Just Myself wrote:castleinthesky wrote:When people say NASCAR isn't a sport because you are just going in "circles". Well in baseball, football, soccer, etc. you are just running in the same direction (and you get breaks).
I have to say NASCAR is not a sport, but not because all you do is go around in a circle, all sports do that. But said sport, e.g. baseball, football, soccer, basketball, etc., actually REQUIRE athletic ability. There is nothing athletic stimulating about going 180 mph in a car on a big track, that you have to LITTERALLY crawl into. Now I enjoy watching NASCAR, but it annoys me to no end when people call it a sport when it's not.
NASCAR is a sport. It is physically demanding. You have to be physically fit to drive in NASCAR. Around in circles, yeah right. NOT one track in NASCAR is a circle. There are shapes called ovals, triangles, rectangles (take it that trianglular and rectangular tracks have curved turns), and road courses. Also unlike ball and stick sports, the NASCAR "field" changes composition every week. Unlike other sports, drivers don't get to have "time-out" or "half-time" during a race. It is non stop mental and physical physique that a driver has to use. Driving 180 miles per hour, centimeters apart from another car, and if you touch them you wreck. You have to have utmost physical abililty to compete in NASCAR. Have you ever driven a car where it is very hard to turn, or way too easy to turn (to where you will spin out)? NASCAR drivers have to hold their car from spinning the whole race, in which a NASCAR car in many thousands of pounds. In qualifying the car that fails to make the race was less than a second slower than the fastest car. You can't even think that fast. Unlike other sports, where you have a 50/50 chance to win, in NASCAR you get a 1/43 chance to win. In NASCAR you have to fight to be in the "game" nevertheless competing in a race. In NASCAR you cannot showcase your talent and ability if you do not have a sponsor that is not willing to pay 10-30 million dollars a year for your team. NASCAR is also a team sport which many people do not see. Pit crews, mechanics, team owners, sponsors, fabricators, engine builders, spotters all contribute to the race. The pit crew has to be physically fit more than nearly every other sport. How about lifting a more than 200 pound jack and compete a pit stop in less than 12 seconds?, 4 tires, gas, and car setting changes? All drivers in NASCAR must keep physically fit. They lift weights and run distances to maintain this level of fitness. In NASCAR you have to be keen two all the senses. You need to be able to see all the cars around you. You need to be able to hear into your radio and hear if your car is having mechanical troubles. You need to be able to smell smoke. You need to be able to correspond with your car in any situation, including if a pack of 30 cars wreck in front of you and you have to slow from 180 miles per hour to 60 within 2 seconds, while not getting hit from behind. In NASCAR you need to be able to taste victory to go to victory lane. NASCAR is also a family sport. You havn't been seeing NASCAR drivers taking steroids or showing pornography during the race. NASCAR suspends any of their drivers indefinately if they fail a drug test, not give them a 2 game suspension like baseball. You don't see NASCAR drivers forming a union and stricking. The last time that happend all the drivers involved got banned for life, unlike baseball where the baseball players make much more money and still strike. Also unlike football with the porno on t.v., NASCAR penalizes any driver who curses on t.v. with point deductions, fines, and possible suspensions. Since when has football, baseball and others been strict on drugs and vulgar obsenties? NASCAR is also a near yearly sport. From January to November a driver is working. All year, except a handful of days the crew and mechanics are working. Besides not racing on the weekend, a driver is either doing sponsor relations or practicing at a track during the week. They hardly get any home time. Unless you have driven in a race, and delt with what a driver does physically every race, don't tell me it isn't a sport.
I don't do to anyone else nor do I do it as much as I used to. 
R[
