Is NASCAR a sport?

Non-Athletic Sport Centered Around Rednecks

NASCAR is an acronyn describing a sport, or according to yourself, an event. The auto racing itself is the actual sport, or event, that NASCAR signifies.

@vodka: so you agree that it is a sport?

Considered a sport by the record keeping folks, at least those involved in keeping track of attendances.

Technically, NASCAR is just an association. Stock Car racing is the term you were looking for.

It consists of people competing against one another in an organized fashion for prizes and championships. Sounds like a sport to me.

ESPN thinks it is one, and if you describe it the way Ivan does, then it sounds even more like a sport. But it seems to be a sport with very few cheerleaders.

I always thought NASCAR stood for Nitwits And Sh*theads Crashing Against Retaining walls, but hey, what do I know?

First Definition from dictionary.com:

1. an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.

Stock car racing is a very physical sport. Not only do you need to take the impact of crashes, but you need to withstand g-forces and fight a 3,000 pound car around a track.

I vote: It’s a sport.

Not a sport. It’s a competition, but the participants aren’t athletes.

@The_unconservative_one What qualifies as an ‘athlete’ then?

Is bowling a sport? Bowlers are allowed to drink and smoke while participating.

@Darwin What does that have to do with NASCAR? Drivers have to go 3–5 hours in a 140 degree car with no supplies.

Athletes: Baseball players, football players, hockey players, weightlifters, gymnasts, track and field participants, swimmers, cyclists hell, even golfers.

Not athletes: Race car drivers, billiards players, darts players, bowlers, poker players starting to see a similarity?

@The_unconservative_one I’m starting to see arbitrary choices based on preferences. I guess I was asking for a definition, not a list of things that qualified.

There isn’t anything arbitrary. Athleticism requires “physical” exertion.

@The_unconservative_one

Try changing two tires in under 14 seconds or driving for 4 hours at 190 mph, 4 inches away from three different cars in a 140 degree environment.

@ivan, I didn’t say it wasn’t a skill, or that it is easy.

@Ivan Right, but you implied that it didn’t require “physical” exertion.

@Ivan it doesn’t. Being able to endure uncomfortable environments isn’t athletic prowess. Shit, I sit through 4 hour long, boring assed presentations, with no food, in a hot room weekly. That doesn’t qualify me as an athlete.

@The_unconservative_one

It’s not merely enduring. They’re not just sitting there.

@Ivan – Nothing in particular, but folks who like NASCAR often also like bowling.

YES, IT IS A SPORT, AND IF YOU HAVE A STATEMENT THAT CONFLICTS WITH THAT, THEN FEEL FREE TO KEEP THAT STATEMENT TO YOURSELF.
How’s that for a lash-out, Ivan?
Also, if you still need proof, look at this.

@Fred931 – You really don’t have to shout. The various dissenters aren’t deaf.

Are you a NASCAR driver? Is that why it upsets you so that some people might not consider NASCAR a sport? Certainly ESPN does, so isn’t that what matters, so it can get coverage and thus sponsors and fans?

-noun1. an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.

Well, this is the definition of a sport. The three primary parts of this entry are the following:

-An athletic activity
-Requires skill or physical prowess
-Of a competitive nature.

NASCAR is certainly of a competitive nature, so let’s cross that off the list.

-Of a competitive nature.

NASCAR certainly requires physical prowess, as these people sit in a 120-plus degree vehicle for several hours. The skill? They have to try and beat everybody else, too. Again, very competitive. Let’s cross that off.

-Requires skill or physical prowess
-Of a competitive nature.

The drivers in an event have to be fit, they train physically and mentally for every race before actually competing. The result? NASCAR fits the literal definition of a sport.

-An athletic activity
-Requires skill or physical prowess
-Of a competitive nature.

Okay if NASCAR drivers are not an athlete, Why did Jimmie Johnson, the driver for the 48 car win 2009 Athlete of the year? Per the definition of a sport, NASCAR is a sport, drivers have to go through physical stuff to such as clutching, braking, and kepping the foot on the gas pedal for the long haul. NASCAR is most definately a sport.

Technically, a sport is considered “anything involving competition”, so many useless things are sports.