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Thread: Racing as a Sport? Please justify this for me.

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  1. #1
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    Racing as a Sport? Please justify this for me.

    I'm not trying to ruffle feathers, I'm trying to understand. I'm trying to understand why race car drivers consider themselves to be ATHLETES. Athletes? Serious?

    Answer this...is John Force a professional athlete? Jeff Gordon? Schumacher?


    Why is racing considered a "sport" and their drivers "athletes" when 99% of the race depends on the CAR.

    Are jockeys professional athletes? Are pilots athletes?



    I like racing. I like it...but I want to understand the logic.


    What about the dude sitting in the driver seat of the rally cars that tells the driver his upcoming route...is he an athlete? Has there been a race car driver that achieved an injury from over-stressing while performing his "sport"?


    I am not trying to offend anyone.
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    I believe equestrian is actually an olympic sport.....so is Bobsledding, tobogganing, baseball....etc


    I think some racing is more qualified as being a sports than others, but in the grand scheme of things they are ALL recognized as athlete. If you have ever driven a car in competition, you'll see its actually quite physical, requires a great degree of stamina and hand-eye coordination, which is much like any other traditional sports. In higher level of racing(I guess other than drag), drivers are required to keep in top physical condition in order to perform at their best, they need tremandous upper body strength to deal with the g-forces, they also need insane amount of neck muscle development to hold their head upright to deal with upward to 5 G(in F1's case) of their head+helmet weight in longitudinal and lateral direction, while being able to operate their vehicle.....

    Put it another way, I remember a few years back Tiger Woods was asked who he thinks is a better athlete: Himself, Federer, or Michael Schumacher, each were dominating their respective sports at the time, Tiger Woods said Schumacher....
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  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by RacingManiac View Post
    I believe equestrian is actually an olympic sport.....so is Bobsledding, tobogganing, baseball....etc


    I think some racing is more qualified as being a sports than others, but in the grand scheme of things they are ALL recognized as athlete. If you have ever driven a car in competition, you'll see its actually quite physical, requires a great degree of stamina and hand-eye coordination, which is much like any other traditional sports. In higher level of racing(I guess other than drag), drivers are required to keep in top physical condition in order to perform at their best, they need tremandous upper body strength to deal with the g-forces, they also need insane amount of neck muscle development to hold their head upright to deal with upward to 5 G(in F1's case) of their head+helmet weight in longitudinal and lateral direction, while being able to operate their vehicle.....

    Put it another way, I remember a few years back Tiger Woods was asked who he thinks is a better athlete: Himself, Federer, or Michael Schumacher, each were dominating their respective sports at the time, Tiger Woods said Schumacher....
    Drag racers have to work up into the top classes because of the forces their bodies are subject to. It's possible to black out launching a top fuel car.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Quiggs View Post
    Drag racers have to work up into the top classes because of the forces their bodies are subject to. It's possible to black out launching a top fuel car.
    That's true, happened to me a few times in the Civic...

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    Quote Originally Posted by Niko_Fx View Post
    That's true, happened to me a few times in the Civic...
    Vtak kicked in, huh? Nice.
    [O o)O=\x/=O(o O]

    The things we do for girls who won't sleep with us.

    Patrick says:
    dads is too long so it wont fit
    so i took hers out
    and put mine in

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Quiggs View Post
    Vtak kicked in, huh? Nice.
    My 2001 Civic Lx is not even Vtakck, in that year only the EX and Si were Vtachh.... How sad.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Niko_Fx View Post
    If you were to beat Schumacher, wouldn't you want to take a bit more credit than a mere 1%?
    My 1% is strong.

    Quote Originally Posted by Quiggs View Post
    Drag racers have to work up into the top classes because of the forces their bodies are subject to. It's possible to black out launching a top fuel car.
    This has nothing to do with athletics. This depends on the particular person. Some people are better at handling g-forces than others. If you think John Force's fat-ass is a top-conditioned athlete...no.


