Auto Racing,a sport?

[cmptrwlt]

Of course auto racing is a sport. It takes skill and endurance to drive a race car really fast. Most people wouldn't last a lap in an F1 car.

[gghhgg]

Originally Posted by Lancet71

Trust me I don't deny that driving so many miles is challenging and the pit crews are top notch but thats what professionals do;excel at their livelihood.

i watch F1 all the time and i can tell you they are athletes.do you know how much endurance and stemina you have to have to endure 90-100 degree temperature in suites and 4+ G on your neck from left or right sides.

[WFW&P]

Originally Posted by 12GO

Ned Jarret drove one of the winning Yates Ford cars Dale drove back in 98 or 99 and Dale drove the 427 powered car Ned won with from either 65 or 66. Dale came in after just a handful of laps complaining about his shoulders hurting from how hard to drive that old Galaxy was. Ned on the other hand was cutting competitive lap times in Dales race car and wouldn't come in until the car was out of fuel. He told Dale, if the cars he drove were that easy to steer in his day, He'd still be racing!!!!

Buddy Baker made the same comment (about testing the newer cars) when he was commentating for TNN. He said the cars practically drive themselves.

[cmptrwlt]

Might be true for Nascar but certainly not the case for F1 cars.

[bagelw]

Originally Posted by Drover

Anyone who thinks race car drivers are not athletes has never done it seriously or competitively. It takes a fair deal of upper body strength, and certainly a good amount of endurance, to fight substantial G-forces for hours while trying to hold a precise line as you wrestle a car that weighs up to 5,000 pounds by the time you factor in downforce, often with no power steering, while a rock-hard suspension beats the hell out of you the whole time, where straying just a few inches from that line could cost you a position or even cause a crash, all while sweating your balls off in a flame-retardant suit and fighting dehydration serious enough that it's not uncommon to lose 10 pounds in a single race. It may look easy on TV but it's not. Those guys are athletes in the true sense of the word.

This.

People think that since they commute to work everyday in their Camry then they can drive a race car. That's just like saying you can play in the NFL since you play a touch game with the neighborhood kids.

[wGoshen]

Lets see. The drivers need to sit in cars in 140 degree temperatures with the pedals burning the soles of their feet, the steering wheel giving them blisters on their hands, while enduring 4 G's at times. Yeah, it takes an athlete. In a sense, anyone can do it, but anyone can play football or do track. It's takes athletes to do it right.

And don't forget the sense of danger. You can die in one of these cars a lot faster than you could die on a football field. Plus injured players in other sports sit out 3-6 weeks. NASCAR drivers don't have the choice of doing that unless it's very serious due to the many obligations that they have to sponsors.

So yeah, auto racing is a sport, and a very tough sport.