcast has been playoff and championship. Damn, cover the race a little bit. We are watching a race too.”The HyVee Perks 250 at Iowa saw Sam Mayer lock himself into the playoffs with his first win of the 2025 season. Connor Zilisch, a JR Motorsports rookie, currently leads the standings ahead of defending series champion Justin Allgaier and Mayer, respectively.