In the Merriam Webster Dictionary, the term "sport" as a noun means "physical activity engaged in for fun." Imagine how hot it gets inside and outside the car as heat rises on the track. Imagine going through this with few restroom breaks. Imagine, for just a second, having to withstand these conditions for 500 laps. Not only do drivers have to withstand heat, they have to have the endurance to power their way around a track and become physical with other cars by bumping them repeatedly, increasing their chance of accidents and death.

Imagine the rush of going 200 mph-so yes Nascar is a sport! The speed, the danger, the heat, the bumping and the accidents all make racing a sport and the most dangerous one at that.

If someone can honestly go to watch a race live and tell me that what those men are out there doing does not take talent then they are crazy. I go to Bristol nearly every year and it still amazes me the ability that they have.

If someone can honestly go to watch a race live and tell me that what those men are out there doing does not take talent then they are crazy. I go to Bristol nearly every year and it still amazes me the ability that they have.

 

No one said it doesn't take any talent or skill or ability. Other activites that require some level of talent/skill/ability include: chess, knitting, gardening, plumbing, painting, writing a report, and playing xBox. The debate is whether the "talent" that it takes to be a NASCAR driver qualifies it as a true sport.

Try driving a street stock (enduro, sportsman, etc.) for a 10 lap qualifier and a 20 lap feature against 20 other cars at a local quarter mile track on a hot August night. You don't have to win the race, but you have to be competitive and you have to keep the car on the track. That's just the entry level class of auto racing. Do that, then come back here and tell me it's not a sport. Believe me, it's not even close to driving up the interstate at high speed and it's nothing like playing X-box.

I remember what Bobby Allison said when asked by a reporter what he would say to those who dont think racing is a sport.

"Id say for them to climb in their cars through the window on a hot summer day. Roll the window up and turn the heat wide open. Then drive as fast as they can in rush hour traffic for three hours. If they get out after all that and still say racing isnt a sport Ill kiss their rear end"

Another quote:

"The only true sports in the world that Ive found are bull fighting, mountain climbing, and AUTOMOBILE RACING. The rest are just childrens games played by adults."-Earnest Hemingway

People who say this about racing and race car drivers show a lack of understanding about the sport. Saying that race car drivers arent real athletes because they cant do what other athletes do is like saying Micheal Jordan wasnt a real athlete because he wasnt very good at baseball. Michael was a great athlete, Tiger Woods is a great athlete, Peyton Manning is a great athlete, but Id like to see how good they are if they ever got between Dale Earnhardt and the checkered flag on the last lap. Dont get me wrong Im not saying that drivers are top notch olympic quality athletes but neither are some baseball and football players either.

Not being able to pee for hours on end...

Yes racing is a sport. (Mojo, I have often used the Hemmingway quote myself.)

 

And its a TEAM sport at that! The crews and drivers go thru extensive conditioning programs and most follow strict dietary guidelines. Especially at the track. I know for a fact that Rahal Letterman Racing has a trainer on staff that works with the crew almost daily. Strength and cardio conditioning are both coached. Almost every driver also goes thru a strict conditioning program as well.

 

I know that racing has not always been that way, but look how the training for other sports has changed in the last 30 years. Baseball players were practically forbidden to lift weights. Football players show up to fall camp to work themselves into playing shape, now they train year around or lose their jobs.

 

Yes racing is a sport!

Not being able to pee for hours on end...

 

Not usually a problem. I once heard Johnny Rutherford say if you have to go, you just go.

Not usually a problem. I once heard Johnny Rutherford say if you have to go, you just go.

 

After I wrote that, I had second thoughts for that reason alone.... Still I am in agreement this is a sport. Love Nascar!!

Try driving a street stock (enduro, sportsman, etc.) for a 10 lap qualifier and a 20 lap feature against 20 other cars at a local quarter mile track on a hot August night. You don't have to win the race, but you have to be competitive and you have to keep the car on the track. That's just the entry level class of auto racing. Do that, then come back here and tell me it's not a sport. Believe me, it's not even close to driving up the interstate at high speed and it's nothing like playing X-box.

 

:thumb: Ding ding ding, we have a winner!

People who say this about racing and race car drivers show a lack of understanding about the sport. Saying that race car drivers arent real athletes because they cant do what other athletes do is like saying Micheal Jordan wasnt a real athlete because he wasnt very good at baseball. Michael was a great athlete, Tiger Woods is a great athlete, Peyton Manning is a great athlete, but Id like to see how good they are if they ever got between Dale Earnhardt and the checkered flag on the last lap. Dont get me wrong Im not saying that drivers are top notch olympic quality athletes but neither are some baseball and football players either.

 

This is an awesome, awesome post! :thumb:

I consider Race car drivers as much of an athlete, as I do Airline pilots.

I personally don't view auto racing as a sport....I like it, but I don't feel its a sport. When you ride something that's doing most of the work, it's not a sport in my eyes. I also don't feel that competitions that must be judged (ie ice skating, cheerleading, etc...) to win, can't be sports. You have to be able to WIN, and have everyone know it so to speak.

Would you be willing to drive up the highway at 55 mph surrounded by 42 other cars and tap the guy in front of you on the bumper. These guys are fearless and do it on a 1/2 mile track at speeds 4 times that. I couldnt do what they do, just as I couldnt do what MJ or Tiger does. NASCAR IS A SPORT, and one of the best and fastest growing. Get used to it, it is only going to get more popular in the future. P.S. I'll pay top dollar for you to come to Greenup County and tell Candy Berry to her face that cheerleading is not a sport. When you do, bring an ice pack for the black eye I know it will hurt.

To me, if NASCAR isn't a sport, then neither is golf...

 

Golf seems to be widely accepted as a sport, so NASCAR should be as well. Where did this notion come from that for something to be a sport, the participants have to be great athletes?

 

sport (noun) - a physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively

 

NASCAR is a sport.