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  • Leadership Turmoil, Mark Martin’s Disappointment, Ford Running Thin, and Kenny Wallace Backing Logano—A Telling Week in NASCAR

Leadership Turmoil, Mark Martin’s Disappointment, Ford Running Thin, and Kenny Wallace Backing Logano—A Telling Week in NASCAR

Author

Gowtham Ramalingam
November 30, 2025

Welcome to Hoot in the Oval — your all-access pass to everything NASCAR. From Denny’s clutch finishes to Ross’ wild moves, Chase Elliott fandom to Bubba’s bold takes—we’ve got the stories that fuel the track and the timeline. Fast, loud, unfiltered. Buckle up, y’all. 🏁

The latest edition of our newsletter covers:

  • Mark Martin’s faith in NASCAR runs thin

  • Kenny Wallace defends Joey Logano’s new look, advises NASCAR on how to fix Childress fallout

  • The Blue Oval's decline in the O’Reilly Series

🏁 Inside the Oval

Mark Martin Seems to Have Lost All Hope in NASCAR

A name that NASCAR officials must have hated hearing this entire season is Mark Martin. The veteran driver made himself a champion of fans by spearheading a campaign to change the NASCAR playoff format and is on the verge of getting the job done.

The Richard Childress text episode has left Martin even more frustrated. The text messages and the extremely derogatory remarks against the veteran team owner were brought out in the public sphere by reporter Bob Pockrass, who posted screenshots of the exchange between NASCAR executives Phelps and Herbst on X. Martin caught wind of it and came firing on all cylinders. 

“This has been going on in the sport I love. I’m just disappointed all the way around. There were plenty of problems before Charters and the RTA [Race Team Alliance], but I’m not sure how you ever fix all this now,” wrote Martin.

The pain in Martin’s heart is evident in the words. He then got into discussions with fans that further showed how upset he is.

A fan commented that the charter system ought to be axed and that the running field should be maxed at 43 cars.

Martin replied, “I went broke in 1982 and had to liquidate for pennies on a dollar. I appreciate the concept of the charter system, but hate the repercussions that have come with it. I’m with you. Let them race for the prize money like they used to. There would be 45 teams every week. Eventually.”

The veteran driver also pointed out to another fan how the charter system has made things difficult for drivers without funding. All one needed was a car back in the day to gain entry to a race. But today, they need $40 million to purchase a charter. His rants continued for a good while.

🏁 Inside the Oval

Is Ford Facing an O’Reilly Series Crisis?

Ford has suffered a big dent in its NASCAR presence when the Haas Factory Team announced that it would move to Chevrolet as its manufacturer for the 2026 season. Following that, RSS Racing has also announced that it would follow suit.

The NASCAR O’Reilly Series team will continue fielding a car for the Sieg brothers next year, but they won’t be Ford hardware. The No. 38 will be driven by Ryan Sieg and the No. 39 by Kyle Sieg.

Ryan finished the 2025 Xfinity Series season in 15th place while Kyle ended 25th. The shift to Chevrolet will present a major technical change, and both cars will run on Hendrick engines in 2026. Hendrick Motorsports powers its own teams and certain partners, while ECR Engines powers the rest of the Chevrolet fleet.

After this shift, only one team, AM Racing, remains with Ford in the second tier. The team fielded two cars in 2025, the No. 15 driven by Harrison Burton and the No. 76 driven by Kole Raz. Burton has already announced that he won’t be returning next season. Raz, meanwhile, will attempt his first full-time season with the team.

With the Haas Factory Team and RSS Racing terminating their association, it has become tricky for Ford since NASCAR is expanding to include an extra manufacturer in the sport through Dodge’s Ram.

The O’Reilly Series has served as a feeder system for Ford prospects such as Sam Mayer, Sheldon Creed, and Harrison Burton in the past. With the blue oval’s influence dwindling, all the young talent will be channelled through Chevrolet or Toyota.

