[Aqua225]

Fish hawk,

You should just do a ride along for 4 or 5 hot laps at the Richard Petty experience, which is not even out where NASCAR drivers sit for 500 miles! They get up to the 160+ mph range on those battered “daily drivers”, and it’s a plenty to make you respect the true athleticism involved in stock car racing, just riding, much less ignoring how much it takes to drive one.

It takes some serious constant force to keep that machine in the groove, and you are in a constant battle with the g-forces. NASCAR machines are not luxury cars — mainly because they’d just kill you faster if they were. The cars are designed to make you work to make them move, since if they didn’t, a small shake at close to 200mph would put you square in a wall.

Combine that with the mental stress of a wailing engine, constant radio chatter, heat, fumes, tire noise, fueling strategy, groove selection -— it takes a special amount of concentration to just drive, much less be superior.

[fish hawk]

Most of you are missing my point. It has nothing to do with exertion or body workout, shape or how fast and dangerous it is. Let's say Chuck Yeager (in his younger days) takes you for a ride in the hottest new jet there is. Now he is in top physical shape and works out to stay that way. He is taking his life into his own hands every time he goes up (just like race drivers do) Now he does loops dives , roll overs, stalls and heavy heavy G forces. He still is no more of an athlete than the hottest driver on the oval. Some of you keep coming back to how physically hard and dangerous racing is, to me, that has absolutely nothing to do with being an athlete. Racing may be tougher than tennis or baseball on the body but that is not the point.