pocon1

Thursday, May 27, 2004
Updated: May 28, 2:18 PM ET


By Jerry Bonkowski
Special to ESPN.com

It's been said so many times, usually accompanied by a snicker, that most auto racing fans pretty much come to expect it before the line is even finished.


"NASCAR drivers are athletes? Yeah, right! That's a good one!"


How many times have you heard that very same thing & or for that matter, were the one saying it? How many folks think hopping in a car and driving pedal-to-the-metal for a few hours is no more exerting than hitting the McDonald's drive-thru?


Well, it's time to set this straight. If anyone has any hesitation in saying that NASCAR drivers are athletes, it's time they seriously consider the feat that is Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.


It's the longest, most grueling and exhausting race of all the major motorsports' series (well, the 24 Hours of Le Mans deserves its own category, so it's exempt from this discussion). Indianapolis stops at 500, thinking that's enough. Formula One, well, forget it; the folks on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean wouldn't even think of racing on a track for 600 miles. They usually decide 70 warp-speed laps is plenty.


About the only thing that comes close to comparing is the off-road Baja 1000 -- but then, that's split up over a couple of days.


No, there is no other major race in the world that features just one driver that can match the Coca-Cola 600 for the challenge it presents and the physical, mental and emotional drain it puts on drivers.


They have to go 600 miles, which means 400 laps around the 1.5-mile LMS track, at average speeds hovering in the neighborhood of 150-mph or more. That means usually four hours-plus of straight-through, non-stop racing, with no breaks, no TV timeouts and having to endure the feeling of being like a piece of meat inside a microwave, with temperatures inside their race cars that oftentimes soar past 130 degrees.


Oh yeah, lest we forget, perhaps the biggest challenge facing drivers over the course of the race: not even one bathroom break. That's why when cars pull into the pits for the six or seven stops they'll have to have during the course of the event, drivers are very cautious about limiting their fluid intake to just enough water or energy drinks to give them a sample of refreshment, but not to the point where they have to stop the car, hop out and find the nearest Port-A-Potty.


"You get so dehydrated and can easily lose 10 pounds (off your body) in just that one race," said Tony Stewart, who nearly collapsed a couple of years ago when he exited his car after the 600. Of course, that was also the year Stewart performed the so-called "double-double," racing in the morning and early afternoon in the Indy 500, taking a quick jet to Charlotte, and then hopping into his stock car for the 600. That's 1,100 miles total & but another story in and of itself.


Let's translate what the 43 drivers will go through in Sunday's 600 in more layman terms. Take, for example, the upcoming family summer vacation, and hypothetically comparing racing in the Coca-Cola 600 to driving from New York to Los Angeles, more than 3,000 miles, straight through, in less than two days at, say, 80 miles per hour.


With only 15-second gas fill-up stops & and with no bathroom breaks.


That's pretty much the same concept of driving in the 600.



Dale Earnhardt Jr. gave up smoking to improve his chances of winning a title.


When the Coca-Cola 600's predecessor, the World 600, made its debut in 1960, the race was even longer -- oftentimes stretching to close to eight hours in length, because that was the nature of the mechanical beasts at the time, namely much slower race cars. It's a wonder how drivers managed to survive back then.


During this year's pre-season Nextel Cup media tour in the Charlotte area back in January, one of the main things many drivers talked about -- after discussing the merits of the upcoming 10-race, season within a season "Chase for the Championship -- was how keeping in shape has become more important in recent years.


A perfect example is Dale Earnhardt Jr. Not only will the driver of the red No. 8 Chevrolet turn 30 later this year, but he also knew it was time to get serious about his health and physical condition, to prepare as best he could for the grueling 40-race season (36 regular season races and four exhibitions), if he was going to mount a serious challenge for this season's championship.


Not only did Junior reportedly quit smoking, he also started watching his weight and what he was eating and cut way back on partying. The reason is simple: He wanted to have the energy to sustain the whole season. Many drivers actually turn their in-season physical conditioning programs up a couple notches a few weeks before the 600.


