NBC Commentator Says There's No Doubt That NASCAR

[Guest OctoberBlood]

No doubt NASCAR drivers are athletes

 

Rigors of stock car racing demand high caliber of athleticism

 

COMMENTARY

By Allen Bestwick

NBC Sports

 

Should stock car drivers be considered athletes? Some people say no -- most often supporting their view by pointing out that many of us drive cars and don’t find it physically challenging. However, racing a stock car with an average interior temperature of 120 degrees for 500 laps at speeds that can border on 200 mph takes superior hand-eye coordination, depth perception, courage and physical fitness. Those factors lead me to give a resounding endorsement of stock car drivers as athletes.

 

SUPPORTING MY VIEW

 

The American Heritage Dictionary’s definition of an athlete is "a person possessing the natural or acquired traits, such as strength, agility and endurance, that are necessary for physical exercise or sports, especially those performed in competitive contexts."

 

Let's take apart that definition and scrutinize stock car drivers to see whether they fit the bill as athletes.

 

“A person possessing the natural or acquired traits,…”

 

Just as Barry Bonds possesses a natural talent for hitting a baseball and has refined that talent with experience, NASCAR’s top-level drivers have natural or acquired traits for racing cars that most of us are without.

 

Those traits include a lack of fear, an exceptional feel for controlling a car at excessive speeds, and exceptional hand-eye coordination.

 

These skills have been refined through their years of racing, beginning with go-karts as children and advancing up the different levels of the sport.

 

“…such as strength, agility and endurance necessary for physical exercise,…”

 

While I was never really good at physics in school, I have driven a stock car on a few occasions and I can vouch for the physical demands on one's body when racing.

 

A 3,400-pound stock car doesn’t drive like your SUV, it’s a brute.

 

At the speeds today’s stock cars attain, a driver is constantly wrestling the machine.

 

The moments he’s not pushing or pulling against the wheel and working the pedals are brief.

 

While all that is going on, the G-forces of the cornering speed are pulling a drivers’ head, torso and legs to the right -- the opposite way the rest of him is trying to go.

 

His ribs and shoulders are jamming against his seat and restraints and that's a feeling like taking a hit from a linebacker every minute for a few hours.

 

In racing schools like the Richard Petty Driving Experience, most people are sweating and have an elevated heart rate after just a few laps of driving.

 

A stock car driver must be able to handle these forces and stresses over three to four hours of competition.

 

That requires exceptional conditioning and a special level of endurance that few of us can boast.

 

The conditions compound the physical requirements on a driver.

 

He will be in a car designed for speed, not comfort.

 

The cockpit temperature will rise to over 120 degrees, and to reduce any aerodynamic “drag,” the car is designed to make air flow around it, but not inside it.

 

This puts a premium on cardiovascular fitness.

 

A driver must be able to process oxygen into his blood more efficiently than most of us and also must be able to do it in heated, stressful conditions for hours at a time.

 

“…especially those performed in competitive contexts.”

 

There can be no question drivers are by nature competitive.

 

Like other elite athletes, their desire to win and rise to the top of their field is a prime motivation in their daily lives.

 

All of the training, endless testing and practicing are done for one moment: the glorious one when victory in a race is achieved.

 

TRAINING COMPARISONS

 

Most drivers are on a vigorous training program.

 

Former Winston Cup champion Dale Jarrett trains six days per week to prepare for the competition of racing.

 

“I lift weights and do cardio Monday through Friday, then Saturday do an additional day of cardio” says Jarrett, who like many of his racing peers, was an outstanding multi-sport athlete in high school.

 

Jarrett was a quarterback, forward in basketball, shortstop and outstanding golfer.

 

Jarrett is a friend and business partner of quarterback Brett Favre of the Green Bay Packers and he has compared training notes with the future NFL Hall-of-Famer.

 

Jarrett says he and Favre seek different results from their workouts, noting that for racing he needs his back to be strong for the time he spends in the driver's seat, while Favre needs for his legs to be strong.

 

Favre is careful about how his arm is worked out while Jarrett’s concern for cardio conditioning is a top priority.

 

MENTAL STRENGTH ALSO NEEDED

 

One often overlooked aspect of racing a stock car is the relentless need for concentration at a high level.

 

A basketball or football player needs to be mentally sharp to execute plays and react to game situations quickly and effectively.

 

A stock car driver can never let his concentration waver.

 

One mental lapse -- be it a missed braking point or daydream-induced “drift” of lanes -- can cause a crash, which will likely result in hitting a wall at well over 100 mph -- not a safe or pleasant experience.

