Who would you think is more the athlete. A guy racing by foot around that track one time or a driver going around 20 times? A guy sits on his ass for many days on the way to the moon in a rocket. Everyone knows that takes skill and talent and he has to be in shape. I guess that makes him an athlete????
Depends on the track.
Having known a few of the top level Off-Road racers and having sat shotgun with a few of them in actual races in Baja, I can tell you that many are every bit as athletic as some Baseball players. The absolute pounding the body takes is something that has to be experienced. My non athletic self had to be helped out of the truck at 250 miles. Took a few days to even want to move again.
Hey, if you think it’s a bunch of fat guys cruising with one hand on the wheel, so be it. If you saw the post I made above I mentioned a series a mag did with Ivan Stewart. As another part of it, they sent him up with a figher jock in a jet and did the routine. Then the jock got in the truck with Stewart and they went through that routine.
Unless you think a fighter pilot isn’t an athlete, the man said it was one of the most intense and physically grueling things he’d ever experienced.