There's numerous other drivers who approach their physical conditioning just like their driving: serious and straight-forward, including veterans like the seemingly ageless Mark Martin, who may be 45 in years, but has the stamina and physical shape of a 25-year-old. There's others like Jeff Burton, who could easily take on someone twice his size.


Or what about Robby Gordon, who will be attempting his fourth "double-double" Sunday, starting his day in the Circle City (Indy) and finishing in the Queen City (Charlotte).


In one of his pre-race diaries for The Associated Press this week, Gordon talked about the significance of not only diet, but the mind's focus.


"I've discovered that doing the "double" is more mental than physical, at least for me," he said. "There's no doubt, though, the effects of 3.5 G-loads in the turns at Indy and a humid night in Charlotte will strain my 35-year-old body.


"For years my pre-race ritual has been to eat a turkey sandwich, but on Sunday morning, I plan instead to drink plenty of liquids. There's so much wind rushing around in an open-cockpit Indy car that you don't have the same sense of heat buildup and dehydration as in a fully enclosed stock car. Two years ago, I got severe stomach cramps during the Coca-Cola 600 because I'd lost more body fluids than I realized. I won't let that happen again."


So it's pretty apparent that staying in shape has become serious business for Nextel Cup drivers, both for Sunday's 600-mile joust, as well as the several thousands of miles they log during the course of the season on racetracks from Daytona, Fla., to Fontana, Calif.


Race car drivers aren't athletes? That's the easy mantra for those who have never tried it.


For while they might not be able to go one-on-one against Shaquille O'Neal on a basketball court, it's a sure bet they could outlast him behind the wheel.


Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at Motorsportwriter@MSN.com.

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I can't believe this writer would suggest that nascar is harder than formula 1 because they can't go to the bathroom for 4 hours. Nascar driving is not easy, but steady state cruising is a lot easier than formula 1's acceleration at 2 g's, turns at 3 g's, and decelerations at 4.5 g's. Dozens of times per lap.

Ooohh! Dale Earnhardt Jr quit smoking. Now we know he must be a serious athlete.

Now I am not saying that driving does not require athletism and skill (my autocrossing is a rush for 60 second laps), or that nascar is wimpy, but do not put it above formula 1 as an athletic endeavor.

silent_jay

I really dislike NASCAR, I just don't see the fun in going around in circles for 4 hours, it must be boring to drive, but to watch, I'd rather watch grass grow.

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Peryn

I imagine most of the skill in Nascar is mental. You can never let your brain fall asleep. 130+ mph being 12" or less apart from the next guy... can you even begin to imagine the reaction time neccessary? Yes, Formula 1 had much more physical strain, but the mental strain in Nascar would be incredible. To me, the stress involved in racing so dangerously close at those speeds for so long would be far more exhausting the getting tossed around in the f1 cars.

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matteo101

IMO F1, is by far "the toughest form of racing", that or Rally.

Asuka{eve}

I always liked f1 It seems much more action packed.

matteo101

Shumacher wins the european grand prix. I was cheering for Sato, but unfortunately that honda engine has exploded again.

DEI37

F1 is so boring. I can't stand racing that calls a 10 second lead a close race. In NASCAR, you can have all 43 cars covering a third of that time, and a close finish is hundredths of a second, and a matter of inches, as the cars are rubbing. That, is racing.

Oh, and you'll NEVER hear team orders to let a teammate by to pad their championship. A sanctioning body that allows that is absolutely pathetic.

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Tester123

I'm sorry but NASCAR is not the toughest form of racing, take a look at the Champ Cars (former CART or w.e you call them) , they race on ovals/street circuits/road courses (long beach, road america, milwaukee, denver, mexico come to mind) no power steering, no power brakes, actual gearbox they have to shift at every corner, no traction control, 750 horses behind them..

