Are Race Car Drivers Athletes? (1 Viewer)

[Husky]

Dave Smith on Sporting News Radio was emphatic that they are not. He went on to say that you could see the same thing by going down to the freeway.

While I'm not an avid NASCAR fan, I'd venture to say that many of these Main Stream Media types never went to a track and didn't get to take a ride in the Shotgun seat that some guys in NASCAR have made available.

Certainly, most have never seen a TF or FC make a run. TV makes it all look so tame. They call a Jockey an Athlete (which he is) and he's only dealing with one HP and maybe going 40 MPH.

What criteria does it take to be considered an athlete?

 

[TJ]

Thats a tough question...too much grey area for yes or no....If you took emergency room records and looked @ the number of race car drivers that have been into a trauma center compared to the number of say soccer/baseball/football/etc that made the same journey race car drivers would probably be very, very low %...I do not think race car drivers train all their lives to be race car drivers like a football player or olympic swimmer...kind of like asking if a para-legal is the same as an certified Esq....they are similiar but is like comparing apples to oranges....This race car driver thing is getting way out-of-hand if you ask me....They are protected w/ the best equipment....have EMT's in a safety unit waiting for you to crash....My take is NO....they are far from pro athletes....

 

[Bullet]

Which Race Car drivers in particular?

F1 - Yes
NASCAR - Most
WoO - Some
NHRA - Few
IRL - Yes
ChampCar - Yes

 

[Jimmy Hart]

I wonder what Dave Smith would say about cheerleaders... Who, according to the Office of Civit Rights and Title IX, are not.

 

[Rajunz]

Not so much Drag Racing as other forms, mainly because of the duration of time in the cockpit.

Let's face it, a lazy, over wieght slob, that happens to be quick on the tree and thinks quick on their heals, could theoretically do fairly well in this sport.

On another note, Dick Trickle used to have an ashtray in his NASCAR that he would use during caution laps, honest story there...........................

 

[Husky]

Not so much Drag Racing as other forms, mainly because of the duration of time in the cockpit.

Let's face it, a lazy, over wieght slob, that happens to be quick on the tree and thinks quick on their heals, could theoretically do fairly well in this sport.

On another note, Dick Trickle used to have an ashtray in his NASCAR that he would use during caution laps, honest story there...........................

And Rusty Staub and Keith Hernadez Smoked Cigarettes between innings and HOF'er Fred Bilitnekoff was a 2 pack a day man who smoked up until game time.\

 

[Rocketman 207]

I hope Dave Smith doesn't consider Justin Timberflake a singer...

 

[T.Smith]

Well anybody who compares racing to what he/she may see on a highway, is an idiot.

As far as race car drivers being athletes. I've seen both sides of it. My brother played D1 basketball and I've seen drivers perform at a high levels.

So the way I see it. I would put basketball, football and hockey players very high on the athletic totem pole. I would put race car drivers on the low end of the totem pole...but on the totem no less.

 

[BG]

I would love to have any of these so called proven pro athletes, come and not only physically withstand my work schedule, but mentally hang in there! I feel that myself, as well as lets say greg anderson, practice at our sport more than any of those pro athletes. How about w.j. or many more of the pro racers? An athlete is not only defined by their physical ability. Larry Bird was slow, clumsy acting, and seemed not ever to be trying very hard? But he was one of the most talented basketball athletes ever! Mostly because he was an awesome thinker, and was mentally ahead of his much more athletic competitors. Let a "professional athlete" come and hang with my hours, and my dedication, I think in my world a professional athlete would normally stink! But hey what would I know? don shu told me once, that anyone could drive a prostock car? I guess he was wrong! BG

 

[Rocketman 207]

Ernest Hemingway put it best:
"Auto Racing, Bullfightiing & Boxing are sports...the rest are merely games."

 

[TJ]

In respone to B.Glidden...you might have days of endurance and alot of stamina as alot of us do but try to keep up w/ an ultimate fighter in training or a athlete who participates in a 8 mile swim/90 mile bike ride/26 mile run and you'd see the difference between an athlete and a hard-core drag racer....

