More and more NASCAR Cup Series drivers keep joining in the conversation and explaining to the world how a racecar driver’s job is as physically taxing as any other athlete in the world. Team Penske racer Joey Logano became the latest to pitch in with the three-time champion, making his thoughts clear before the race at Phoenix.
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The #22 Ford Mustang driver was dumbfounded when the question was presented to him about whether NASCAR drivers get enough credit for being athletes, to which he replied, “The fact that they even ask us is a little ridiculous, in my opinion.”
The Connecticut native compared different sports, ranging from stick and ball genres to motorsports, and opined how players from each sport would not be able to perform at a high level elsewhere.
“In the same way that if you give me a basketball, I’m not going to be that great with it, it’s the same way you put an NBA player in a NASCAR race car, and they’re not going to be that great either. So, are you going to tell me now an NBA player is not an athlete because he can’t drive a race car? Probably not,” he added.
He applied the same reasoning to NASCAR drivers when considering them as athletes and further elaborated, “So then, why would you call me not an athlete? It’s an uneducated question from people that don’t understand our sport is what it is.”
Joey Logano also briefly touched on the stresses a typical driver in the top three nationwide series of stock car racing undergoes during a race that could last upwards of three hours.
Apart from the constant heat and immense focus drivers need to keep, they also face a challenge in the form of endurance in the sport, as races that are 500 or 600 miles long often come down to the wire at the last moment. A case in point is the Coca-Cola 600, one of NASCAR’s crown jewel events that requires immense grit to win.
Suarez pins lack of experience as a reason why drivers aren’t considered athletes
Trackhouse Racing regular and the sole Mexican native in the field, Daniel Suarez, seems to understand why people from outside the sport have a hard time grasping the concept of a racecar driver as an athlete.
He touched on how driving a car at the limit is an experience only a few people have, whereas playing stick and ball sports such as basketball has easier accessibility.
People often relate to what they have experienced first hand and thus respect the athletes of that sport in the same way. “The problem is that not a lot of people know or understand that because they don’t have an experience in racing. They do have an experience in soccer, baseball, basketball, everything else,” opined Suarez.
The #99 driver’s analysis is very true, given the nature of motorsports worldwide, with only a select few knowing how to drive at the limit and the physical and mental strength to do that at a competitive level, especially in stock car racing’s top tier.
