Racing is a sport

After last weekend's rain-shortened Daytona 500, journalists took advantage of their opportunity to take cheap shots at auto racing and specifically NASCAR for not completing the allotted 200 laps. These jabs poked fun at NASCAR for not finishing the race, and many analysts questioned how a sport could cut short their "Super Bowl," to which the Daytona 500 is often compared.\nBut this was the first Daytona 500 to be shortened by inclement weather since 1966, so for Daytona this was an extremely rare occurrence. All of auto racing faces the problem of unpredictable Mother Nature and is frequently criticized when they must shorten a race or even postpone or cancel an event due to bad weather. But this is the nature of the sport, and there is no question that racing is a sport.\nI'll preface this a bit by saying I have been a lifelong racing fan, as I was born in Indianapolis and lived just a mile from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway until I was six. My dad used to pick my brother and me up from the babysitter's and take us to "The Track" for practices and time trials throughout the month of May. I could even hear the magnificent sound of the screaming engines from my house.\nIt just makes me cringe when I hear someone say, "Racing is not a sport, all they do is drive around in circles; even I could do that." I would like to see an average citizen hop in the cockpit of an Indy car or NASCAR and take it for a ride at 200 miles per hour, nearly brushing an outside cement wall that could send you spinning and flipping into oblivion. Not to mention doing that with 30 or 40 other drivers out on the track while avoiding a wreck. Some people would argue that racing is a skill more than a sport, because the car does much of the work, but again I would disagree. Anything is really a skill when it comes down to it: Hitting a home run or shooting a free throw are both just skills too.\nDrivers are some of the most fit athletes in the world. While they may not be the strongest, their physical and mental endurance put them near the top of any athletic cast. The G-Forces received in the cockpit of an Indy car while flying down a straightaway can cause one to become nauseated and even temporarily unconscious. NASCAR and Indy races commonly last 3-4 hours, often in stifling heat and cars without the luxury of air conditioning.\nAt last year's Brickyard 400, temperatures exceeded 105 degrees with the heat index, and I viewed dozens of fans who were extremely dehydrated and some who even fainted due to the heat. However, the 43 NASCAR drivers put on a show for the fans and lasted all 160 laps in the typical hot and muggy weather of August in Indiana.\nUnfortunately for Americans, we rarely get to see the greatest drivers and thus some of the greatest athletes in the world. That is because the Formula 1 series only comes to the United States once a year and is seldom discussed by our sports media. Because of the effect of the high speeds and sudden breaking and turns, there have been multiple Formula 1 drivers who have had to suddenly change their eating and workout habits to get more fit because of excessive nausea and sickness in the car.\nAs much as I love all the traditional sports of basketball, baseball, football and many others, racing is just as intense and often times even more exhilarating. Not to mention that all of those other sports only require just one ball, but to race with the best of them, you need two.