 

[The Counterfeiter]

Well - we know Carl Edwards can win a race and perform very nice backflips.
Then . . . we have a Funny Car driver who can win but can't do a cartwheel!
While drag racing drivers do not have to perform for hours, they do endure forces within a few seconds (while controlling a 7000 hp race car) that would scare the hell out of almost any other athlete.
I'm not sure what the definition of an athlete is, but I have a huge amount of respect for the men and women who can endure an 11 g swing in four seconds while driving these monsters!

 

[BG]

I have run the 26 miles, I have been very successful at different sports, and it was because I had the will to work harder at it then the others! I have worked in several different jobs, and not a one of them compare to the all out effort of prostock racing. It is not only the endurance of merely keeping awake. It is the effort to work, play, raise a bar that only you, will try to jump over. No job I have ever done, comes close! My opinion is this, anyone who questions the efforts it takes to be a successful prostock drag racer, "by this I mean the way my family has achieved it", then you really have no clue! You are correct about the fat slobs who are not very successful, not too many prostock champions have been fat slobs. But some of those line men are big fellows! BG

 

[Husky]

In respone to B.Glidden...you might have days of endurance and alot of stamina as alot of us do but try to keep up w/ an ultimate fighter in training or a athlete who participates in a 8 mile swim/90 mile bike ride/26 mile run and you'd see the difference between an athlete and a hard-core drag racer....

Surely, that's not the only qualifications for an athlete. That would exclude MLB players, Jockeys, Golfers, Nfl Players, Divers, Archers, Bowlers, Billiard Players and a plethora of others. Jack Nicklous, in his early years, was rotund, yet unbeatable.:twocents:

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source
ath·lete (āth'lēt') Pronunciation Key
n. A person possessing the natural or acquired traits, such as strength, agility, and endurance, that are necessary for physical exercise or sports, especially those performed in competitive contexts.

 

[downtime]

To me this is a simple question.

A recreational snow skier is not an athlete, a professional skier is...
Many people enjoy recreational sports/games and these activities involve varying amount of athletic prowess and skill.

Bowling, table tennis, tennis, softball, baseball, basketball, football, golf, motor racing, hockey and figure skating, to name but a few.

I learned to play "ping pong" in my basement as a child. Although fun, I was in no way an "athlete". By the time I had gone off to college and was playing table tennis just below a professional level in large gyms and training five nights a week I became an athlete.

When I skied for fun as a child I was having a good time. By the time I was in college, and competing in "hot dog" competitions, and being given free equipment from manufacturers and teaching advanced skiing a couple of nights a week I was an athlete.

When I went to my local track on street night and had fun I was having a good time.

By the time I entered the points series at two tracks, worked out to improve my reflexes, worked the practice tree, spend three days a week at the track, invested in weather equipment, and became sponsored... I became an athlete.

Somewhere a line is drawn, but when you compete in a sporting event for money and perform the wpork necessary to be competitive and hopefully a winner you go from having a good time to being a professional, regardless of the level of competition (within reason).

A sprinter and a marathon runner have very different strengths, and most likely neither would do as well at the others forte. That fact does not make either of them more or less of an athlete.

I learned to swim in a local pond and we had swim races there and diving competitions. That was fun. When I joind our Junior high swim team and the local YMCA swim team, and practiced six days a week and competed in three states I was an athlete.

 

[Ron]

Seems to me the answer is obvious by examining the age of people who are at the top of their particular sport.

In drag racing there are many still active and competitive who are much older then in any other sport I can think of. The amount of athletic ability and conditioning necessary to drive a drag car in any class is minimal when compared to what is required in other sports or most forms of motor racing.

With respect to skill level, the fact that many drag race drivers have stepped right into the highest levels of the sport with little or no experience should tell you something about the skill level required. The high skill positions in drag racing are occupied by those who design, build and tune the cars and motors.