Days After Kyle Larson’s Homestead Heartbreak, Mark Martin Calls Out NASCAR’s Controversial Rule

Kyle Larson entered the Homestead weekend in 2025 with eyes on a three-race sweep. The Hendrick Motorsports #5 was set to take part in the Truck, Xfinity, and Cup race in Miami at a track where he has historically dominated. Larson started well by winning the Truck race despite spinning out in the final stage. He ended the week incredibly by notching up his first Cup Series win of the season. However, it’s the Homestead Xfinity race that gave Larson nightmares, and Mark Martin hated that.

The Xfinity race saw a caution come out with 8 laps to go as Larson had a monstrous lead of 15 seconds. The ensuing restart ruined his bid for a sweep, as Sam Mayer bumped into Larson and got him loose, leading to Justin Allgaier stealing the victory. While the finish had fans buzzing, NASCAR legend Mark Martin is stealing the spotlight with a gut-punch critique of the sport’s rules. He’s not mad at Larson but at a NASCAR rule they introduced in 2009 at Pocono.

Mark Martin feels for driver’s plight due to NASCAR brutal rule

The rule that Martin is talking about is the double-file restart system. Before 2009, NASCAR’s restart police was a single file restart on the outside lane for the lead cars while lapped cars would remain on the inside lane. This meant that the race leaders would maintain a lead on 2nd place regardless of a caution. However, the double file restart would put the race leaders side by-side, adding to the drama of the restart.
NASCAR felt the double-file restarts would create more action and passing opportunities back then, hyping its debut. Jeff Gordon saw potential early on, saying to Hendrick Motorsports, “Restarts are always exciting, and I think going to this double-file situation could create some opportunities at Daytona.” But not everyone was sold. SI.com noted in 2009, “The new procedure will put the leaders side-by-side without lapped cars as a buffer,” a shift that some loved, others loathed.

“I still struggle with taking the advantage away from the guy who has earned the win,” Martin said on the NASCAR LIVE Motor Racing Network. “I’ll use an example of kind of a fiasco. It was Richmond with Austin Dillon. I praised Austin Dillon. He whooped the whole field. He ran good all day. He had the race won. That was his race. But oh, no. We had to have a caution and a double-file restart and all this stuff. And a double-file restart, in my opinion, you can’t do away with it. But the reason you really have it is so that the guy who’s going to win doesn’t win. That’s my opinion. You know, it’s to take the advantage away from the guy who had an advantage.”

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA – AUGUST 11: Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway on August 11, 2024 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

The Richmond race in 2024 saw NASCAR’s option tires being put to the test, and Austin Dillon was acing it with flying colors. He ran amongst the top for most of the race, but a late caution saw his lead swiped away. However, Dillon chose to embrace the dark arts, as he was desperate for a win. On the final lap, Dillon bumped Joey Logano and spun him out while right-hooking Denny Hamlin out of the way to take home the victory. The move was subject to mass controversy, but Martin feels it is all NASCAR’s fault.

“And so to have a double-file restart puts him in a box where he has to do something that, hmm. It wounds up, you know, being embrrassing, you know, to our sport to some degree. Now, it did make some fans really, we need that kind of passion. You know, the fans’ response was actually not a bad thing. But it wasn’t a good look for our sport, and NASCAR was in a terrible position where they had to make a call that, you know, I wish they didn’t have to make. And so, whatever they called they made, it was not going to be popular with everyone,” added Martin.

NASCAR eventually decided to strip Austin Dillon from his playoff spot while letting him keep the victory. For 2025, NASCAR mandated that all right rear hooks would receive a suspension, and such a suspension would relinquish all playoff points accumulated by the driver for the remainder of the season. All this stemmed from a double-file restart that reset the field.

In 2013, USA Today quoted NASCAR’s Robin Pemberton defending the rule: “We think it’s worked well for several years now.” Yet cracks are showing. Two years back, arguments surrounded whether the double-file restart has overstayed its welcome and that it maybe it’s time to rethink it. Toby Christie warned, “By making restart zones a judgment call, we’ve opened Pandora’s box—consistency is gone.” There were even suggestions to NASCAR to officiate the restarts differently. Even IndyCar’s ditched it on ovals, with Scott Dixon saying, “It’s safer and cleaner this way.”

Mark Martin is an old school racer, and he is fine with aggressive driving and laments the condition the sport is in today. However, he had nothing but praise for the most recent Cup Series race.

Martin yearns for more races like Homestead

The Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway last Sunday was a racer’s delight. The gripping 1.5 mile oval saw 27 lead changes between nine different drivers, including Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, and Kyle Larson, one from each OEM! While it was Larson who walked away with the win, Blaney led to most laps and won stage 1 while Hamlin won stage 2. This remarkable race drew credit from Mark Martin, who we have established as a frequent critic of the sport.
Mark Martin took to X and wrote, “This is what classic race fans watch @FS1 @NASCAR @HomesteadMiami for. Absolutely great racing. No manufactured drama.” Notably, the race saw only four cautions with 27 yellow flag laps and a 50+ green flag run to the checkered flag. Alex Bowman and teammate Kyle Larson battled it out in the end as Larson forced Bowman into an error to snatch the lead with less than 10 laps to go. Martin felt this was the racing product that NASCAR should strive for, and it’s not surprising why he chose this race as compared to the last few races.
The Daytona Duel 2 was marred with controversy after a late race caution saw Erik Jones stripped off his win due to a yellow flag being raised on the last lap for a caution behind them. Austin Cindric was granted the win for being slightly ahead during the flag, and this didn’t sit right with Mark Martin. The veteran brought up his iconic Daytona finish with Kevin Harvick in 2007 when they battled it out on the last lap as a wreck ensued behind them. On that day in 2007, no caution was called. Martin wrote on X with a photo from that day, “2007. No yellow @DAYTONA @NASCAR.” 
The veteran clearly has his gripes with the way the sport is run today, but he never shies away from appreciating great racing, like we saw at Homestead last week. Let’s hope the quality of racing stays consistent as we all enjoy such tight and entertaining races.

 

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