 

DIFFERENT DEMANDS IN A DIFFERENT ERA

 

In NASCAR’s earlier years, especially the 1950s and 1960s, drivers were not considered very athletic, and I would agree with that assessment.

 

Today, however, times have changed and it's a different story.

 

This generation of stock car racers compares very favorably with elite athletes in other sports.

 

These drivers may not run a 4.5 in the 40-yard dash or be able to hit 50 home runs in a baseball season, but could a baseball player or a football player last 500 miles in a race car?

 

The strength, agility and endurance demonstrated by stock car drivers in a competitive context are without question of exceptional quality and prove their athleticism.

 

© 2004 MSNBC Interactive

 

I tried to come up with a mature, response .. but the only thing I could say is;

 

[The Czech Republic 0]

Hide this thread before Choken One gets here, we'll all be doomed...

[Guest OctoberBlood]

Well first off, let me say... I am a Nascar fan. I don't hate on the "sport", but there is no way I will call these guys athetletes. I don't watch every race, but when I can, I do watch quite a few of them. I know there is alot more than just driving in cricles, which some boneheads like to put it. So that's my disclaimer. I don't see any logic to calling a driver an athlete.

[Youth N Asia 0]

Unless they're running from the cars it's not a sport and by no means are they athletes

[snuffbox 0]

Athletes my ass

[Damaramu 0]

Remember the story from Have a Nice Day where Foley ran that angle at the race as Cactus Jack?

He said that they weren't athletes and such and the guy jumped out of his car and yelled at Foley so Mick piledrove him on the hood of the car?

NASCAR would be better if that happened more often.

[Youth N Asia 0]

Yeah, Mick said althetes either ran, fought, or swam for their lives. They didn't get into cars and drive away.

[Art Sandusky 0]

I call auto racing, motorcycles, speedboats, whatever, the same thing:

 

Motor Sports.

 

If it's a human driving the main action, it's a sport. In the case of NASCAR, it's a motor.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

I think they're athletes.

 

*shrugs...*

[Guest Choken One]

Atheltic.

 

As long as Jimmy Spencer is still driving...we can't fully say they are atheltes.

[Cran Da Maniac 0]

Atheltic.

 

As long as Jimmy Spencer is still driving...we can't fully say they are atheltes.

 

Well since his ride is pretty much done for the season, can we call them athletes?

 

And I say the conditions they perform in, the risk that poses and all that makes them athletes. You watch the Daytona 500, or a race at Bristol, and tell me that they can't be considered athletes.

[2GOLD 0]

It's hard to say actually. I mean, in terms of endurance they are ahead of some of the sports since despite people thinking this stuff is just get in the car and go, it's not.

 

The crew members, you could make a case they are athletes more than the drivers. I mean, if Golfers and Baseball players are athletes then these guys might be athletes. The drivers, I'm not sure but they damn sure are more athletic than people give them credit for.

 

Reaction time they are ahead of all the other sports though. I just hate it when people say "it's just driving and turning left" which it's not. If you don't consider them athletes, that's fine.

 

I think soccer and the NFL are the top athlete sports, Baseball isn't very athletic at all and NASCAR has elements but it's hard to call them athletes.

 

The only real athletes are Football (American, Rugby and actual), Basketball and that's about it. If these guys aren't athletes then neither are Baseball players.

[Chuck Woolery 0]

Um, I'd say hockey players are pretty goddamn athletic, myself.

 

On-topic EDIT: I can't bring myself to call auto racing a sport because there's no direct combat between people. In football, hockey, soccer, and basketball, there's some sort of physical contact between people, and even baseball you get your exciting slide finishes that give you physical contact. In auto racing you get none of this, which is why I can't call it a sport.

Edited February 16, 2004 by Chuck Woolery

[Damaramu 0]

Baseball's not athletic? I think that requires the most coordination of all the sports.

[Guest Anglesault]

superior hand-eye coordination, depth perception, courage and physical fitness.

Does that strike anyone else as "cop"?

[Cran Da Maniac 0]

superior hand-eye coordination, depth perception, courage and physical fitness.

Does that strike anyone else as "cop"?

On what part? If you mean based on the topic, then no. If you mean based on his response then yes.

[Guest Anglesault]

I'm saying that those are also traits of a police officer.

 

No one is tripping over themselves to declare the cops athletes

[Art Sandusky 0]

I won't go all the way to call them athletes, but let's plop any of you complete nay-sayers into the #8 and see you run bumper-to-bumper with 42 other cars at 180mph for 33 weeks and not die before the end of the first lap, let alone the first race. If not athletic, at least recognize that it requires great skill.

 

And MVS, that definition of sport would disqualify a LOT of sports.

[Guest OctoberBlood]

If not athletic, at least recognize that it requires great skill.

I don't think anyone in their right mind has said anything like racing doesn't take skill.

[Guest Anglesault]

If not athletic, at least recognize that it requires great skill.

Absolutely.

 

So does Chess.

Edited February 16, 2004 by Anglesault

[Brush with Greatness 0]

Baseball's not athletic? I think that requires the most coordination of all the sports.

I'm assuming you can't skate and most likely have never tried to.

[Art Sandusky 0]

If not athletic, at least recognize that it requires great skill.

Absolutely.

 

So does Chess.

The next time someone dies while playing chess, call me.

 

That's what makes it so dire, that if you aren't skilled, you, well, are completely fucked.

 

Next you're going to say "Hunters need skill or they're dead too."

[Mole 0]

When I was visiting my friend in Syracuse over winter break, we went to her Dad's house one night. We were watching the Colts/Broncos game and talking about sports.

 

Her Dad said "The REAL sport starts next month." If the man wasn't ten times my size, a drunk and didn't have an uzi in his house I would have laughed at him.

 

I don't like Nascar at all, but I do respect what they do.

[2GOLD 0]

Anything were you place your life on the line for the enjoyment of others in something were the end result is not pre-determined is a sport. Remember, the Gladiators were the first athletes.

 

And if cheerleading can now be defined as a sport, then so can NASCAR and INDY and anything else. If they are giving away GOLD MEDALS for BALL ROOM DANCING then anything is a sport.

 

And I've heard people say "NASCAR requires no skill, you just get in a car and drive".

 

And for those who say NASCAR doesn't require endurance, ask those drivers how they feel in June when they get out of the car after running around Dover or Daytona for 400 miles. Hell, most of the time they need an oxygen mask and fluids afterwards cause they are so drained. Not to mention the strength to turn those cars at those speeds, the wheel is a bitch to try and turn when the car isn't even moving.

 

It's possible they are athletes. And I find these guys way more athletic than baseball where chubby ass Cecil Fielder can be a success even though he could barely move. And Eric Karros, who runs slower than I thought humanly possible.

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

NASCAR is NOT a sport. If it is, then I am the world's greatest athlete for driving to work today......

[nl5xsk1 0]

NASCAR is a sport ... the same way that ballroom dancing is considered a sport. And bowling. And golf. And cheerleading. And anything else that's competitive and takes skill and practice.

 

But even if you consider the people that play the sports listed above as "athletes", you have to admit that they're less athletic than people that play other sports (e.g. football, soccer, hockey, basketball, baseball, etc.) And 2GOLD, you mentioned Fielder and Karros as proof that baseball players aren't athletic. It's an unfair comparison, to take 2 of the least athletic players as symbols for the entire sport. For every Cecil Fielder or David Wells there are dozens of in-shape players. If you're going to take the least athletic of one sport, you'd have to take the least athletic of all sports. Or, conversely, take the most athletic of all sports. And, by that comparison, I truly think that NASCAR drivers can barely be considered athletes.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

I'm saying that those are also traits of a police officer.

 

No one is tripping over themselves to declare the cops athletes

 

Probably because Patrolman Pork Rind here ain't winnin' no marathons.

[Ced 0]

I'll give NASCAR the benefit of the doubt and call it a sport. Some of those NASCAR pit crews are pretty damn hoss.

 

I'd watch it more if they had more track complexity than a friggin left turns. I want high speed negotiations of a hairpin turn, dammit.

[Guest Anglesault]

I'm saying that those are also traits of a police officer.

 

No one is tripping over themselves to declare the cops athletes

 

Probably because Patrolman Pork Rind here ain't winnin' no marathons.

Most police departments require the cops to be in reasonably good shape.

 

The next time someone dies while playing chess, call me.

 

That's what makes it so dire, that if you aren't skilled, you, well, are completely fucked.

 

Next you're going to say "Hunters need skill or they're dead too."

 

No, I'll go back to the cop.

[Guest jpclemmons]

In terms of motorsport. F1 requires more athletic ability than nascar with how much g-loads enter thier bodies and the amount of turns they make a race without the the all-conspicous NASCAR yellow. Here's a typical looking NASCAR driver .Jimmy Spencer