Is racing really a sport?

Question

Does driving alot qaulify you as an athelete? Does that make cross country truck drivers atheletes? No matter how fast your going or for how long it seems to me that turning the wheel is still just turning the wheel. I had a car with no power steering once. Now that was hard driving.

Answer 1

I have been asked this time and time again. I ride motocross, and belive me, you need to be in shape to be competitive. Your heart rate can go up in excess of 180 beats per minuite, and it has been proven that motocross is the worlds most physically demanding sport.
as far as car racing goes, all you do is sit there, and drive. granted they have fine tuned reflexes, and able to sit in a cockpit that is well over 100 degrees on some racedays, but as far as being athletes. I dont think they qualify.
in all reality, how hard is it to drive around a track in a car?

Answer 2

Other than Soccer and Hockey, I have no problem saying Racing is the most athletic sport in the world. Lets compare....

Time:
Racing last for 3-4 hours with one break per 7 races
Football - 3 - 5 seconds with a 40 second break,
Basketball -18 - 24 seconds with a 5 second break,
Baseball (for a first baseman) - 6 seconds with a 51 second break.

Season: (with post season)
Racing - 45 Weekends with Testing and 2 off weeks
Football - 22 Weeks with one bye week
Basketball - 29 Weeks
Baseball - 31 Weeks w/ many multi-day breaks & All-Star break.

Travel is similar....Drivers can find themselves traveling from N. Carolina to Milwaukee to San Fransico. to Milwaukee to San Fransico in three nights. There is definent travel.

Weather:
Assuming we're playing outside in Max Conditions
Racing: 130 F (Hotter than getting in a car after its been sitting in the sun)
Other outdoor sports: 90-100 F minus Wind Chill.

I havent even mentioned the crews these drivers have, which I think are the bigger atheletes. I think that anybody that thinks racing isnt a sport, must think that only touching other guys is the definition of being a sport. Its the only sport that includes an extremely high death toll rate, so its dangerous. I cannot see how its not a sport, how could you?

Answer 3

Yes racing is a sport and drivers are athletes. The 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."

Top level drivers have natural or acquired talents for racing cars that many of us do not possess. Theses include lack of fear, exceptional feel for controlling a car at excessive speeds, and excessive hand-eye coordination. And driving a race car, especially 3,400 pound stock car, is nothing like driving the family sedan. At the speeds today's cars attain the driver is constantly wrestling the machine, and the moments he's not pushing or pulling the wheel and working the pedal are brief.

During a race, drivers can experience several Gs in the corners, pulling their head, torso and legs the opposite direction hes trying to go. The forces cause his ribs and shoulders to be jammed against the seat and restraints. And for stock car drivers, this is done in a cockpit that can reach temperatures as high as 130 degrees, in a car designed to reduce drag so there little air flow inside. With races averaging 3-4 hours, some with few or no cautions, this requires exceptional conditioning and level of endurance few of can boast. Driver have known to lose 5-10 lbs of water weight during a race.

And remember all this is done while competing against 42 other drivers, with each one pushing his machine to its very limit. At certain tracks the cars race in tight packs, going 3 and 4 wide, bumper-to-bumper for 500 miles. That takes an intense level of concentration.

The skills that a race car driver possesses can be put in the same context as many other athletes. They are able to do things with a race car that most cannot, just like very few us can hit a 100mph fastball, run the 40 yard dash in under 5 seconds, or dunk a basketball from the foul line.

If you want to even get a taste to what its like to be a race car driver, drive the car you had without power steering 90 mph on a 4-lane freeway with lots of curves, in full rush hour traffic, sitting in a tight seat and tight belts, with the heat on high, wearing a helmet, for four hours straight.

Answer 4

Yes.
Let's see....In 1958, The Florida Sports writers voted Nascar driver, Fireball Roberts, Athlete of the year! So here it is 49 years later and people are still asking this question? You obviously know nothing about racing.

I noticed your a HUGE W.W.E. fan. Do you think that is a sport? Because it IS NOT! Those people are actors playing out to a script! There's No 'sport' involved in it. They are not in competition. Who watches that crap anyway?

Do you consider Golf a sport? I think the caddy carrying around the bag is more athletic than Tiger Woods.

And your analogy about driving a truck holds no water.
I can run, jump, swing a bat, throw a baseball-football-basketball too, but I don't see my self being in the Olympics or Major league's anytime soon!

Answer 5

These drivers have to be in top notch shape, mentally and physcially. You try driving the way they have to in the heat "just turning the wheel" and see what happens to you. They can lose up to 20 lbs. per race. The concentration they have to have. Not to mention the guts!!!!!!!! I would just love to see the Average Joe who says the same thing you do get out there and do what these drivers do, then come back and tell us fans that its not a sport or its easy.
Its not just a sport, its a way of life. You either get it or you dont.

Answer 6

Yes

Answer 7

You need to be fit to drive a racecar where it is often 20 degrees hotter inside the car than it is outside.

Answer 8

why dont you try to do what the race car drivers of any sport does and see how difficult it is and then come back and post this question....

Answer 9

Sport....look it up...

an outdoor or athletic pastime. fun: diversion
jesting: a subject of diversion
display ostentatiously
play; frolic


you figure it out..


go Jr go

Answer 10

listen, buddy, racing aint all fun and games it takes endurance, patience, smarts, and guts, alright so why dont u go try and come back and answer your own question...dont knock it, till ya try it