The age-old question in motorsports is this: Can race car drivers be considered athletes? The common answer to that question is yes if you think of other disciplines of motorsports such as Moto GP and Formula One. However, it’s a bit more complicated in NASCAR and two-time Xfinity Series champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently shared his take on the controversial question.
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As per Junior, there have been drivers in the sport who take care of their physique and have the features of an athletic individual. “There might be other drivers that physically don’t have themselves in the best shape, they’re not as concerned about what they’re putting in their body. Would I call that individual an athlete? Probably not. Can you be an athlete and a great race car driver? You can… Can you be a great race car driver and not be athletic? Yes,” he said on a recent episode of Sports and Forks.
Later on, Junior mentioned his former teammate Jimmie Johnson to have an athletic build and that the seven-time Cup Series champion has always been quite conscious about what he puts in his body.
How Jimmie Johnson viewed nutrition as a race car driver
Back in the day when Johnson used to race in the Cup Series, he was focused on making sure his nutritional intake was always on point. However, his fellow competitors on the grid often did not share the same idea towards maintaining their physical health. Even today there are quite a few drivers who overlook the fitness aspect of NASCAR.
“For a lot of drivers, nutrition is the final piece that they need to figure out, it’s an unspoken thing that many do, not do. Just last week I was talking to a young driver about the importance of diet,” he said back in 2016 as per Sports Illustrated.
The longstanding debate about whether NASCAR drivers are truly athletes or not will always yield conflicted responses. But considering the grueling and intense nature of a race weekend, what these drivers endure is nothing short of remarkable. Hence, in a way, they can be considered to be athletes. Although, the argument regarding this shall live on for the foreseeable future.
