Is auto-racing a sport???

[Brandon]

Well I was thinking that auto-racing is a sport. As you do need to be strong/fit and very powerful to drive in those cars not only to menthsion the speed those get to F1 gets i think about 200 +, on some tracks NASCAR cars can get 200+, and Indy can get about 210+, and they make it look like driving a car at 10 MPH...so what is you take on auto-racing is it a sport or not

 

[rahul2006]

It Is Sport

 

[disturbedart]

yes i think auto-racing is a sport, as you said they have to be very fit and have to learn how to control cars at high speeds. I think it would be a sport in the drivers position and i myself thinks its a sport.

 

[Brandon]

yes i think auto-racing is a sport, as you said they have to be very fit and have to learn how to control cars at high speeds. I think it would be a sport in the drivers position and i myself thinks its a sport.

Yes because racing my low powered snowmobile requires nolege as i almost drove it off a 250 cliff...as i jupped and the safty kicked in i was fine...

 

[thecarver]

nascar is not a sport, but F1 is.
Alonzo owns all except Schumacher, but he'll own all soon

 

[Brandon]

nascar is not a sport, but F1 is.
Alonzo owns all except Schumacher, but he'll own all soon

Its as the all-over sport not just f1 or nascar.....lolz

 

[MSchumacher1]

nascar is not a sport, but F1 is.
Alonzo owns all except Schumacher, but he'll own all soon

Nah ...not in a Mclaren he wont and Kimi in a Ferrari Will be the man after Schumi but there will never be another as good as the great Schumacher, one of a kind and when he retires F1 will never be the same for me.. but hay Kimi and Massa will keep Ferrari at the top so i guess i'll be ok...but no Schumi..:nuts: :rant2:

 

[Livewire]

Well, you need to define sport somehow in order to identify what is one and what isn't one.

So I tried to come up with a decent definition, but I found a problem: Every definition I could come up with basically defined almost any action as a sport (Could you get killed doing it (that's almost everything :S), is it more dangerous than life (won't work since if it's a sport its a part of your life, thereby making it not a sport))...

The best one I came up with was 'Am I crazy enough to do what they're doing?" If I answer no, then the answer is yes it could be considered a sport :

So yes, by that logic, racing is a sport. No, shooting a gun is not, nor is golf (minigolf, not the whole 400yard thing, cause whether I'm crazy or not really has nothing to do with my total lack of skill in it). Still has the problem of stuff that shouldn't be sports being defined as sports, and vice versa.

I'll settle for this choice google definition however:

[SIZE=-1]Sport is a physical activity involving large muscle groups, requiring strategic methods, physical training and mental preparation and whose outcome is determined, within a rules framework, by skill, not chance. Sport occurs in an organized, structured and competitive environment where a winner is declared.

pulled off of http://www.sbed.gov.bc.ca/SportBranch/Glossary.htm .

By that logic, yes it is most definitely a sport -

Physical Activity involving large muscle groups. Well, arms for sure (let's face it, even with power steering it still takes a decent amount of effort to do a sharp turn at 65, let alone 150+), and if you crash and your car's on fire, it's a mad scramble to get OUT of the car...

Strategy? Where isn't there strategy (Do I change my tires now? Refuel? Pass this guy? Gun it and hope I don't blow my engine? Party tonight or train?)

Physical/Mental training? Maybe not so much physical, but preparing before a race that you might die in? Yes it's alot safer than it used to be, but that doesn't mean bad stuff doesn't happen.

Outcome determined within a rules framework, by skill not chance? It's more skill than chance but still a little chance (if you prepare for dry weather cause it said 10% chance of rain, but there's a downpour at the field, your chance went against you). Rules framework? How long does it take to inspect a car to make sure it doesn't break the rules? According to the story here: http://www.scenedaily.com/stories/2003/03/03/scene_story4.html it took inspectors at that track 44 minutes (later it aparently dropped to 22, but that's still the length of a tv show without the commercials). Do people still find ways to break the rules? Yes, but how is that any different than steroids in football, baseball, or cycling (all of which are sports I might add)...

Organized, Structured environment? Perhaps not always as organized as we'd like it to be, but let's face it, nothing's 100% organized. Structured we can do however - Points based, schedules for when the races are going, rules set...

And probably the cheesyest argument of all (oh and I love cheese): It's shown on ESPN. Electronic and Sports Programming Network. Don't ya think they woulda, I dunno, told us if it wasn't a sport by now while they were showing it?

End of Line. And holy heck did this turn into the worlds biggest rant....
[/SIZE]

Edit: Caught a minor blip, my link for inspections singles out Nascar in particular, but that's one of the more popular ones so it should fit well. I'm still sure there's inspections for every racing type (the gokart races down here do, although it's mostly to make sure there's a seatbelt). If you happen to find one that doesn't though, do me a favor and figure out if it's popular - something tells me lawnmower races aren't as popular as F1 or Nascar

 

[blackroselove]

okay thats the longest post for a long time.
And yes i agree with LiveWire And it is defiantly a sport by logic but some people disagree with this.
As a sport should be like football or something a like, not a race car.

 

[Livewire]

Yea, think I broke my record for longest single-post rant in a forum so far >_<

 

[Brandon]

Yea, think I broke my record for longest single-post rant in a forum so far >_<

I think to you should get bounus points for that...25 points to you.

 

[Livewire]

Sent em' back, I don't believe in points (or reputation), unless we're playing guitar hero, in which case I don't have nearly enough to beat my friends on hard :S

Back on subject, I need to grab tickets to the gokart races again. That's some good fun, specially if the track is dry - lotsa spinning tires. Haven't seen any flip over though (thank god, they're usually driven by kids under 12 - their parents drive the stock cars aparently, sort of a "drive this then drive daddy's truck" thing I guess)

 

[Conor]

No way is this a sport. Its more of a competitive hobby. A sport is something that takes coordination and endurance. Auto racing is as much a sport as chess is.

 

[Brandon]

No way is this a sport. Its more of a competitive hobby. A sport is something that takes coordination and endurance. Auto racing is as much a sport as chess is.

So your saying being in a 110-120 degree farigneght car for 2, 3 4 hours strait isnt endurance. I dnt know but a driver can loose up to 10-15 pounds in one race because of how warm it gets in the car. I dnt see other sports getting this warm...and add in passing, racing clean, stategy and you haveyourself an a+ sport.

 

[Livewire]

Not to be particularly rude or anything, but in chess if you lose your queen, it doesn't really compare to losing a tire in the middle of a race and slamming into the guard rail.

Translation: People don't usually die in chess (usually meaning there's always someone with a gun)...

 

[disturbedart]

Yes very true... And racing needs alot of time and partice to become good at it and also how to drive cleanly, Overtake and how your car reacts.

 

[Spartan Erik]

Don't see why not; driving at 200 mph isn't normal
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