Lately, the NASCAR season has come to an end, which again brings up a common debate: Is NASCAR a sport?

First off, NASCAR has been around since the early 50’s, and has changed in many ways. The cars have gotten faster, heavier and more high tech, progressively making them more difficult to drive. A fair amount people make the case that driving is not an athletic ability, and if it is considered that way, then everyone should be considered an athlete. However, driving in a NASCAR is much tougher. First of all, the speeds are most certainly not highway regulations. NASCAR speeds varies from 90 to 210 MPH, depending on where the race is held. On top of this, the interior of a NASCAR can get up to temperatures north of 150 degrees, meaning a driver can lose up to 10 to 15 pounds a race. G Forces from the violent banking and draft forces coming off the other cars puts immense pressure on a drivers body.

However, there’s a solid claim that racing is just like driving a car down the highway in traffic. Most people who argue the only athletes in the sport of NASCAR are the pit crew members that service the car in about 13 seconds. On top of this, people consider it not to be a sport because of the lack of action that takes place. Some NASCAR fans even complain about the lack of action in some ways, and the sport has attempted to correct this, as ratings are at an all time low.

Though, the driving in traffic claim is very bad. At the fastest tracks on the circuit, Daytona and Talladega, come around each year, restrictor plates are put on the cars, which even the playing field. This means that all 40 cars in the field are within about a second and a half of each other, with the draft having influence on all of them, making it difficult to control a car, and increasing body pressure. It also makes it tough to see more than two cars in front of you, and when there are two rows of cars 20 deep, it is important to know what is going on in front of them.

In conclusion, whether you consider it a sport or not, NASCAR goes a lot deeper than you would think, and is worth at least trying out to watch before you make a final judgement on it.