When I first heard that Jimmie Johnson was named Athlete of the Year for 2009 for accomplishing his 4th NASCAR championship in a row, I just knew it was going to raise the usual question.

Are NASCAR drivers athletes?

Yes.

First, Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus and team achieved a phenomenal feat.  Not only did they win the championship 4 times in a row, they did it across 2 different types of car chassis.  They made the right decisions and adjustments to their cars for 4 years in a row to achieve the top of the NASCAR pyramid.

The entire team performed as needed to achieve the championship IN THE SPORT OF AUTOMOBILE RACING.

Racing is a sport, isn’t it?

For the stick and ball fans out there, I totally understand why you think that racecar drivers are not athletes.  They don’t sprint any distances.  They don’t throw a ball any distances.  They don’t slam into each other repeatedly, proving their awesome strength over a period of time of play like football.

But NASCAR teams do accomplish a lot of the same things other sports teams do.

Sports teams coordinate research for their teams to perform on the track.

Sports teams have the head coaches to coordinate personnel and enact tactics on the track.

Do team doctors equate to team mechanics?  Mechanics make it possible for the car to last an entire race.  Sure!

All sports have performance trainers.  Including NASCAR teams.

The coordination between the pit crew and the crew chief makes things happen during pit stops.  A pit stop can destroy a racers chance to win.  And pit crews have grueling training sessions to make sure they can heft those NINETY POUND fuel cans and 10 to 20 pound tools over the wall make those 14 second, 4-tire, refueling pit stops possible.  Does that qualify for hefting heavy weight in a performance situation like some other sports?  Sure.

But I digress, I’m only talking about an entire team that performs similar deeds that other ATHLETIC teams do in their respective sports.

Let’s focus on the drivers for a moment.

I’m in pretty good shape.  I won’t bother extolling how far or long I can run, or how much I can bench press or leg press.  (BTW: I can leg press the entire set of weights on any leg machine.)

I had a chance to put 10 laps on a Cup car at California Speedway and I had to be very very careful getting out of the car because I didn’t want to look stupid falling out.  It was a pretty decent workout in the none air-conditioned automobile that didn’t have power steering.

In fact,

The drivers need the exact same mental concentration any other athlete does… but they don’t get breaks.  They have to execute entries and exits into and out of corners the exact same way every time for 500 miles, non-stop for up to 4 hours.

They need to focus on the intricacies of getting their finely balanced car into and out of the corners of the track.  Keep in mind, the car is on the verge of spinning-out in each and every corner.  Like if you went around a rain soaked corner and your back-end pitched out a little bit on you?  Imagine doing that at 150+ MPH on dry ground.  Intentionally.

I wrangled a Legends car around a track at 60+ MPH while it spun and pushed through the corners as it pivoted around the center of the car.  That TAKE GUTS and it was only at 60 MPH!

Did I mention that it’s sort of warm in those NASCAR Cup cars?  It’s been said to be 110+ degrees in those cars and the drivers can lose up to 10 lbs in sweat in a day.  All while intensely focusing on operating their cars throughout the day.  Without a single flaw.  That takes a certain amount of physical finesse and mental perfection to pull that off!

It’s focus (not unlike a golfer or other athlete) in the incredible heat while man-handling their machine through the race traffic while the machine wants to spin out that makes them incredible athletes in their own rights.

I just have a better, inside understanding to what it takes to do this and I appreciate it.  Because frankly, I’m sorry, when I’m hot I can’t even think straight some days, never mind do anything athletic.  (I really need my A/C!)

So stick and ball athletes are one kind of athlete.  NASCAR and other racecar drivers are another kind of athlete, but none-the-less, with the need to focus & perform in adverse conditions, plus the teamwork needed in the entire organization to succeed,  yes, NASCAR drivers are athletes supported by they teams that help create successful athletic results because automobile racing is a sport!  They perform their jobs in a sport, and athletes perform in organized sports.

So to Jimmie Johnson, CONGRATULATIONS for making 2009 AP ATHLETE OF THE YEAR!  Good call AP!!!  Good call.

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