Do you consider NASCAR a sport?

[Pendulous]

There are fat fucking football players, whats your point???

That are physically trained. Drivers are not physically trained.

Gordie Howe played in the NHL when he was 52. Some pretty old pitchers in baseball too.

Howe yes, but I'm not surprised many pitchers make it that long. Similar to kickers in the NFL, some positions just don't require that young able body.

[stopbeingdumb]

While i hate Nascar, to say it's not a sport is nuts. you go out and endure what they go through. Hell 200+ mph for 4-5 hours is insane. Hell doing 155 in my car for 10 seconds is nuts. Plus you have 42 other cars within an arms reach.

Plus by definition it's a sport.

[Gillbian]

Some of drivers would bet otherwise. I understand what you're saying, because yes, they need to be able to react, and those cars get extremely hot, but the fact that some race into their 50's/60's, and some are quite overweight, I'd be inclined to disagree.

All he linemen are overweight in football. What does weight have anything to do with it being a sport or not?

[Irony]

And thats why no one knows the fat football players names. If you watch football for the defenders, you're doing it wrong.

/facepalm
Or you actually understand more of the sport than "TOUCHDOWN!".

[stopbeingdumb]

Drivers are not physically trained.

Really? Umm, intense heat for 4-5 hours, all the force they endure during the race, not to mention the ability not to fatigue. You are severly mis-informed.

[Roose]

Howe yes, but I'm not surprised many pitchers make it that long. Similar to kickers in the NFL, some positions just don't require that young able body.

If we consider pitchers athletes then I think drivers can qualify as well. Now bowling is a whole different story

[Irony]

If we consider pitchers athletes then I think drivers can qualify as well. Now bowling is a whole different story

I defended Nascar earlier, but if you think Driving is on the same level of athleticism as Pitching, you are sorry mistaken. The fucking precision and strength you need to be a good Pitcher, out weighs that of Driving by tons.

[Lilly32]

I consider it a sport over garbage like the WNBA or Women's college basketball. Seriously I can watch women's gymnastics, softball, or tennis all day long. But if I turn on ESPN and a woman's basketball game is on I wanna puke. I seriously wonder if most of them are really even women in the first place.

[Pendulous]

Really? Umm, intense heat for 4-5 hours, all the force they endure during the race, not to mention the ability not to fatigue. You are severly mis-informed.

I'm talking outside practice and what-not. Football players spend time in gyms, doing physical training. Drivers do not. The point is, the football players are not "fat", moreso than just big. I've seen some drivers (if I could think of one's name I'd give it) that are just....fat.

If we consider pitchers athletes then I think drivers can qualify as well. Now bowling is a whole different story

Exactly

[Tychus]

There are fat fucking football players, whats your point???

Meow, quite testy aren't we? Look, it's not our fault that you're fat. Get on a treadmill, or an elliptical if you're so fat your knees can't handle the treadmill.

<Infracted>

A guy curses and insults a mod and it's ok. I tell him to workout on the fitness forum and I'm a bad person. +1 MMO-C, you're awesome.

[ChiefWigman]

As much as i hate the left turn racin', it is a sport because its physically demanding, 5 hours of adrenaline coursing through you, the 180-200 mph vibrations in the cockpit, thru the steering wheel, chair, etc. Then there's the g forces caused by going really fast on the banked racetrack. If you ever rode those whirly things at amusement parks, thats the same concept, except you go thru that for 5 hours. Those fat dudes i remembered 10 years ago arent fat dudes anymore today, gotta be in really fit shape for NASCAR or any motorsports nowadays except for Demo Derby's, Mud Boggin' or any of the Redneck Motorsports.

[Waaldo]

/facepalm
Or you actually understand more of the sport than "TOUCHDOWN!".

I'm not saying defenders aren't important, but they aren't the highlight of the game. Considering how most of them are just dead weight. I don't need to know the sport to see that.

[Ryquis]

Difficult question to answer, do I consider Nascar drivers professionals? *Indeed, they are all incredibly trained, skilled, and payed for what they do. *If you start splitting hairs, you need to physically exert yourself in any activity you do at least a little bit, so where is the line drawn? *We don't call professional chess matches a sport, and yet there is the same level of professionalism and skill present in any football player, nascar driver, snowboarder etc, but the dedication is applied to a different skillset and context. *This kind of reminds me of people arguing whether or not marching band is a sport (I think most people accept that cheerleading is one, but I recall that being a topic of debate years ago). *In the end, it boils down to whether or not you feel that what is done inside the car, or in any other medium for that matter is enough physical activity to constitute a "sport" which depends largely on your own experiences and opinions. *I don't personally think that Nascar is a sport (I'm trying to be as objective as possible in my evaluation even though I find it boring to begin with) because the physical training that one needs to undergo as a Nascar driver lies more in the refinement of the actual skill of driving a car, as opposed to being say, 50% physical training and 50% skill refinement, as I would argue is the case with most professional*athletes, who supplement their actual abilities and skills in a sport with near ludicrous amounts of physical training.

[Markluzz]

These races involve alot of team work. 1 mistake could cost you 1 second which could cost you alot of positions both on pit road and on the track. Nascar is indeed a sport. A sport is any competitive event that has set rules. Basically anything with rules can be a sport. Does not even have to be an athletic sport. Btw try driving a high banked turn at 180+ mph and see how you feel afterward as your body feels like its getting sucked down toward the center of the racetrack.

By that logic WoW is a sport! Man we are all athletes!

[Thallidomaniac]

For those of you who think that it's all about driving a car, remember that the cars in NASCAR, as well as any other form of motorsport, are not the cars that you drive to school or work in. These cars are hot, noisy, and don't have the things that are considered standard for cars such as Air Conditioning and plush seats.

On the topic of motorsports, Drag Racing is the only type that I question as whether it is an actual sport.

[Easo]

It is sport. Still, for me, its boring. Turn left 200 laps. Yay...

[nyc81991]

I consider any type of game that requires physical exercise /engagement as a sport. So no I do not think that Nascar is a sport, I consider it racing.

[chipwood]

Requires endurance and split-second reaction times. More of a sport than Texas hold 'em, that's for sure.

[Atrea]

Yes it is a sport, and going 200 MPH, with 42 other cars on the track is still very difficult, even if it is just 5 hours of turning left.

So flying an airplane must be a sport too, right?
You're going in speeds well in excess of 200mph, you are carrying yourself through airspace with hundreds of other planes, and it is infinitely more difficult to do than drive a car in a circle.

There's nothing sport-like about Nascar, nothing about it that makes its drivers "athletes".

[Ryquis]

And for the people who are saying that it is a sport simply because of the conditions inside the car, are Sauna endurance competitions a sport? *Training to endure in that sort of long term situation, I believe most people would say breaks from the conventions of what a prototypical*athlete*is. *There is no question that it is indeed training, and that it does improve their abilities to withstand the conditions of a race car, which can be quite hot and uncomfortable, but this type of focus and training is so very contained to Nascar that it just doesn't resonate with what I consider "athleticism"