NASCAR Possesses The Toughest Athletes
Written by Hopper, Sunday March 08 2009
People may argue that football is, by far, the toughest sport to play. That is a statement that I would not disagree with. But when it comes to which sport has the toughest athletes, that honor goes to NASCAR, and their drivers.
NASCAR drivers have the most grueling schedule of all athletes. For 38 weekends out of the year, NASCAR drivers have to wrestle with 3,600 pound cars at 180 miles per hour for 4 hours. And when they aren't racing, they're testing, trying to get an edge on the tough competition. The constant process is mentally and physically tiring.
Let me put the above statement into perspective for you. Each week, NASCAR drivers drive 500 miles. That is roughly the equivilent of driving from Atlanta to Richmond, every single week. Unlike with other sports, the playing field changes weekly for NASCAR drivers. They race on tracks spanning from .5 miles, to 2.5 miles, to road coures. Talk about variety.
But the big reason why NASCAR drivers are the toughest athletes in sports is because hardly anything can keep them from racing. It is not unusual for a driver to race while, at the same time, battling the flu. Heck, Jamie McMurray did it last week in the Cup race. And Greg Biffle did it in the Nationwide race last week, and won.
NASCAR drivers have been known to race with broken bones. In 2003, Bill Elliott broke 3 toes on his breaking(left) foot in a crash during the All Star race. The next week, Awesome Bill was back racing. He did not miss a single race. Dale Earnhardt Jr. once raced with 2nd degree burns back in 2004, and just 2 years ago, he raced half of a race with dirt in his eye.
Just yesterday, Martin Truex Jr. was diagnosed with kidney stones. He passed the stone last night, and will go racing today in Atlanta. Or, for those of you who better know the area, Truex will go racing in Hampton, GA.
Why is it that NASCAR drivers race through such pain and discomfort? Especially when broken bones, or even an illness, can put even a tough football player on the bench, and a hangnail can put a baseball player on the DL? It's because NASCAR drivers have to race. They collect the points that go towards a championship. They have a team that can make or break them. But at the end of the day, the driver collects the points, not the team. And if a driver misses, even one measly race, it could take the whole team out of championship contention. NASCAR drivers carry their team on their backs.
That is why NASCAR possesses the toughest athletes.
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Actually, physically speaking, NASCAR drivers' bodies are put through the same rigorous workout as a marathon runner. A study measured their heartrates, the amount of fluid lost during a race and stamina. In one race, Rusty Wallace lost 11 lbs. They lose a few pounds each race, Tony Stewart notwithstanding, which is why they all have a hydrating setup in their cars. In a corner, a driver can experience 2 to 3 Gs of force, making a 200 lb driver feel like he weighs 600 lbs. On a hot summer day, temps inside a car can reach 120 degrees. In their offseason, as well as during the racing season, drivers work out, concentrating on their shoulders, neck, arms and back.