Who Says Race Car Drivers Aren't Athletes?

here we go again… There is NO DOUBT about the physicality of racing! The demands are extreme! the senses must be perfect or you’re into a wall or maybe even worse.
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That DOES NOT mean it’s a sport. It’s a motor sport.
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Why?
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BECAUSE THERE IS A MOTOR involved.
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Is the Bob sled propelled by a V8? Is there understeer in the deadlift? Do you heat up the tires before speed skating?
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c’mon people… we’re talking two different things, both of which may even require being athletic i.e. motorcross… but when you cross the line and remove the motor and it becomes BMX well, you’ve crossed the line from motorsport to sport.

ive drivin cars down at Skip Barber. the rush to the brain is insanely intense! no sissies here! and talk about dehydration!? you can actually feel your brain slow down when you slow the car down going into the pit! Athlete? YES! you have to be in Top physical condition and forget about ever having a couple of beers every now and then on the weekend! i can assure you that dosent happen. this is a very physical sport

if a race car driver is an athlete then a construction worker, farmer, and others who go thru an abundant amount of physical activity are athletes…….just sitting a car and withstanding heat and g-forces isnt enough to say they are athletes…..they wouldnt probably even classify for the olympics!

The horse racing argument is not valid. The horse is an athlete, too… while the car is a complex, self-propelled vehicle.
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sorry, just applying logic here.
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any please tell me why there’s this compulsion to portray drivers as athletes anyway? Is there some sort of athletic envy? Why does it matter? There are motor sports, and there are sports… big deal.
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Put a Russian weight lifter into a F1 car and he’ll be a dead russian weight lifter! There’s more danger and excitement in motor sports than there are in sports!
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This whole argument and attempt to cross-classify is retarded. It’s an attempt to DOWNGRADE. please get a grip people…

Ok to clear things up…..i never ment that any sort of farming is even close to a sport. I was implying that its hard work and physically draining and so saying that because a drivers job is emotionally and physically draining makes it a sport is just ridiculous. Also if you say that competition makes something a sport then just about every job you could ever have is a sport…..everyone is competing for raises and to beat out and be better than the other guy. I have nothing against racing I race my car at autocross and drag race tracks all the time but i dont consider myself an athlete because of that. About cycling, yes they are athletes, they physically use their own body to propel the bike, if they are in better shape than the next guy then they have a better chance of winning. A car driver, if he is in better physical shape than the guy next too him but the guy next to him is drafting someone then the other guy wins, its not a test of physical skill. Now if they were pushing the car themselves then all right you might have an arguement.

NO, they are not athletes. Yes, they work really hard. Yes they train alot. Yes they have sponsors. Yes they do charity work. But no, it’s simply not a test of their physical prowess and agility. Yes, It is a sport, but no, they simply aren’t athletes. Yes, they have to be physically fit, but you can’t expect a potential heart-transplant fat ass to have the stamina to control a racing machine for that amount of time. But you simply can’t compare the the physical nature of basketball, football, track, soccer, skiing, swimming, diving, tennis, etc to somebody who sits on their ass and steers a hunk of metal around a track. It’s simply not the same thing. A not, a jockey is not an athlete either.

Jesus, you commenters must really hate cars, or you really have no clue about what racing entails. Motorsports aren’t “sports”? How the hell do you figure that? What IS a sport then, baseball? Christ, that’s like watching paint dry. The whole thing’s really a matter of occupational title. A race driver is an “athlete” because he or she participates in a “sport,” fucking simple as that. And if you think that’s an easy job, why don’t YOU try being strapped into a sweltering hotbox for 5 hours at a stretch, wrestling a 3500-lb car through 30-degree banked turns at 200 mph with other cars inches on either side of you, risk catastrophic injury, lose 10 lbs of your bodyweight in a single afternoon in sweat alone, then get out and talk articulately about your experience with the press and make nice with your sponsors and pull for charity events and participate in boardroom deals and spend the rest of your week in training and practice–yep, all the things that any other athlete has to do, except the majority of professional racers pull it off without being arrogant entitled dicks like the crybaby athletes of the stick-and-ball sports. Try doing all those things in your typical lazy-ass week and then try and say that these people aren’t athletes. And as for all you wierdos with your arguments about farming and corn-shucking, no, farming is not a “sport”–actually, when you factor in government subsidies, it’s hardly even a profession.

GT Wildfire:

I’m not going to type it out, you can read it for yourself:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sport

And secondly, I’d like to comment on this statement:
“Aside from the word “sports”, there really is nothing in common, since the human, nor elements in the environment are propelling the vehicle.”

Why does this define it as a sport? Who determined this? The vehicle may be propelled by combustion, but it still takes a human to control it. A horse jockey is propelled by a horse, but controlled by a jockey. Is he not an athlete because the horse provides the power? Then there’s also the wind in the sails of a yacht. The wind propels the vessle, but the humans control it. The internal combustion engine is a product of human design, but the process is a force of nature.

There are sports and there are motorsports.
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sports have athletes. motorsports have drivers.
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Aside from the word “sports”, there really is nothing in common, since the human, nor elements in the environment are propelling the vehicle.

Finally, a sport with athletes that can have pot bellies and participate well into their 50′s or even 60′s…
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…Without having to walk from hole to hole in 100 degree heat.

Let me preface this by saying I watch a ton of racing. I watch NASCAR religiously and love open-wheel too (way to go Danica). That being said I don’t think that drivers are athletes. Similar to how golfers aren’t athletes (yes I play golf).

I understand that drivers need to keep themselves in good shape to deal with the physical demands of racing (with the exception of Tony Stewart), but that doesn’t make them athletes.

Farming is an incredibly physical thing to do, but farmers aren’t athletes. And before someone brings up the competition argument, it’s possible to compete in farming through state fairs and who can grow the biggest pumpkin competitions.

Not considering drivers athletes doesn’t diminish the physical demands of racing, or the respect I have for those guys, but come on let’s call a spade a spade.

Ive detasseled and that requires walking, running, teamwork, and handling extreme heat…..and that doesnt make me an athlete. If you think im wrong please let me know.

This is the dumbest thing Ive ever heard. Im sorry but race car drivers are not athletes (and chess is not a sport). Just because they have to withstand extreme heat and g forces doesnt make them athletes. Their car wins the race. Even if they are in the greatest shape in the world, if they are racing a POS they still lose! Would you consider a shuttle pilot an athlete….no you wouldnt and they take a hella ton more g’s than racing can dream of! Just because your job requires you to be in shape, withstand heat and g forces doesnt make you an athlete. Wheres the arguement??