I was pleased to see the Associated Press give NASCAR drivers some credit last week by naming four-time defending Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, the AP Male Athlete of the Year. One of the most common phrases I hear, as a NASCAR fan is “How can you watch cars drive in circles That’s not even a real sport. It can’t be that hard.”

The misconception that NASCAR drivers aren’t athletes is also one of my biggest pet peeves. The fact of the matter is, the average American “Sunday Driver” certainly couldn’t climb behind the wheel of a stock car and drive it around the track at the level the professionals do.

The average driver certainly doesn’t sit behind the wheel of a 3,000-plus pound car, constrained to a space so small and safety harnesses so tight that you can barely move your head, for four or more consecutive hours, not to mention the average 120 degree temperature that NASCAR drivers endure each and every race. All the while manually shifting their vehicles between 42 other 180 mph cars.

If you think you can endure the G-forces that drivers do on top of all those conditions, be my guest.

Most drivers also have rigorous training routines as well. Dale Jarrett revealed in an interview with NBC Sports that his workout schedule involves a six-days-a-week routine lifting weights and doing cardio to build upper-body strength.
Webster’s Dictionary defines an athlete as “a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina.”

Physical strength is certainly required to do the above tasks. If you dare question the agility of a driver, go on Youtube, search any wreck at Daytona or Talladega, and tell me that you could dodge a 10-car pileup in the same fashion that those drivers do at those high speeds.

Without stamina, drivers simply wouldn’t be able to focus on the task ahead through the long, grueling races they endure.
Some argue by saying that anyone can drive a car. I can catch a football, hit a baseball, and shoot a basketball. Does that mean that DeSean Jackson, Ryan Howard, and Allen Iverson aren’t athletes because I can do something they do? Give me a break.

Writer and columnist Cathy Elliot said it best. “Anyone can drive a 3,400-pound car, but the number of those who can do it for 400 or 500 miles at a stretch, at speeds which sometimes exceed 180 mph, packed like sardines into a moving mass of other cars traveling just as fast in the same direction, with no air conditioning, is very small. Last time I checked, there were about 43 of them.”

I applaud the Associated Press on picking someone truly deserving of the Athlete of the Year title, an athlete who has dominated his sport like few others have. Congratulations, Jimmie.

Bruce Knoll, 17, of Eldora, can be contacted by email at bknoll jr4cmcherald@yahoo.com

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