With the completion of the 57th-annual Daytona 500 this past Sunday, the 2015 NASCAR season has officially begun. I first got into motorsports in 2009, when I was flipping through the channels one Sunday evening and happened upon the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. Ever since then I’ve loved racing, both NASCAR and Formula 1, and followed it as closely as possible.
Having grown up in New York state, I’ve found that there are negative stereotypes about the sport, ranging from “The drivers aren’t really athletes, anyone can drive a car,” to the popular jokes criticizing the fact that drivers only make left turns. These stereotypes are based off of serious misconceptions about the sport and are quite simply wrong.
Being a NASCAR driver is far from easy. Not only are their bodies routinely subjected to two to three G’s of force but they have to compete in car temperatures as high 120 degrees Fahrenheit. They do all this while focusing on driving at speeds of nearly 200 mph, mere inches away from each other.
Driving a NASCAR stock car isn’t like driving your dad’s Corolla. It requires an immense amount of both physical and mental endurance as well as amazing reaction time. When an accident happens, drivers need to be able to move out of harm’s way at a moment’s notice, or else end up out of the race or with serious injuries.
Many people criticize drivers by saying that they don’t have to be in peak physical condition to do what they do. It’s true fitness isn’t a requirement, but it absolutely helps, and a majority of drivers are in excellent physical condition. Being in shape helps drivers sustain fewer injuries after accidents, handle the intense heat inside the cars (which can cause a driver to lose between 3-10 lbs per race) and steer difficult cars by harnessing upper body strength.
Another big misconception surrounds the nature of the sport itself. It’s unfortunately common to hear “left turn” jokes when bringing up the subject of NASCAR. To a casual observer it may appear that NASCAR is just drivers making left turns over and over. This is true to the same extent that soccer is just a bunch a people kicking a ball back and forth. There’s simply much more to it. Drivers are constantly working with their spotters, crew chiefs, pit crews and even other drivers to employ countless strategies to help them or their teammates win a race. Most of the fun of watching NASCAR comes from watching the drama unfold between two or more drivers passing, blocking or working with one another.
There is a lot more to NASCAR than meets the eye. Even if one finds it to be a boring spectator sport, the drivers still deserve respect for what they do.