Is NASCAR a sport?

Question

drive in circles every day on the freeway. Playing video games has given me some great hand-eye coordination. But does my need to employ that hand-eye coordination to avoid accidents make me an athlete? I wish, but no.
No competition should be granted "sport" status until its athletes' god-given athletic abilities and talents determine their chances at victory in that particular "sport." The natural talents of NASCAR participants do not determine their success in an event. They rely on the equipment they operate and other people around them to have a chance at winning. Does a different brand of football (soccer ball) or a different company's batting gloves on a baseball player have any bearing on the outcome of those sports? No.Then there's the whole athlete thing. NASCAR drivers are not athletes, for the most part.

It all comes down to the fact that NASCAR drivers rely far too heavily on their equipment and the talents of those supporting them to be considered "sport" participants. Reality tells me that I could give Tiger Woods my bag of golf clubs and he'd probably be okay. But I wouldn't put money on Dale Jr.'s chances at Bristol with my Accord. NASCAR certainly is a corporate-driven phenomenon. It is a heavily intense competition, but it is no more a sport than a cooking show on the Food Network.....Consider the similarities. Both involve a person operating one or more large pieces of metal in the same fashion time and again. driver drives in circles, while Emeril stirs in circles.You pay to see both things, whether it is through cable television billing or tickets to a NASCAR event.I suppose in the end we really only have ourselves to blame.

In our constant attempts to include everyone and leave no one behind in every facet of life, we've given the status of "sport" to many things that don't deserve it. NASCAR is only one of them.

hey dude...NASCAR fans sit on their couches for 4 hours without air conditioning in their trailers in alabama, what's the difference betweent that and sitting in a car? plus cars have air conditioning, theyre stupid for taking it out...making the "sport" even more stupid.

scooby, that further proves my point. in a SPORT, you needto begin training at a very young age to become a top athlete, a top competitor. the 5 year old girls RUNNING back and forth are atheletes, and theyre training their bodies. you must be really stupid or southern not to see that.

hey grandma, don't get me started on american football...

Answer 1

ath·lete
Pronunciation[ath-leet]
–noun

a person trained or gifted in exercises or contests involving physical agility, stamina, or strength; a participant in a sport, exercise, or game requiring physical skill.

I know plenty of athletically gifted individuals who have never played a physical game of any kind because games bore them.

I know plenty of players who in actuality are not athletes.


Your disturbed view of games in which a player does not depend on others or some equipment to have a chance to win does not exist anywhere in any team game.

Even a batter in baseball has to depend on his team for a chance to win because although he could hit a homerun every at bat, the team must play defense when on the field. This is a basic truism of any team game.

He must depend on his bat to not break and in order for him to hit the ball his sight must get the information to the brain in time for the brain to get the hands to get the bat around on the ball in time. A millimeter can mean the difference in strike or a homerun. Big deal!

A race driver must depend on his team, on his car not to break and his sight to get the information to the brain so the brain can get the hands and feet to get the car to do what it needs to do. A millimeter can mean the difference in life or death.

If one is willing to risk his life while using his training or natural abilities in an endeavor, then he is most definitely engaged in true sport.

No matter how well conditioned, agile, strong or incredible stamina an athlete may have, if his life is not dependent upon those qualities, he is only engaged in a game.

Now, if they told the batter that if he fails, he would be killed by hanging and he still willingly stepped up to the plate because he has complete faith in his own ability, well that would make baseball a sport. If after watching a few of their brethren die, they continued to voluntarily step up to the plate, then they would transcend the world of players to become sportsmen.

I agree the word "sport" needs to be redefined. The word "game" should be stricken from the definition.

Are race drivers athletes? Who cares?

Are they sportsmen? You bet your life!

Base jumping is a sport and the participant is putting complete faith, not in himself other than in his ability to pack a chute, but wholly in his equipment to function as designed.

Is he an athlete? Again, who cares? He's willing to jump off a cliff with nothing but faith in a parachute.


Proposed new definition of "sport":

Any form of competition or endeavor in which the likelihood of death can occur during the normal pursuit of the competition or endeavor either through error or fate.


Proposed new definition of "game":

Any endeavor that is not a sport.

Answer 2

Baseball bats and footballs. Stale. No technical advances going on there is there? Shorten the field? No. Lower the net? No. Cork bat's? Been done.
Why do you think steroids are so rampant all the while home run records are being broken by cheaters while MLB turns it's back? This is what is making me sick to my stomach. Not wether drivers are athletes or racing cars is a sport!

Circles. Yes, circles are 1 of 3 keywords people who drive Honda's and VW's use at an attempt to discredit something they don't understand. IE motorsports. Would you feel better if Nascar drove 500 miles straight down the interstate? I dont get you guys!
Baseball players run around a circle that's actually a square but they call it a diamond. (yes, I know, extend the baseline from a helicopter) So what's your point on the circles? You dont get racing automobiles. Fine.

What I do get and like is ALL sports AND Motorsports. You only understand stick and ball sports. Therefore who cares if you want to discredit racing and compare it to a cook stirring a pot which is borderline insane to me so much it really doesn't register in my huge, deep brain.

