# NASCAR Is A Sport? Explain. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 12, 2002, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-is-a-sport-explain/118650 "2002-07-12T16:33:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-is-a-sport-explain/118650/21 "2002-07-13T06:52:05Z")
A couple of you have taken swipe at the athletic prowness of a race car driver. IANANASCAR driver, however I have crewed on SCCA teams, and SCORE (Baja) racing, I have also competed is some events. Summer in California Outside temps at a track like Willow Springs will be about 100 degrees. The driver gets to put on a double, tripple, or possibilty a four layer nomex suit (How afraid of fire are you?). For those of you that have never had the chance to wear Nomex think a thin sweater or 2 or 3 or 4 and pants also. Kinda like wearing a suit made out of two blankets. Don’t forget the gloves, head scarf, and sockies. Then climb into a car whose interior temps can peak well over 120 degrees (No A/C). Then when the race starts fight with the steering (no power steering here) shifter and brakes (no auto trans, or power brakes.) around the corners generate about 1G of lateral load Fight to hold your head up (helmet gets real heavy around corners). Do this for a 20 minute sprint race and you will return to the pits 2 to 3 lbs lighter than you left due to sweat loss. NASCAR races are much longer than an SCCA sprint race that I used as an example here, and they do have a few things in their favor like cool suits, but any way you look at it, driving a 500 race is a major workout. I have seen drivers that are so exhausted after a race, they they have to be pulled from the car by their crew. All the race drivers that I have ever meet (both pro and amateur) work out on a regular schedule to be able to put up with the physical demands of racing. ---
**Author:** ![imthjckaz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/imthjckaz/32/3223_2.png) [@imthjckaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/imthjckaz)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-is-a-sport-explain/118650/22 "2002-07-13T07:32:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*A critical difference, of course, being that major league baseball doesn’t have a better form of its own sport played at a higher level. The same cannot be said of NASCAR, which is sort of the children’s version of automobile racing when compared to Formula One and CART street races where drivers actually have to make turns and negotiate courses. > \*\* NASCAR races at Sears Point and Watkins Glen, both road courses, where you actually have to make turns and negotiate courses. Actually, you have make turns on every track, lest you run into the wall. As far as NASCAR being _sort of the children’s version of automobile racing when compared to Formula One and CART_, that’s a matter of opinion. If that was the case, why would somebody, say Dale Earnhardt, a great driver, toil in the minor leagues for 20 years? Why would Tony Stewart, 1997 IRL Champion, demote himself to Winston Cup. That doesn’t make sense. Where is it listed that NASCAR Winston Cup is not major league racing? The top drivers in Winston Cup make the same amount of coin as F1, CART, and IRL drivers do. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-is-a-sport-explain/118650/23 "2002-07-13T08:12:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RickJay \* > **\NASCAR, which is sort of the children’s version of automobile racing when compared to Formula One and CART street races where drivers actually have to make turns and negotiate courses.** No, no, no, no-no-no-no. This is exactly what makes NASCAR so different, difficult, and interesting. Formula ones are higher performance than “stock”. But, read the page I linked to above about drafting. Think about it. Formula one cars are designed for minimal aerodynamic drag. They never have the chess game style duals, and nothing is ever at close quarters. In NASCAR, however, it pays to tailgate. If you try to pass, you will both slow down. The guy in front of you also goes faster when you tailgate, but uses more fuel. Can you outlast him till he has to pit and refuel? Obviously, you can’t win when you are behind him … but there is that triple behind you that will take it if you come out wrong on the corner. If he’s out of gas and has to pit, you lose your draft and there is no doubt that they will take you. What do you do? CART is straight driving. NASCAR is strategy. Strategy is always more interesting. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-is-a-sport-explain/118650/24 "2002-07-13T14:53:28Z")
NASCAR and the open-wheel cars are two completely different things - success in one does not mean success in the other, there are different skills and maneuvers involved in each, and the only thing they really have in common is the fact that they are forms of auto racing. Calling one the “minor league” version of the other makes as much sense as saying that tennis is a minor league version of volleyball. Or that drag racing and horse racing are also minor league forms of Formula One. ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-is-a-sport-explain/118650/25 "2002-07-13T16:32:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Purd Werfect \* > \*\*If so, than golf wouldn’t qualify as a sport either, as all the golfers are not teeing off at once, and physical defense is not a component of the game. \*\* You’ve obviously never golfed with any of my friends. _ **FORRRRRRRRRREEEEEE!!!** _ ---
