I've had it up to here with people saying that NASCAR is not a sport, and that its drivers are not athletes.
I can understand why people would say it. I mean, driving a car is something millions of people do every day. Many users on this site have drivers' licenses and/or cars. Thus, they take for granted the entire notion of competitive driving as something that's easy, or mindless, or unathletic.
These people must think that NASCAR stock cars are the same cars as you or I have at home. They're not.
First of all, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to look inside a Sprint Cup Series garage to figure out that stock cars are not the same cars you or I drive to school and work.
These cars are not only heavier, aerodynamically superior, and more expensive than a normal Toyota Camry or Chevrolet Impala, they go much faster—up to 100 miles per hour faster, for those of you requiring cold, hard figures.
If you can get a street-legal Camry to go 190 straight out of the factory, there's either something wrong with it, or something wrong with you.
Now, place those 190 mile per hour cars on a large track, such as Texas Motor Speedway, where they will have to maintain said speed while turning around a radius of 750 feet. Immediately as each driver turns, he is hit with G-force, which is defined as the force of the Earth's gravity in any given direction, and represents acceleration. One G is equal to 32 feet per second.
According to this G-force equation at HowStuffWorks.com, the drivers would experience about 3.2 G's around the turns, or 3.2 times the force of Earth's gravity pulling on them in the corners.
However, because Texas has 24 degrees of banking in the turns, the drivers only experience about 1.9 G's at top speed, because those 24 degrees of banking put about 1.3 of those G's on the wheels of the car, helping it stick to the track.
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Even so, the driver must push back, resisting those 1.9 G's.
How does this relate? A human being must be in impeccable shape to withstand such force for almost three straight hours. During takeoff, the space shuttle exerts about three G's of force on its passengers, nearly a fair straight-up comparison.
Most roller coasters exert about three G's on their riders, but for no more than three seconds or so. Even so, many people throw up from the forces exerted upon them.
And you tell me that a NASCAR driver, who withstands those kinds of forces for three hours (and up to 64 G's in an accident, such as Jeff Gordon's 2006 crash at Pocono), just sits around and turns left all day?
Any person who can withstand those types of blunt forces on his or her body is an athlete.
We haven't even gotten to the behind-the-wall crew yet.
There's a good reason why many former football and hockey players are now pitting NASCAR teams—pit crews train as hard as any other athletes in any other sport. They must jack up half of their 3400-pound car, change four tires, add 22 gallons of Sunoco fuel to the fuel tank, and make no mistakes over the span of 15 seconds.
Try getting together six of your friends and doing that to the family minivan.
Almost no matter what your definition of "sport" is, NASCAR racing fits that definition—if you truly understand the sport.
Wikipedia defines sport as "an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively."
Under that simple definition, NASCAR racing must be a sport; it is governed by a set of rules drawn up by the sanctioning body (as is baseball under the MLB and basketball under the NBA) and is always engaged in competitively.
A football-playing friend of mine once said that sport requires offense, defense, and physical exertion. While he noted that "offense" and "defense" are more abstract in NASCAR racing than in sports like baseball or football, they do exist, especially on the last lap when one driver is attempting to hold off another for the victory.
If you don't like those abstract definitions of "offense" and "defense", you can quit calling golf a sport, too. Where's the defense in golf? Can I kick the ball away from my rival while he putts? (For the record here, I wholeheartedly believe both are sports.)
Joon Song, in his recent article Open Mic: Do Golf and NASCAR Make The Cut?, defines a sport as requiring the following:
1) Competition against other participants to win as an individual or team
2) Skill and physical training required to succeed
3) A combination of at least three athletic qualities such as strength, speed, quickness, leaping ability, hand-eye (or other body) coordination, agility, and stamina required to excel
4) Running or an alternative athletic/physical exertion (e.g. swimming, boxing, cycling)—beyond merely walking or sitting
I don't think I have to justify No. 1 or No. 2 in regards to NASCAR. If given simply the list of athletic qualities provided above, I can name a situation where every one of those is required at a given point during a race. Just try me.
And, as I've stated above, the ability to withstand between two to 64 G's (64 to 2048 feet per second) of force against yourself at any given time is an athletic quality and extreme physical exertion.
So all you minivan drivers, football freaks, whatever—those of you who still say that NASCAR (and, by nature, any form of auto racing) is not a sport—ought to go out and try it. Once you've driven 325 laps at Texas, you'll realize how physically exhausting the sport is. Maybe then you'll understand.
But until then, don't even try to tell me that NASCAR is not a sport, just because you can drive your personal car. Any Joe Schmo can do that.
Only a true athlete can drive a stock car.
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about 1 month ago
Smack Down !
Get on it.
about 1 month ago
Yes it is a sport ... Racing drivers are among the fittest athletes on this planet ... Read my article about Formula 1 drivers which is pretty much in the same vein as your article and it details about Drivers withstanding up to 5G on cornering and braking and then a crash can be anything up to 140G which would kill most humans but these guys walk away ! They are all at the peak of physical fitness and its impressive what they withstand for hours upon end. So yes 100% I agree with you ... They are athletes and it is a sport ! GAME ON ... Great article !
about 1 month ago
I didn't think any sort of car racing was a sport a couple of years ago, but the more I thought about it and the more races I watched brought me to the realization that it is. Just because the competition doesn't use human on human physical contact doesn't mean it isn't a sport. It is a physical grind that requires top notch mental awareness for a longer duration than a sport like baseball. You don't have a 7th inning stretch in Nascar.
Good article.
about 1 month ago
If you classify car racing as a sport, then you have to cassify bicycle racing as a sport, then we have to classify go-cart racing as a sport, and then we would have to classify mudding as a sport. Do you get my drift sport. All the aforementioned should rightfully be classified as an event not a sport. Yeah, I will take the G-Force equation into consideration, still it's an event not a sport. Hot dog eating contest, competition in that arena is pretty stiff also. Talk about head to head combat. Would you classify a hot dog eating contest a sport, I'd like to think not. I feel that a sport has to be primarily composed of human will and human effort, and be one degree functional from it's origin. Football; man and ball, Baseball; man, bat and ball, Soccer; man and ball, tennis; man and ball, my point is to make the game a sport, man has to be competing in a game that is one degree functional from it's origin. Racing, is an event where a car is driven to it's limit. I think the speed of the car and the groovy graphics make the race that much more enjoyable, even the jocheying for position can get exciting at times, but to call that event a sport is a far stretch of the imagination.
from about 1 month ago
Actually your aforementioned "events" would be classified as a "competitions" at the least if you can't bear to slot them as "sports".
After I wrote my open mic piece I re-considered my options on motorsports and using my three miserably failed attempts in the mid '70's in hobby stockers and a late model as an example I concluded that racing is in fact a difficult physical task while "competing" against opponents. Therefor motorsports easily qualifies as "sport".
But an even more difficult athletic feat is pitting a NASCAR stocker in 17 seconds or less while "competing" against 42 other pit crews. These "over the wall" crews would certainly fall within any and all parameters relating to defining the word "athlete".
So pit stops would qualify as a "sport" within a "sport".
Whattaya think ?
from about 1 month ago
ok martin, yeah hot dog eating contest is not a sport. i go with you on that. As for race car drivers Your saying man and machine is not a sport. Go into a sauna for 2-3 hrs and do a work out. you got your heart rate up, hand eye coordination let alone trying to make sure you stay in control the pedals and all this sitting confined in a seat where you cant even move to see over your shoulders with 43 cars around you. Let alone you have to mess with the force of air coming off the car in front of you and along side of you pushing you all around. i forgot to mention about the burning brakes,tires,gas fumes are also involved. Yeah they have a cool air running threw there helmets but the rest of there body is sweating and sore. I bet you been threw high winds right. How hard is it too keep your car straight and that’s at 65-75. Some one brought up mark martin and he is the oldest guy out there. You ever see that guys body. He has abs of steel. He works out with football player and they have come back and said has one of the hardest work out they have been threw. Yeah ever see a drive get out of a car and just drop to the ground after a race. They are in top shape. You have baseball and football player go out and drive at 160 at a Richard Petty driving school and everyone of those player come off that track and say yeah a race care driver are athlete. maybe someday next time its on they had a good program about race car drives on discover channel a couple of months back that would have open your eyes up to what they go threw.
from about 1 month ago
Wait... you wouldn't classify bicycle racing as a sport?
Why not?
about 1 month ago
Yeah Tony Stewart is a hard body. He truly is a big stud. Maybe he should go into a more demanding sport like billiards to show everyone what a big stud nascar drivers are. Maybe curling, or the spelling bee they cover that on ESPN 2.
from about 1 month ago
I can counter that with Mark Martin, soon to be 50 year old, who can hang with any stick and ball athlete in an objective physical competition.
from about 1 month ago
Just because someone is in good shape doesn't make them talented in sports. He is soon to be 50 and works out all the time so what...Doesn't really mean much when it comes to sports. They also classify body building as a sport...It doesn't mean anything being in good shape.
from about 1 month ago
Well then, being chubby like Smoke doesn't mean he's un-athletic then does it?
I've seen some 300+lb. NFL guys that Stewart could take at their own game.
from about 1 month ago
If you honestly believe that he could take them in a game of football you are nuts. No wonder you are a Nascar fan...all the pretty colors make you excited now doesn't it. I fail to see how a redneck with 3 teeth in his mouth, and a lip full of Copenhagen making a left turn all day passes as sport. Wow he has to deal with G-Force on himself big deal so do astronauts. You gotta be in good shape to do it. I worked at a tree service and that was pretty demanding physically too. Let's cover how many branches they throw in the chipper.
from about 1 month ago
Your points would be a lot more effective if you didn't make them in such a condescending manner.
So, in an effort to make things fair, let's talk about your "sport" of choice, ultimate fighting. I wouldn't call that a sport at all - I'd call that two men attempting to beat the sh*t out of one another. If you call that a sport, then you are a disgusting human being.
How do you score that? Who's lost more blood? Who ended up with more broken bones? Who the crowd cheered loudest for?
I mean, if seeing two men attempt to put each other on life support is your kind of thing, god bless, man. But I think quite a few people would just call that grotesque, myself included.
from about 1 month ago
Exactly I guess we could count how many Yokels killed themselves slamming into a wall doing it too right?
from about 1 month ago
Some of the linemen in the NFL don't belong there even as the one dimensional position requires. I'm betting Stewart and martin could compete with them in a discipline independent of both of their respective sports.
You obviously have no background in motorsports nor any knowledge of it's competitors, history and popularity so one can't expect an objective, well informed argument from you.
I don't know what it is you call a sport nor what you enjoy but I'm betting that you have experience dealing with the 3 tooth crowds at "professional wrestling" extravaganzas standing and blocking your view.
Jealousy is a good thing ... sharpens the wit.
from about 1 month ago
Nope not really into the professional wrestling being classified as a sport either. I know how Nascar began, some back woods bootleggers suped up their cars to outrun the cops. Then they argued as to who could pull off their illegal manuevers better. They put them racing each other, and now they commend them for it. I don't think that jockeys are athletes either, and that's all nasar drivers are is glorified jockeys.
about 1 month ago
NASCAR drivers may be athletic but that doesn't justify NASCAR as a sport in everyone eyes. Sure the drivers with stand G forces and must be in excellent physical shape but money buys a winning car.
If you want true competition in NASCAR and the driver is the determining factor lets change the rules and each team buys cars from the showroom all within the same class, modify them for safety but not engine changes, tires, aero packages etc.
Now let the driver be the major factor in determining who wins. NASCAR today is cookie cutter cars and money wins races not the driver unless unforseen factors occurs such as crashes, breakdowns, or violation of the rules.
Kurt Busch won last week not by the fact he had the best car or was the best athlete.
Paraphrasing Richard Petty and looking at his wins in the 70's he was not the best driver but at the time had the best people and cars for the time than the other teams caught up, just like Hendricks Motors last year.
from about 1 month ago
Is the IROC series a sport then? They give everybody the same equipment, no spotters, and they have to do it all themselves and the true best drivers win. Also, Kurt Busch winning is using strategy like when a football team only runs the ball to keep the ball and have the clock run down so their opponent doesn't win.
from about 1 month ago
Eldora ... Prelude to a Dream.
from about 1 month ago
My main point is, a sport is what a person wants to consider a competition or activity. We can apply the criteria of money to other sports such as baseball, where the higest payroll doesn't always win. But when it comes to equipment in racing money is bigger factor than the driver. I did say drivers where athletic but it doesn't make NASCAR a sport. Also Busch didn't win on strategy but rain who knows how the race would have turned out. By the way I watch NASCR almost every week. Isn't it nice for someone to have an opposite view whether they believe what they write or not.
from about 1 month ago
Fair points and you're right, an objective perspective is a bonus in the brains department so I'll give you that.
about 1 month ago
Football requires you to take a ball, pass the opposition, and cross the endzone line. Racing requires you to take your car, pass the opposition, and cross the finish line. Both are forms of competition.
I guess whether you consider something a sport or not depends on your definition of "sport". It is a tricky subject, as Martin pointed out with the hot dog eating competition example.
about 1 month ago
I completely agree with Jason a little higher up, while what pit crews do is truly amazing, tony stewart is far from an athlete. I was amazed that he was able to climb that chain link fence like he did a little while ago...other than Stewart though, after reading your article, I have to conced that NASCAR racing is a demanding sport.
from about 1 month ago
But he DID climb that fence didn't he !
about 1 month ago
I honestly can't believe people don't consider NASCAR drivers athletes. Really? Someone who is stuck in a sweltering car for a period of three to four hours, losing around eight pounds per race WITHOUT a time out or a seventh inning stretch isn't an athelete?! In baseball and football, half the teams win every week. In NASCAR, there's one winner and 42 losers. No, it's not like other sports- not at all. But that doesn't mean it's not one. Most of the drivers follow strict diets, have work out routines throughout the week and even take IVs before the race. Maybe Tony Stewart doesn't, but that doesn't mean you should base all drivers off just him- that's like saying every quarterback has dog fights because Michael Vick did. That's not fair, now is it? NASCAR is a sport, and the drivers are true athletes. I don't know how else to put it.
about 1 month ago
This is nonsense. A person driving a vehicle 150 miles per hour needs the same hand-eye coordination that a baseball batter requires to hit a baseball. And literally everyone knows hitting a baseball is the hardest accomplishment in sports, just ask Michael Jordan and Bo Jackson. You should dismiss out of hand anyone that argues to the contrary. In fact, the only argument should be is there more skill required in drag racing than in circular racing.
about 1 month ago
Why is it so important to some NASCAR fans that the drivers are athletes? Who cares? If fans enjoy watching the races, then who gives a crap if they are watching athletes or race car drivers? I consider NASCAR (or any other car race) a "motorsport" and the drivers as just simply "drivers". Chris, you went to great length to describe in quantitative detail how how these drivers are athletes. Nearly every detail you described might also apply to a fighter pilot, who also fall into the same large scale of human body shapes that race car drivers do. I can tell you from personal experience that NONE of them call themselves athletes (at least simply because they are pilots) and it is never called a sport.
Nobody with a clue about NASCAR doubts that it takes tremendous skill to do what the drivers and crews do at each race. However, lets not confuse the skill of the nominated Athlete of the year (Kyle Busch - are you kidding me???) with the atheticism of a decathlete (Brian Clay - who of course recieved no such nomination). BTW, I am a NASCAR fan so I am not anti-NASCAR. I am just tired of hearing the complaining about how NASCAR is a sport and drivers are athletes. Perhaps the very fact that people have to bring it up over and over again and defend it over and over again makes it a moot point... C'mon, just enjoy it for what it is. It is enjoyable to watch and if people don't like it, then don't watch. I find baseball incredibly boring, but I am not going to spend hours talking about why David Wells isnt an athlete. I just don't worry about it.
from about 1 month ago
Now see I totally agree with you. I can't see how it is a sport. It's hot in the car, it's hard to do, and it takes skill. A lot of things are like that. I really don't agree with Nascar being banned or whatever I might have said before...whatever floats your boat, but seriously I attack Nascar drivers and some people get bent out of shape like my little digs on them hurt their feelings. Nascar is a motorsport...acceptable. Drivers are just drivers, also acceptable, but I don't see any athletic prowess no matter how many times you say the car is hot.
about 1 month ago
There are many "sports", and just because some are far more physical than others, doesn't mean the others are not sports. Now although you may not have to be as "atheletic" to drive in NASCAR as you would to ride moto or fight, you do have to be in shape ( which means passing physicals after crashes that are far worse than any beating you take in ANY ring ), and you have to have "clean" blood - which is more than I can say for many "sports". Having non-professionally competed in many sports (including car racing,moto-x,football,baseball, ect. ect.) I can assure you that if I was out of shape, it was no "sport". To call ALL auto racers atheletes would be like calling ALL football players atheletes-------- lets get real. But it's only the atheletes that get the job done in ANY SPORT. As for Martin, have you ever competed in any sport? And in a Jason VS. Tony Stewart bout, who would you bet on ?
from about 1 month ago
To call ALL auto racers atheletes would be like calling ALL football players atheletes-------- lets get real.
Well said.
about 1 month ago
Yes NASCAR is a Sport.
But of all forms of Motorsports it is the least Sporting...except for Drag Racing.
about 1 month ago
You don't get into the NFL, or MLB or NASCAR just by sitting on your rear end eating potato chips- you HAVE to have talent.
All football players ARE atheletes- they work hard day in and day out to get into the sport they love, and the same is true about NASCAR drivers. Jeff Gordon didn't get where he was just because he may have a pretty face and is able to sell products, etc., and neither did any guy in the MLB or NFL. Sure, some athletes in the sport outshine others- Brian Urlacher vs. Josh Gattis, Jimmie Johnson vs. Brent Sherman... you know some names better than others, but all are athletes and all have put their hearts and souls into the sport they play. That's what a real athlete is.
about 1 month ago
According to Ernest Hemmingway: "There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games." I agree.
/longtime Yankees, Knicks, and Colts fan
from about 1 month ago
not hemingway ... barnaby conrad.
about 1 month ago
lol @ this load of crap, and lol @ thinking NASCAR is a sport. What a moron.
from about 1 month ago
Nice name and constructive comment, Ms. Bleauxjob. It's people like you who ruin communities like this for the rest of us.
about 1 month ago
This article, by the way, has been FARKed.
from about 1 month ago
Que es?
from about 1 month ago
HOLY SH*T!
from about 1 month ago
GOT IT! yah Chris got FARKed! Get on it!
about 1 month ago
staying up hours on end playing video games requires stamina, great hand eye coordination, skill, and is competitive ;), well good article as always
from about 1 month ago
Halo is not a sport, Matt. I'm sorry.
Unless you want to admit that chess is a sport too.
from about 1 month ago
Stop it ;0)
from about 1 month ago
Chris ... check out my take on the whole "What is a sport" debate. You'll find the link in my profile.
I argue it is conceivable that Halo and Chess could be considered sports.
about 1 month ago
well it does make all the requirements.. i myself think baseball is barely a sport never mind other things ill keep unnamed, the fact that its so damn hard to hit the ball I consider it a sport, master chief disagrees
about 1 month ago
An amzing article!
from about 1 month ago
whoever thinks that it is not has to check where they are coming from and learn what racing is all about, Ben's article and your's certainly clariy the issues
about 1 month ago
NASCAR is a sport like any motorsport is, and I'm a fan, but when it comes to athleticism NASCAR ranks somewhere below Golf and just above Tiddly Winks.
Only proof of this you need is the fact 3 drivers over 60 years raced at Daytona last night, including 73 year old James Hylton.
about 1 month ago
Ok well I guess Nascar can be technically defined as a sport, and its drivers can technically be defined as athletes. TECHNICALLY!
about 1 month ago
I keep reading these articles about whether or not NASCAR is a sport and whether or not the drivers are athletes. I posted in another article about how the main point is that there will always be two opinions about this.
Now...I do consider NASCAR to be a sport...and will I justify that by bringing in definitions from Webster's Dictionary or some other means? No.
Why not? Because as a fan, I should not have to justify why I want to call something a sport. My opinion is not going to make some massive changes.
Just let me have my opinion. If you disagree with me, fine...but don't disrespect what I enjoy or my opinion. I do not like golf, so I do not share an opinion about golf.
We can argue all day and night about NASCAR being a sport or not, but the whole point is that some will say it is and some will say it isn't.
about 1 month ago
This article outlines an interesting and note worthy point. While the general public may be inclined to classify NASCAR as a non sport based on preconceived impressions and stereotypes. I am here to say that NASCAR and auto racing are a sport. I am currently working in the Exercise Physiology field with an emphasis on motorsports. To simplify that term an Exercise Physiologies can be considered a mechanical engineer for the human body. We examine stresses placed on the body and work to find ways to limit fatigue and increase performance. I have worked with several NASCAR Sprint Cup teams and analyzed motorsport athletes. While the general public is quick to classify a sport based on event characteristics such as competition, offense, and defense I propose another type of classification. A sport is an event where individuals involved are physiologically at a higher fitness level then the general public thereby allowing them to participate in the sporting event of their specialty. From my studies I can say that motorsport athletes are at a high fitness level such as any other athlete in various sports. While this may seem to be a new idea to many I encourage you to Google Exercise Physiology, explore Exercise Physiology programs at Universities, and if you are interested in motorsports and physiology to look at UNC Charlotte’s program.
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