🗣️ Pit Politics

Kenny Wallace Talks About the Only Way NASCAR Can Fix the Childress Mess

NASCAR got into a tricky corner this week after text messages from 2023, exchanged between its top executives, Steve Phelps and Brian Herbst, came out in the open. These messages contained derogatory remarks against Richard Childress.

 NASCAR is in damage control mode. And former driver Kenny Wallace had an idea on how the promotion can now save face.

 “First thing you have to do is get on your jet and fly up to Welcome, North Carolina, and get a meeting with Richard Childress. And it would probably be best if our leader, Jim France, did that. Starts at the very top. And then while you’re at it, Jim, you might want to bring along Steve Phelps … But then you’re also going to have to do all this in front of the cameras,” said Wallace on his YouTube channel.

 Phelps had called Childress a “stupid redneck who owes his entire fortune to NASCAR” and stated that he needed to be “flogged.” What mistake did the iconic team owner make that prompted Phelps to be this angry at him?

 Well, Childress had made some comments about the cost of the Next Gen cars on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio in 2023. He had particularly said that he could make 14 former Cup Series cars with the money that it cost to run 7 Next Gen cars.

When asked if the new media deal that NASCAR has signed would be beneficial, Childress had responded, “For who?”

It doesn’t take much to connect the dots and figure out that this is why Phelps and Herbst went all out on insulting him in the worst manner possible.

Richard Childress Racing issued an official statement after the texts came out. The team stated that it is currently considering legal action against the promotion and also pointed out that this is how a few NASCAR executives have been treating team owners for a long time.

The worst part about this entire fiasco lies in another court case for NASCAR. The trial date for its antitrust lawsuit against 23XI Racing/Front Row Motorsports is set for December 1. Tackling this issue while dealing with the pressure of that hearing is surely going to stretch the promotion.

🏁 Trackside Trivia

Ford’s heritage in NASCAR over the years

  • Ford’s long-term partnership with Wood Brothers Racing is one of the longest-running in NASCAR. As of 2025, that alliance has lasted over 75 years.

  • Ford only introduced the iconic Mustang into the NASCAR Cup Series as a full-time car in 2019, using models such as the Taurus and Fusion before.

  • In 2013, Ford cracked 1,000 total NASCAR wins (across top national series)—When Greg Biffle won the Quicken Loans 400 on June 17

🎙️ Hoot’s Radio Chatter

Kenny Wallace Comes Swinging for Joey Logano After Bald-Look Backlash

A surprising video spread through Instagram recently that showed Joey Logano with a bald head during the launch of a construction project at Huntersville. While some appreciated and expressed their support for the look he sported, others were worried about his health and reached out to make sure he was okay.

But trouble arose when a group of social media users simply mocked Logano. Former driver Kenny Wallace joined forces with Logano to push back.

Wallace delivered a sharp response on his YouTube channel, stating that, regardless of whether Logano chose to shave his head or lost it due to some health concern, those criticizing him for it were out of line. He also argued that the people making jokes were only projecting their own insecurities.

“There are a lot of people who are insecure, and they’re poking fun at him, and they’re just making jokes because Joey has gone through a lot. Joey was part of the men’s hair club. He was wearing a toupee for a little bit,” said Wallace.

Wallace reiterated that whatever the Team Penske superstar decided to do with his hair is his personal choice. “Just said, ‘F*ck it, I’m going to shave my head.’ That’s what he said. That’s exactly the way it went down. And he just shaved his head,” he said.

Much like Wallace, many had shunned the negativity and supported Logano. Some comments compared his look with that of the iconic Walter White character from the blockbuster TV series, Breaking Bad.

The driver had addressed all the concerns through a post on X, clarifying that he is perfectly healthy and that he had just wanted a haircut at the end of the season. Logano also revealed that he has been dealing with alopecia for several years now and that it flared up once he began getting his hair cut. So he had little choice but to go fully bald.

🏁 Lap Back in Time: NASCAR Stat of the Year
(One stat. One year. Every edition.)

1960: The 1960 Daytona 500 is still the slowest Daytona 500 ever run. The race, won by Junior Johnson, had an average speed of just 124.74 mph.