**Author:** ![stankow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@stankow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stankow)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-is-a-sport-explain/118650/26 "2002-07-13T18:24:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Purd Werfect \* > \*\* > > How does pole-vaulting not qualify? The competition is direct in that someone can prevent you from winning by succesfully clearing a height that you’re unable to match. Is it because people take turns? If so, than golf wouldn’t qualify as a sport either, as all the golfers are not teeing off at once, and physical defense is not a component of the game. \*\* That’s it exactly, and no, golf wouldn’t count either. Golfers are playing against the course. Pole vaulters are competing against themselves. I don’t deny that each of these takes physical ability – I chose pole vaulting precisely because it’s obviously something that takes tremendous agility and strength – but I don’t consider them _sports_. They’re athletic competitions, and there is, in my own internal universe at least, a difference. ---
**Author:** ![ignatius\_reilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/db5fbb/32.png) [@ignatius\_reilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ignatius_reilly)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2002, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-is-a-sport-explain/118650/27 "2002-07-14T02:20:42Z")
Well put about NASCAR versus open wheel racing, Racinchikki. Very few of the race fans I know like stock cars just as much as they like open wheelers, or vice versa. Stock cars (whether they be NASCAR, ARCA, or ASA) are heavier and have less horsepower than open wheel cars (IRL, CART, F1, sprint cars, midgets). Of course, stock cars use gasoline as fuel and open wheel cars (with the exception of Formula One cars, which run on gasoline) are powered by methanol. I’ve always believed that the higher horsepower-to-weight ratio of a sprint car or Indy car would make such a car a little tougher to control than a stock car. I also imagine that stock cars are tougher to maneuver than open wheel cars. Each type of car has an attribute which makes it a little different to drive than another type. At the highest level of motorsports (NASCAR, CART, F1, IRL, NHRA) the drivers and teams make a lot of money. It’s difficult to rationalize calling a sport minor league when millions of dollars are on the line over the course of a race season. BTW, Racinchikki, where do you stand on CART v. IRL? Not to turn this into a Great Debate, but I just had to ask… ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2002, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-is-a-sport-explain/118650/28 "2002-07-14T02:31:04Z")
Well, I can’t really see much difference between “sport” and “athletic competition”. Furthermore, it seems to me that determining all activities listed in the thread as sports or not sports is nothing more than hair-splitting. To be successful at any of the listed endeavors requires large amounts of dedication and effort. All things listed here are activities which require intense focus and skill when performed at their highest level. Sports? Not sports? What difference does it make? They’re all competitions, and they all require much higher than average skill to excel at. ---
**Author:** ![roadrunner70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@roadrunner70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roadrunner70)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2002, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-is-a-sport-explain/118650/29 "2002-07-14T02:47:07Z")
So would you consider motocross racing a non-sport? It’s basically the same concept, billboards racing around on a dirt track. But, I’ll bet you anything, if you were to spend five minutes on a basketball court, versus five minutes on a motocross track, or a nascar track for that matter, you’d have a different outlook. I think the problem is with the definition of the term “sport.” I think “sports” are what kids play in school…anything after that is “entertainment” ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2002, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-is-a-sport-explain/118650/30 "2002-07-14T02:51:24Z")
**ignatius\_reilly** : CART. ---
**Author:** ![Lorenzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4da419/32.png) [@Lorenzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorenzo)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2002, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-is-a-sport-explain/118650/31 "2002-07-14T03:42:12Z")
NASCAR is not a sport like a stick-and-ball sport. Because it involves driving a car that looks remotely like something we see on the roads, many get the mistaken idea that racing is easy. It is not. Rick hit this one right on the head. The drivers lack the athleticism found in the average NBA player, generally do not bang in each other’s bodies, and have no college equivalent but does that make NASCAR not a sport? Auto racing is probably more different from the stick-and-ball sports than it is similar. But that shouldn’t take anything away from the drivers. They work under absolutely grueling conditions week after week and must remain sharp throughout or risk death or injury. “When a baseball player runs into a wall, he usually doesn’t burst into flames.” When a basketball player runs out of bounds, he usually does not die." ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2002, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-is-a-sport-explain/118650/32 "2002-07-14T04:17:59Z")
Sports: NASCAR, or any other kind of auto racing Sprinting Pole vault Discus Shot put Swimming (timed) Baseball Football Basketball Billiards Darts Bowling Curling Volleyball Those ridiculous Highland Games scottish things Alpine skiing Cross country skiing Speed skating Cycling Golfing Croquet Triathlon Not sports: Figure skating Dance sport Hunting Fishing Ski jumping (landings are judged) Freestyle skiing and moguls Mountain climbing, SCUBA diving, stuff like that Stunt sports, like swimming across lakes Chess Board games ---
**Author:** ![p\_cific\_812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@p\_cific\_812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/p_cific_812)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2002, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-is-a-sport-explain/118650/33 "2002-07-14T05:13:29Z")
A very comprehensive list, **Rickjay**. (Where’s Soccer!?) What are your criteria? Why does the fact that landings are judged negate the sport-status of Ski Jumping? Why is climbing not a sport? I assume you are not referring to the activity specifically referred to as “Sport Climbing”? ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2002, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-is-a-sport-explain/118650/34 "2002-07-14T06:33:08Z")
