Gil Martin was regarded as one of the most brilliant thinkers on the pit road for many years. He quietly developed one of the strongest resumes in the garage while guiding drivers like Robby Gordon, Clint Bowyer, and Kevin Harvick to victory lane at Richard Childress Racing. However, Martin had to leave the sport far earlier than anticipated in 2017 due to a devastating diagnosis of CTCL cancer. But years later, Harvick’s former right-hand guy is starting a whole new chapter. And instead of being on top of a pit box, this time it’s behind a microphone.

Gil Martin’s surprise return

“By FAR the COOLEST moment of my broadcasting career…A moment I will never forget,” Ford Martin, Gil Martin’s son, shared the unique father-son interaction from the broadcast booth on Instagram. Gil Martin’s return to a live sporting event was quite touching for longtime NASCAR fans.

This time, however, the former crew chief was assisting his son in calling baseball action on an ESPN+ college broadcast rather than calling strategy from a pit box. Martin, who is currently 65 years old, is still regarded as one of the most esteemed crew chiefs in the modern NASCAR era. He developed a resume that few in the garage could match during his long tenure with Richard Childress Racing.

He amassed more than 20 Cup Series victories altogether, including non-points events, and became the first crew chief in NASCAR history to win races in all three national divisions (Cup, Nationwide, and Trucks). His collaboration with Kevin Harvick stands out as his most noteworthy.

 

In the late 2000s and early 2010s, the pair participated in 176 Cup Series races together and became one of RCR’s best driver-crew chief combinations. Together, Martin and Harvick won 13 races, four of which came during Kevin Harvick’s last season as a driver for Richard Childress prior to his switch to Stewart-Haas Racing.

Martin’s reputation as one of the sport’s most knowledgeable strategists was further cemented in 2002 when he assisted Kevin Harvick in winning their first Truck Series start at Phoenix Raceway. Many questioned whether Martin would ever take on a public role in sports again after he left NASCAR in 2017 following the announcement that he had CTCL cancer.

But, almost a decade later, witnessing him in good health, smiling, and sharing a booth with his son served as a powerful reminder that some racing tales endure long after the engines stop running.

Kevin Harvick unleashes brutal rant

As soon as Kevin Harvick began discussing horsepower recently, it was obvious that this would not be one of those conventional, media-trained responses. The 2014 Cup Series winner went on a furious tirade about what he feels is gradually destroying racing worldwide while speaking with Will Buxton on Speed with Harvick and Buxton show.

And it all began after Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s recent remarks that suggested Formula One would switch back to roaring V8 engines by 2031. Kevin Harvick was immediately touched by the subject. “There is an open road here, and everything that the FIA president said is exactly what’s wrong with racing around the world. We’re fighting it right now in NASCAR. You knock all the horsepower out of it. You try to make it so that it fits in your Honda Civic, uh, so that they can build the V6 or four cylinder. Nobody cares about that!” Harvick blasted.

And he wasn’t finished. “Screw the manufacturers and all the things that they want to do to have it apply to their street cars. The fans want to see things that are out of control go fast and loud.”

The brutal high-horsepower period, when drivers wrestled machines that were really difficult to handle, and stock cars slid sideways through intermediate tracks, is still romanticized by older generations. Despite their technological advancements, modern cars are frequently criticized for being overly dependent on aero balance, clean air, and stricter rules.

Kevin Harvick’s frustration also ties into a broader motorsports debate happening worldwide. Buxton pointed out during the discussion that even modern IndyCars now operate with lower power-to-weight ratios than cars from the 1960s. According to Kevin Harvick, racing has increasingly lost its raw spectacle due to the fixation with efficiency, hybrid systems, and manufacturer importance.

Moreover, he feels that in trying to make race cars resemble consumer vehicles, the sport has lost part of the chaos and danger that originally made fans fall in love with it. And based on the online response, it appears that a majority of NASCAR fans agree with him, while receiving pushback from a section of fans, too.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR