Sport is defined as "an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature." If a group of people were asked why people watch NASCAR, most would probably say that they watched for the spectacular crashes. Few, if any, would say that they watch NASCAR for the "physical prowess on display.”
Right away, this takes away from the credibility of NASCAR as a "sport,” and pushes it towards the domain of "entertainment." To the casual observer, there is little reason to even watch NASCAR until the final lap or two of a major race, where most of the real excitement of NASCAR happens.
Driving around for hours at insanely high speeds takes guts, but really, anyone with a driver's license can hold their foot on the pedal for hours at a time and steer, without much physical training. These cars are very hot and stuffy, but the drivers stay well hydrated throughout the race.
Anybody who is in a hot environment for a long time will get hot, even if they aren't moving around much, as is the case in NASCAR, where the driver only has to keep their foot on the pedal and hands on the wheel. Realistically, anyone staying adequately hydrated can withstand the heat for a long period.
In addition, when most "real athletes" hydrate after the game, they drink water or Gatorade; but popular post-race drinks include whatever soda sponsors a driver. Other than soccer and rugby (and apparently volleyball), real sports don't provide advertisement space on their players during the game.
NASCAR drivers are glorified entertainers, and anyone who can manage to sit watch a full NASCAR race must be either really bored or a truly devoted fan. Any event in which the fans sit for as long as the competitors, should not be considered a sport at all.
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2 months ago
Smell that? It's dead horse...
from 2 months ago
Yeah and it's getting ripe.
2 months ago
Fine then, if you think it's so boring and easy, you try and pull it off.
from 2 months ago
I never directly said it was easy. The concepts are basic and require little athletic skill (definition of a sport) was the message i was trying to get across. Plus, the massive role sponsors play suggests that its more for money and entertainment than for sport.
2 months ago
What makes a good drive isn’t being able to just hold down the gas pedal. I would say that their “physical prowess” is on display. A driver, drives with their whole body, they feel the car. What makes them an athlete is their ability interpret that physical stimuli and communicate what changes need to be made to the car in real time. Yes if you are new to NASCAR maybe you wouldn't see that. However, with any sport the more you understand it the more you will enjoy it.
from 2 months ago
In motorsports though, the performance of the vehicle is the greatest factor in deciding the outcome of the race; I don't see how this can be considered "sport" in the same way basketball, baseball, football, and soccer are.
2 months ago
Lee Banov, you don't understand how the sport began so your comment about the role of sponsors really takes things out of context. NASCAR began as an outgrowth of moonshiners racing each other in their souped-up cars, to see who had the fastest car. That sounds an awful lot like competition to me.
I'd like find out what your favorite sport is, so I can criticize it in some way.
"There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games." - Earnest Hemingway
from 2 months ago
Remember Matt, chess is a competition too. Just because it's a competition doesn't mean it's a sport. But I guess if you consider watermelon seed spitting competitions, video game competitions, and competitive eating to be "sports," you can consider NASCAR one, too.
Plus, even if NASCAR started out as a simple racing organization, its easy to see what a big role sponsors play in everything nowadays, which I really doubt is in the spirit of the original NASCAR.
from 2 months ago
That's not a Hemingway quote.
2 months ago
Why did you find it necessary to single out NASCAR? Do you feel the same way about Indy Car, F1, American Le-Mans, etc?
I have a feeling that the stereotypes associated with the fans and drivers of the sport (yeah, I said it) played heavily into the outcome of this article.
from 2 months ago
NASCAR is the most popular form of auto racing in the U.S, and that is why I chose to "single it out."
If F1 and other forms of racing were more popular, I would have mentioned those. Nowadays, many drivers aren't the stereotype that you suggested, so that was not much of a factor. As for the stereotype of the fans, that was not relevant to whether I consider NASCAR a sport or not.
2 months ago
Using that logic, Lee, then everything is run by money these days. What about companies sponsoring football stadiums, baseball stadiums, and basketball arenas? Does it not become about money for them? The NFL, NBA, MLB, etc. all have official sponsors, just like NASCAR. Teams have advertising deals with companies, which is why luxury boxes are so important when new ones are built. Care to disagree with that?
from 2 months ago
Right, but the outcomes of real sports depend on an athlete's performance and not a machine's.
2 months ago
The performance of the vehicle in motorsports in an important factor in wining but it is not the only factor. If the driver was such a small part of winning then there shouldn’t be much difference in the standings of members of a signal team. Then why is Kyle 1st in The Chase and Denny Hamlin 12th? I would argue because Kyle is more skilled at interpreting the physical stimuli I mentioned before, which is why his car performs better, thus he is the he better athlete. It is an “athletic activity requiring skill” to drive at the NASCAR level, because the driver must analysis the car’s performance while under ruthless conditions. The heat and dehydration the driver faces isn’t just a hot car with no AC. Symptoms of dehydration can be a mild as a headache to hypotension (low blood pressure). Severe dehydration can lead to delirium or unconsciousness due to the drop in blood pressure. The extreme heat in the car will bring on dehydration faster then say on the basketball court. A driver has to fight through the symptoms of severe dehydration at 140 mph, not crash into the wall, and still have something useful to tell the crew chief. Not just anyone can do this, it is a skill and unlike chess the physical component makes it more then just an intellectual challenge. I’m not saying NASCAR is a sport in the same way as basketball or football, but based on your own definition it is a sport.
2 months ago
If NASCAR isn't a sport then neither is baseball in your depiction of what makes a "sport" a "sport". If I am understanding correctly, you are saying that a sport can be considered a sport if a player or team of individuals sweat and need hydration from excessive exercise...is this right? Well I've played many professional sports, including baseball, cricket and curling - not to mention all the other sports that the readers have pointed out in reply to this article...and none of these sports make you sweat. The only guy i see working up any kind of a sweat in baseball is the pitcher, for a whole second and a half then he stands there in the hot sun (if there is no dome), dehydrating.
Lee, if you were looking to see what kind of hornets nest you could stir by poking at the largest SPORT in America (yes, NASCAR, as a sport is larger than baseball, football and basketball combined - check the stats) then you have succeeded. But you are not just poking fun at the sport, you are poking fun at the people that know its a sport, all 80 million plus of us. In future, dont make statements about something you have no idea about, or at least do the research first.
2 months ago
In response to your sponsorship statement...now I know your just playing around or you have no idea how sponsorship plays a key role in every sport in the world. Angie Akers of the AVP works harder than any athlete I've ever seen and we can't begin to even understand how Beach Volley Ball pros jump over 8 feet, standing still, from the sand...but they do. Angie and most of the V-ball athletes main sponsor is Cuervo. Without them as a sponsor, we don't get to see the incredible things that human beings do, as money is what gives athletes the opportunity to perform and the fan the opportunity to witness it.
from 2 months ago
I understand that every team in every sport has sponsors, but NASCAR is the one event where drivers are known by their sponsors. Think about it, what's on every piece of Tony Stewart merchandise? Home Depot #20? But yet, baseball and football jerseys don't have a sponsor on them, other than the makers of the jersey. I realize that teams rely on sponsors for stadiums, sometimes uniforms, etc., but NASCAR takes sponsorship over the top. David Ortiz is not always associated with Vitamin Water though he does ads for them, yet Jeff Gordon is almost always associated with DuPont.
2 months ago
About your comment about sponsorships and I believe David mentioned it too with Angie Akers. Sponsors like Cuervo help bring events to those of us that would never ever see it. I live in the midwest and trust me there are no beaches around here so the only way I'm going to be able to see a beach volleyball game is to see it on TV or go to California, or Florida someplace with a beach.
Matt Hasselbeck has done Soup ads. When I see the Chunky Soup ads, I think of Matt Hasselbeck and the other guys in the commercials.
You have to think of NASCAR as a bunch of teams just like you would view the teams in the NFL as individual teams. When you say NFL you think of your favorite team. When someone says MLB you think of your favorite team. And sponsors are important to them. Fenway Park wouldn't be the place it is today without help from ticket sales and sponsors. Just like Roush-Fenway Motorsports wouldn't be who they are without the help of their sponsors.
Sports teams, Jerseys, don't have sponsor names on them usually you're right. But there might be a patch on an arm that is a sponsor. But in most ball parks football/baseball there are tons of ads all over the place!
2 months ago
Just because the "stick and ball" (the car) of motor racing is more intricate, adjustable and costly than many other sports. It does not negate the fact that it takes as much, if not more physical prowness, and endurance from the competitors as is required from competitors in other sports. And FYI - just because celebrations may involve a variety of unsportsmanlike beverages, all cars have drinking systems installed (the acronym for these is G.I.D.S.- Gatorade In-car Drinking System, draw your own conclusions). Many times, the skill of a driver can compensate for the underperformance of his car to acquire victory over the opposing teams. The assumption that adding technology in one aspect of the sport negates its athletes from being classified as such is misinformed. This is the same argument that is (erronously) used in saying that hockey goalies are no longer athletes because of the expanded size of modern-day pads. It may make athletic ability more difficult to recognize to uninformed, casual viewer; but a successful driver, goalie, or competitor of any sport, is still defined by their athletic (physical and mental) ability. Following your unfounded thought process would lead one to conclude that, because skiers use tools in their sport that are designed by advanced technology and do not power themselves but rather rely on gravity and only guide these tools down a track, they too aren't athletes, and skiing is not a sport. Sure better tools make them more competitive, but they are still athletes, and skiing is still a sport.
2 months ago
I thought we were way past this question being discussed in any serious sports forum. NASCAR is the epitome of American team sports, from the engine and fab shops to the pit crews and drivers. And, yeah, sponsors, too, 'cause they have a role in how well these teams compete. A breakdown or shortfall - or heroic commitment and achievement - anywhere along the line affects the outcome. It's a sport that merges many different kinds of prowess, including athletic. A pit crew's athleticism is certainly beyond question, but just becasue you can't see the driver ovetrly exercising his physical skills and prowess - in terms of reflexes, dexterity, strength, endurance, coordination - doesn't mean they don't exist. And the fact that some drivers seem more able to avoid wrecks than others, can put their cars where physics and common sense suggest they cannot possibly fit, and can mount a relentless charge after 480 miles of flat-out racing indicate that such qualities make a difference. You're kidding, right, Lee? NASCAR not a sport? It is THE sport.
2 months ago
I'm a NASCAR guy and I say it's a competition, not a "sport" in the classic sense. So, against concern for my safety here, I will agree with you.
While I concede that competing in a race, any automotive race, is rigorous and physically demanding, I do not believe that the physical confrontation clause is satisfied excepting certain post race girly fights in the garage area which are usually settle by crew members lest a purty boy gets roughed up.
For those of you who don't see the physical difficulty in racing, I simply suggest 2 / 100 lap segments on a local go-cart track and then shut the hell up.
However, there is a group of athletes that are always overlooked in this debate and that would be those crew members that go over the wall in the pits. The "Pit Stop" satisfies all the criteria for "Sport" inclusive of all Major League, Amateur and Minor League competition.Those guys be athletes in a true sport.
2 months ago
NASCAR should definetly be considered a sport because the drivers have to be physically fit to drive a race car at 200 mph for 500 miles. And it isnt just the driver the pit crew has to be super fit as well as it requires alot of working out and training to fill a car up with gas and change four tires in 16 seconds
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