Lorenzo, we used to have a saying in racing. Q. Do you know the difference between auto racing and the football? A. There are no five yard penalties in auto racing, when you break the laws of physics you die. Or one more note. When I crewed on a SCORE class 7 truck (mini-pickup Toyotas, Mitsubishi etc) we counted up all the stock factory non-modified parts on the truck. The total number of non-modified factory parts was . . . . . . . . . . . Drum roll please… **Three** The emblem on the grill, The reservoir for the master cylinder and the tail lights assemblies Everything else was either a racing piece or highly modified from stock. [room temp IQ voice] OOH I’m gonna buy me a Toyota cause they won the Baja race! Their trucks are better than anybodies[/RTIQV] Yeah right, that $500,000 race piece is **JUST** like what you can buy ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2002, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-is-a-sport-explain/118650/35 "2002-07-14T22:34:15Z")
> [@](#): > > Webster’s Dictionary > **Sport** (noun): 1 a : a source of diversion : RECREATION b : sexual play c (1) : physical activity engaged in for pleasure (2) : a particular activity (as an athletic game) so engaged in So, almost everything on both of **Rick Jay** ’s lists are by definition, sports. So is sexual play, which interestingly provides a whole new excuse for the next generation of philanderer’s “just going down the corner for some sports, hon, be back in a couple of hours…” So, technically NASCAR is a sport. Not one that I find particularly enthralling, but lots of sports fall into that category. The rest is purely opinion, so this is really a poll, don’t try too hard to turn it into a Great Debate. And if people enjoy something, it seems a little small to try and denigrate just because you don’t understand or enjoy it yourself. ---
**Author:** ![p\_cific\_812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@p\_cific\_812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/p_cific_812)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-is-a-sport-explain/118650/36 "2002-07-15T04:24:12Z")
Ahh, the cold logic of the dictionary delivers us from all this foolishness. Is that good enough for all the purists? Anything that provides you with a diversion is a sport. If you like doing it or watching it, don’t justify it, just get it on! (part “b” especially) I still don’t understand why its necessary to debate whether or not any particular activity is _really_ a sport… ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-is-a-sport-explain/118650/37 "2002-07-15T18:35:34Z")
Thanks to ShibbOleth’s bringing of the light of reason to the matter, I’m off to see what it will take to go pro on the sexual play circuit. Wish me luck! ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-is-a-sport-explain/118650/38 "2002-07-16T19:22:39Z")
I hate soccer, but I fully agree that it’s a sport. I’m not too keen about NASCAR, but I wouldn’t consider it a sport unless they started running around the track. Although really, what does it matter if something is a “sport” or “not a sport”? A title wouldn’t diminish the amount of skill required to do something. That’s the most tired defense for an activity that I most commonly heard from high school kids. (ie “Cheerleading is a sport! We practice just as hard as the football team!” Not that one has anything to do with the other…) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-is-a-sport-explain/118650/39 "2002-07-17T14:35:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by racinchikki \* > \*\*NASCAR and the open-wheel cars are two completely different things - success in one does not mean success in the other, there are different skills and maneuvers involved in each, and the only thing they really have in common is the fact that they are forms of auto racing. Calling one the “minor league” version of the other makes as much sense as saying that tennis is a minor league version of volleyball. Or that drag racing and horse racing are also minor league forms of Formula One. \*\* Good post. Actually, Formula 1 is a BORE to watch compared with NASCAR racing or oval track racing. Why? Because it’s so friggin predictable these days, there’s very little passing and normally after you get your pitstops over with, there’s little point in watching the race as you know who’s going to win. Trust me, I watch F1 almost every week, and I rarely see a good race. When I lived in America I though F1 must be the coolest race around. Now being in Europe and watching it all the time, I miss oval-track racing. Now there you had some tension. The continuous passing, the cars constantly being inches away from each other. In F1, generally the field is so spaced out after the first, say 10 laps, that there’s little point in watching. Look at the NASCAR event at the Chicagoland speedway, The Tropicana 400. The margin of victory was .812 seconds. The Sirius Satellite 400… .131 seconds with 16 lead changes! Most of the races this year have had a margin of victory of under 1 second. This is the exception and not the norm at F1. As for F1. The last race at Silverston, Schumacher won by 14 seconds. The two before that were actually somewhat close, with a margin of under 2 seconds. Montecarlo had the 3 place finisher over a minute behind. Spain? 35 seconds. San Marino? 17 seconds. Malaysia? 39 seconds! BORING BORING BORING. When I watch F1, I’m just hoping that Schumacher gets stuck in the pits or wipes out just so somebody else could win the bloody thing for a change. They are totally different sports, exciting for totally different reasons. And unless Formula 1 changes soon, it’s godawful boring to watch. Much more than oval-track racing, where, you know, like people pass each other and stuff. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowWarrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7993a0/32.png) [@ShadowWarrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowWarrior)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-is-a-sport-explain/118650/40 "2002-07-17T14:48:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Purd Werfect \* > \*\* > > How does pole-vaulting not qualify? The competition is direct in that someone can prevent you from winning by succesfully clearing a height that you’re unable to match. Is it because people take turns? If so, than golf wouldn’t qualify as a sport either, as all the golfers are not teeing off at once, and physical defense is not a component of the game. \*\* That’s not to say that Golf wouldn’t be a whole lot more interesting if physical defence was part of the game… Extreme Golf - now there’s a sport I’d watch… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-is-a-sport-explain/118650.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-is-a-sport-explain/118650.md?page=3)