Auto Racing "Not A Sport"

Have you been told Auto Racing "Isn't A Sport"?

  • Total voters
    147
Chances are good enough here that it's best not to bring it up at all, :lol: I have met a few people that are into it though, so not every time, but they are rare and far between.
 
Grand Prix
Chances are good enough here that it's best not to bring it up at all, :lol: I have met a few people that are into it though, so not every time, but they are rare and far between.
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Same, I just try to avoid conversation about racing with people. It just makes me so mad:lol:
 
I've talked about it with my friends and surprisingly no one has said that it's not a sport, although they never said it was a sport either. :lol:
 
It's not difficult to see why people come to that conclusion. Usually, a sport is a competition of physical strength & motor skills between people & teams. As physically in shape as drivers are, it's usually not seen as 1 driver putting his physical ability against another, but his physical ability to pilot & endure a machine that will in turn do the competing. This in contrast to say rugby, which is incredibly physical to win.

However, because the term sport is really just simplified as a "game in which one competes against another", racing is as much a sport as golf or hunting.
 
Anyone can throw or kick a ball, or hit it with a racket or bat.

Almost anyone can return said ball with a racket/bat/hand/foot/head. Though if you try to return a baseball with your head, there's something wrong with you.

Not everyone can do any of the above well enough to earn a few million dollars/euros/pounds a year.

That's all there is to be said about it.
 
McLaren
It's not difficult to see why people come to that conclusion. Usually, a sport is a competition of physical strength & motor skills between people & teams. As physically in shape as drivers are, it's usually not seen as 1 driver putting his physical ability against another, but his physical ability to pilot & endure a machine that will in turn do the competing.
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In a way, can the same be said about Horse Racing?
 
People think its easy driving a car. But all they've done is do +10 over the speed limit. Driving a 700+ horsepower car with few/no safety assist at 100+ mph with other drivers in close proximity, shifting gears, managing throttle, without killing yourself is very different than driving to work in traffic.
 
Turbotwin01
"Racing isn't a sport, anyone can drive a car."
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That is all.
 
ProjectWHaT
People think its easy driving a car. But all they've done is do +10 over the speed limit. Driving a 700+ horsepower car with few/no safety assist at 100+ mph with other drivers in close proximity, shifting gears, managing throttle, without killing yourself is very different than driving to work in traffic.
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This. A lot of people don't realize how difficult a car can be to handle in traffic at extremely high speeds, coming to within inches of the wall (or trees in rallying) and other competitors. There is also a lot of upper body strength involved as well as being able to have the stamina to deal with constant g-forces. Even the tub 'o lard in Tony Stewart (or Jimmy Spencer several years back) are still athletes. Yes, the "race car drivers aren't athletes" arguments are slightly off subject, but still pertain to the "auto racing is not a sport" argument.

By the way, to answer your question, I have friends who watch and enjoy the auto racing and consider it a sport. But I've heard others say it isn't. So I voted "sometimes".
 
There are also some people out there that seem to fail to grasp the concept that some drivers are just faster than others. If they are not aware of that aspect of motorsport, it's easy for them to think that any Joe Somebody could win if they had a good machine. This makes auto racing harder to take seriously as a sport.

It's understandable though, because not many people have actually tried it in any medium. Everyone thinks they are good at it until they try a TT, or an online spec race, or a real kart race, etc.
 
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Why are they called "Sportscars"then?

Drivers have heart rates of 130 bpm+ for periods of up to 45 minutes, no other "sports" have competitors that come close.
I've seen 180bpm+ for 18 minutes in a rally driver.....enough to cause cardiac arrest in most people. They are fit and to get fit, you must be physical.
It's been a while since I went Karting, but I can recall 15 minutes was enough for my forearms to feel like they were Popeye's. :lol:
 
I don't consider it a "sport" in the traditional sense of the word, but I can see how it would be considered one as it's more of a "enjoyable activity".

Then again, it depends on what sport defines to you. Does it have to be something where you run around?

Is racing technically a game because there's a winner at the end?


It's all up to personal opinion. There's really no right answer.
 
Sport:

an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.

Thus:

Auto-racing:

an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.

