NASCAR media voice Mamba Smith has sparked debate with his take on the sport’s championship format.

The outspoken media figure dropped a hot take on what a championship should represent, and it’s safe to say the reaction has been primarily negative.

NASCAR Community Blasts Mamba Smith Over Playoff Hot Take

Fan discontent with the NASCAR playoffs continues to grow, with fans voicing frustration over the win-and-in format, the one-race title decider, and other elements of the system.

In a recent exchange with fans on X, Smith shared his view on the championship, and his comments have since set off a storm.

“The point isn’t to crown the best driver… It’s to crown the best team who executed the best when the pressure was at its highest and the lights were the brightest,” Smith wrote.

The post caught the attention of Denny Hamlin, who rightly predicted the backlash Smith would get.

“Oh man, yikes,” the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran wrote.

RFK Racing body assembly manager Brian Murphy also slipped into the comments. He posted a GIF of Owen Wilson saying “Wow!”

One fan said, “We lost the plot so bad.”

“’The point isn’t to crown the best driver’ is such a damaging quote to our sport,” one fan argued. “It confirms the illegitimacy of champions in this format, and significantly removes credibility & integrity of what NASCAR should be”

Another fan responded with a hilarious Kyle Busch GIF.

“I think I just saw the silliest take/opinion on NASCAR this morning,” another said. “I need to get off this app for the rest of the day. My head hurts.”

“Mamba. The point *IS* to crown the best driver,” another comment read. “Yes, NASCAR is a team sport. But its main and single biggest draw has ALWAYS been the drivers… And there’s been a big superstar problem as of late. NASCAR is so scared of domination that they’re putting their hands on *every* scale to temper it: Overtime… The next gen parity… Resetting the points… It is all artificial. We need NATURAL tension. NATURAL drama… All this is is just theatrics.”

The disapproving comments kept piling in. Another fan pointed out that the NASCAR media continues to force its narrative on fans.

“That’s not the point of the Championship? Really.” the comment read. “This is a real problem with NASCAR media. They think they can just redefine what things mean in this sport and many of them, like Kyle Petty, act like if we don’t accept it then we are the problem”

It’s hard to ignore the message from NASCAR’s online fans. But in a sport where executives wield sweeping authority and there’s no annual boardroom vote like in other leagues, whether those calls amount to anything remains uncertain.