    It is difficult for me to consider race car drivers athletes when the majority of the work is performed by the vehicle.

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    Quote Originally Posted by -What- View Post

    It is difficult for me to consider race car drivers athletes when the majority of the work is performed by the vehicle.
    As I said in the deleted thread, they exert themselves as much as others. They are subject to the same heat, cold, and are in the same physical shape of athletes.

    Anyway, I'd love to see you win the F1 World Championship. Look at Richard Hammond for example. He claimed that the duty was "easy". Yet he couldn't even get the car rolling without stalling several times.

    Don't give me that "I'll do it with experience" bullshit. No duh, it takes years and years of moving up series and series at a time, from Karts to Formula 3.

    If you're so damn good, I'd also like to see you win a WRC race.
    I'm dropping out to create a company that starts with motorcycles, then cars, and forty years later signs a legendary Brazilian driver who has a public and expensive feud with his French teammate.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by RacingManiac View Post
    Put it another way, I remember a few years back Tiger Woods was asked who he thinks is a better athlete: Himself, Federer, or Michael Schumacher, each were dominating their respective sports at the time, Tiger Woods said Schumacher....
    Tiger Woods' opinion has nothing to do with the truth. He speaks for the publicity. He will say whatever will sound appealing. Tiger Woods is nothing but a talking head.

  10. #10
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    Niko Fx said:

    So you could actually drive a Ferrari F1 and do just as good as M. Schumacher since the car does 99% of the work?

    Don't they lose like 5lbs per race? I bet it's more than what a Baseball player loses on any game.
    As far as your question Niko...yes. Give me enough practice and I'd be able to compete with Schumacher and possibly beat him. If he suffers an injury...er...if his car fails, I win. In racing, I've notice that the "athletes" fail when their CARS fail.

    But seriously, yes, I believe I could be a competitive race car driver with enough practice. Of course you'll disagree, but think about this...
    Driving an F1 car is a "priviledge"...everyone doesn't get the oppurtunity. Therefore, it is more likely that the best in the world isn't competing compared to most other "sports". I could possibly demolish Schumacher, but we'd never know. I can't go in the streets an play a game of "pick-up F1". I do believe that I am a better conditioned athlete than Schumacher could ever dream of being though, so I may have an edge.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by -What- View Post
    But seriously, yes, I believe I could be a competitive race car driver with enough practice. Of course you'll disagree, but think about this...
    Driving an F1 car is a "priviledge"...everyone doesn't get the oppurtunity. Therefore, it is more likely that the best in the world isn't competing compared to most other "sports". I could possibly demolish Schumacher, but we'd never know. I can't go in the streets an play a game of "pick-up F1". I do believe that I am a better conditioned athlete than Schumacher could ever dream of being though, so I may have an edge.
    If you were to beat Schumacher, wouldn't you want to take a bit more credit than a mere 1%?

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by -What- View Post
    Why is racing considered a "sport" and their drivers "athletes" when 99% of the race depends on the CAR.
    So you could actually drive a Ferrari F1 and do just as good as M. Schumacher since the car does 99% of the work?

    Don't they lose like 5lbs per race? I bet it's more than what a Baseball player loses on any game.

    Drivers (specially F1) need stay in shape throughout their whole season and career for that matter. Cars are designed for them, and every ounce of weight means a heavier, slower car.

  13. #13
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    i think it could be classed as such simply due to the sheer effort (mental?) of keeping focused on the car. the track, the conditions and keeping at it's top pace for lap after lap?
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  14. #14
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    So are jockeys athletes? What about the sport of remote control car racing...are the owners athletes?

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by -What- View Post
    So are jockeys athletes? What about the sport of remote control car racing...are the owners athletes?
    Do you know what kind of training Jockeys (since you keep mentioning them) undergo at all?? It's not as easy as racing the horse and keeping a low weight, trust me.

    A good buddy of mine is an Equestrian, he trains every single day with his horse and by himself to stay fit to ride.

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