-

Don't see the problem. That the equipment in auto-racing outweighs the driver ten times to one, doesn't change the fact that the driver is the one competing. The only difference is that the equipment more visibly contributes to success than in other sports (where corked bats, trick drivers and golf balls, weird rackets and ultra-light bicycles are very strictly regulated).
 
Azure Flare
Football, handegg (:P), baseball, basketball, tennis, golf, etc. are all games.

And I know for a fact that not everyone can drive a car, just ask Vadim Kogay.
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I love Vadim Kogay. We should form an official fan club or something like that. :lol: I really hope he races again in Silverstone.

And to the question: Yes, unfortunately I know many people that think that way.
 
People always drop to the argument "he's got a better car he'll obviously win"

How is 'sport' any different?

You never hear people saying "he's got longer legs he'll obviously be a better runner"

At least a car advantage is something you can attain if you're good. You can't suddenly grow longer legs, in that way motorsport is much fairer than normal 'sport' in my eyes.

But yes, I have been told that it's not a sport but it's usually those most ignorant to motorsport that say it so I ignore them.
 
niky
Anyone can throw or kick a ball, or hit it with a racket or bat.

Almost anyone can return said ball with a racket/bat/hand/foot/head. Though if you try to return a baseball with your head, there's something wrong with you.

Not everyone can do any of the above well enough to earn a few million dollars/euros/pounds a year.

That's all there is to be said about it.
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It's an interesting analogy. And perhaps it's because for many people, having a driver's license and driving a car, is a part of daily life. It's an activity that so many of us engage in, like taking out the trash or bathing, so for many people they just do it without thinking. We all do it. And yet, it's part of our ego makeup, especially as males, that we all tend to think that we're pretty good at it. And better than most.

If you ask a group of people, if they're being honest about it, I doubt many of them would claim they could dunk as well as Michael Jordan, or handle a puck like Wayne Gretzky, or serve a ball as well as Roger Federer, or score a goal as well as Cristiano Ronaldo. But there are a lot of people out there, who at least secretly, think that given half a chance, they could drive almost as quickly as Michael Schumacher.

On the perfect day, with perfect conditions and the perfect setup, given a LOT of practice, if somebody has a knack for it, and they manage to hit all of their marks and really string it together to put down a very respectable lap, well, it's entirely possible. And good on them. 👍 But the thing about racing, is being able to do it, not just once, under perfect conditions, but being able to do it, lap after lap, after lap, when conditions aren't ideal and you're fighting other cars and adverse conditions, not to mention stress and fatigue, all while having the mental fortitude to think critically and keep going at a blistering pace. And that's what separates the racers from the fast drivers. And that's why it's a sport. And it's a concept which is entirely lost on many people.

When you watch TV shows or movies about racing. Being able to pass is a simple matter of (a) putting a stern look on your face (b) downshifting and (c) putting the throttle to the floor. And I think a lot of people, particularly those who don't see racing as a sport, can't quite fathom why this is so far from reality.
 
This is the one thing I hate. In my opinion, motorsport is one of the most physically demanding of all sports, when you get to a certain point.

There's nothing more incredible than watching people risk their life in such a way.
 
I think people disagree that racing isn't sports because of how difficult it is to get started. Something like 24 Hours of Lemons require you to dump quite a bit of money just to spec your entry car. Then you need to bring it home safely. If you wreck, you need more money to pay for damages and the like.
 
“There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.”

-Ernest Hemingway

I'm kidding of course. Golf is a sport, basketball is a sport, auto racing is a sport, curling is a sport. It's a broad definition.
 
Samus
You mean the one in the dictionary? Not sure how you can get any more traditional than that.
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Not so much literally as the dictionary puts it, but as the term defined by most people "that it's a physical game with running". Otherwise yes, it fits quite will with the dictionary definition.
 
I've been into sports car racing and kart racing for many decades. At first I agreed with Hemingway. When I started back in the 60's, rollover bars, seat belts and flame retardant clothing were innovations. Now I look upon auto racing, the way I pursued it, not merely as a challenge for trophies and championships, but more as a test of physical, mental and emotional control. In short: a martial art.
 
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Slash
Not so much literally as the dictionary puts it, but as the term defined by most people "that it's a physical game with running". Otherwise yes, it fits quite will with the dictionary definition.
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Well I don't know anyone that defines sport as always involving running but ok.
 

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