Tiger woods? Golf? That's a couch game compared to racing for 500 miles. I wont even go there out of respect for my dad who I respect as a golfin' nut!!! He respects Alice Cooper for his golfing ability's which kinda freaks me out. LOL.

You, my friend, are in the minority. Nascar is the second biggest sport behind the NFL in the USA. I'm sorry you feel left out.
I remember a sports announcer on ESPN years ago saying that "Nascar and Golf are the only true sports left because every course is always different and refreshing. There's no changing hair colors. No new pearcings and no legal scandals".

Answer 3

Nascar is the first sport I ever know and payed attention to. Nascar is my favorite thing to watch every Sunday on summer. Nascar is an American Sport Nascar isn't a sport, it's a lifestyle(I miss those Busch beer commercial). Nascar tracks are churches. Nascar is a sport. Merry Christmas Nation.

Answer 4

It is very easy to say that NASCAR all comes down to equipment. That it can't be a true sport unless there is no equipment involved. But that leaves out football, baseball, hockey, golf, volleyball, basketball, tennis, soccer, figure skating, skateboarding, the Tour de France and bicycling in general and on and on and on and on.

I doubt very seriously if Tiger Woods could be as competitive in a major tournament if he was using clubs he bought at Wal-Mart. The idea that your Honda Accord deserves to be in tha same category as a Nextel Cup car is disingenuous. It is an argument that is comparing apples and oranges.

The fact of the matter is, there is no official definition of the word "sport" that doesn't include what is going on at the track on Sunday. There is no definition of the word athlete that doesn't include race car drivers.

No is where we point out that Jimmy Spencer was no Mr. America and that Tony Stewart is getting a little roly-poly. But so was Babe Ruth. Was he an athlete? Too many of you confuse conditioning with athletic ability.

It is a tired and played out question served up by one troll too many. The question is asked by folks who have no idea what an athlete is and it is applied to NASCAR by people who have no clue about motor sports.

Answer 5

No one really cares if you do or do not like Nascar. Even if it is not called a sport, each race holds more spectators than any other sport around. It is also the fasting growing sport.

So, if it makes you feel important to to come into a forum that you know nothing about and call it a non-sport, go ahead. It will not change the minds of millions watching.

I doubt you in your cheap little Accord could even consider yourself a match for the big boys. As for the south and trailer living..... wrong corner of the country for me and my 3200 sg foot house would not quite fit in a trailer park.

Now, pay close attention..... turn left, slow down. enter pit road, get out of the car (beforeyou hurt someone), and go back to the FIFA forum to play with the other little boys.

Answer 6

This has been asked and asked again a bunch of times. But here's your answer from a non-redneck, college educated, Nascar fan.

Yes it is a sport, for many reasons.
It's a competition, It takes team work,
The drivers have to be conditioned for it (temps reach 130° inside the car during a race)
Like other sports it requires sponsorships, (so it's also a business)
It brings fans to the track, and millions by TV
Like football, baseball, etc, lots of money is made from merchandise sales

But the main reason that makes it a sport of sorts, the drivers and pit crews guys do "physical" training in order to perform at their best come race day. If this isn't enough to convince you, that's OK. But I appreciate the consideration.

Answer 7

You have got to be kidding... can you drive in the heat for the entire length of a race? Do you have the stamina to endure? My guess is probably not... sure, the drivers rely on others for the car set up and such, but when race day comes, it is the driver out there taking all the risks and doing the driving - his life on the line if something goes wrong...NASCAR drivers have to be in top shape to even think about getting behind the wheel!

Answer 8

baseball, bowling, golf , football & soccer require only 1 Ball. NASCAR requires 2. Yes they are athletes!! There's a lot more to driving in Nascar then hand - eye coordination. Those drivers know the sound of their engine, tranny, rear end, drive train & tires. Sure it is a group effort, but isn't most pro sport teams a group effort??
If u think a different company's ball, bat or glove doesn't have an outcome, then why do most baseball players have only a certain companies bat they use?? Same with their gloves.
I suggest you try the Richard Petty driving experience & see how u do since u seem to think it's so easy to be a Nascar driver.

Answer 9

I think many of the drivers are athletic, but I couldn't agree more with your comments about the equipment. I think a playing field has to be level for something to truly be a sport.

I can't imagine a hockey game where one goalie is given full padding, while the other is forced to wear shin pads and a mask. No sport should have its competitors handicapped by differences in equipment.

Answer 10

Please, allow me to enlighten you.

During a hot summer day, get in your car. It's hot in there, isn't it? Maybe 100 degrees, right? Now, without turning the air conditioner on, go onto a busy freeway (maybe Chicago or LA) and drive fast, maybe about 90 mph, swerving around other cars. If you screw up once, your car is history. Do this for about 2 hours.

Now, after you do this, multiply it by 2.

Drivers get into 130 degree cars and race at 150 mph. After each race, they are an average of 8 pounds lighter. And why? Because that 8 pounds is all sweat. Yes, it's ALL sweat. That's more than football players and basketball players sweat in a game.

Now, you were saying something about NASCAR not being a sport?

...They kinda can't have air conditioning because the air conditioning goes to their brakes instead of to the cockpit, because the brakes need it more.