Elitegibson

Once drivers get to that high of a rank in professional racing, it's all pretty similar. They all have excellent car control, and must know what's going on around them at all times. Nascar drivers would do great on rally courses, and F1 drivers could also do quite well in stock cars.

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Halx

Subjecting yourself to stress for the sake of simply running a longer race than average does not make you an athlete. Driving a fast car in ovals does not make you an athlete.

You may BE an athlete, and being in shape may make you a better driver, but this particular activity is not athletic.

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pocon1

DEI37, I know you are a big NASCAR fan, which is fine, but I need to let you in on a little secret; the cars finish so close to each other because of all of the cautions and yellow flags. These lump the drivers together. This is so everyone can finish together because the sponsors won't support if they cannot get their names on tv. So the cars have to be lumped together.

Nascar can be sloppy and let the cars touch, because if open-wheel cars touch wheels, all hell breaks loose. It takes a lot more balls to drive six inches away from each other, than for nascar drivers to bump each other.

And please correct me if I am wrong, but didn't Earnhardt die trying to block someone else from getting past his teammate?
Most people and drivers agree that what happened to Barichello vs Schumacher was absolutely ridiculous.

Also, I watched in car footage once of a formula 1 race, and the distance the cars followed each other was amazing. They brake much harder than Nascar can ever dream of, and they brake HARD. These cars would dive into corners, the lead car would hit the brakes, and before you could anticipate it sitting on the couch, the other driver would be on the brakes. It was amazing and it scared the shit out of me. These guys reflexes are incredible.

Tester123

Champ Cars is where its at
www.champcarworldseries.com

sadistikdreams

Fuck.
Street racing is where its at.
Less than a minute, and there's always the threat of death.
Not from driving, but from getting a bullet in your bum.

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Rippley

Just thought I'd let you know, team orders are banned as of this season, so no more of that.

Also, I think it's hard to compare the two sports. F1 is like running 10 miles while getting punched, kicked, picked up and dropped regularly. NASCAR is like running a marathon, maybe two. I have respect for both as sports, but I fins NASCAR boring to watch. However, I'm guessing its like any sport, if you get into the "story" of whats going on backstage and who the people, I'm sure its fascinating. But, if not, its just: "Left...left...left...push that guy into the barrier...left...left..."

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WarWagon

99% of the cart/f1 cars are not that difficulty to drive, or any paddle shifted car for that matter. Having driven an SAE car, I can say that it was pretty simple.

I would say that the rally boys are on par with Nascar. They do require similar if not better skills, but they do it for a much shorter time.

DEI37

Quote from Pocon1:
Some say it was, some think it wasn't. I think it wasn't, after watching the replay countless times. The #40 wouldn't have gotten to the front two in the last quarter of a lap, so I don't think it would have mattered. The accident was payback from when Earnhardt bumped Marlin for a spot earlier in the race. Marlin's tap was intentional, although obviously the outcome could NEVER have been predicted. Definitely one of the saddest, if not THE saddest day in auto racing history.

Quote from Rippley:
Good. That was the only F1 race I'd watched anything of, and I think I watched about three minutes of it. And, that was my intro to F1. As a diehard NASCAR junkie, you can imagine my reaction. It WAS comforting to hear the boo's from the crowd and the negative reaction from the commentators. I'm glad that crap got banned. Personally, I wouldn't have heeded the team orders, but, that's just me.

As far as this topic in general...ALL racers are athletes. I'll admit that F1, CART, IRL, rally, and NASCAR drivers are in excellent shape, and take care of their bodies...in general. I think the NASCAR drivers see more of the mental stress over the other drivers, simply because they drive a car with 800HP that doesn't have traction control, has a full manual gearbox, and requires more concentration to drive...relative to F1, that is. Plus, they drive for 500 miles most weekends. Last night's 600 miler was incredible.

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junglistic

im not overly familiar with nascar, or F1.

But I do beleive Rally championships to be the 'toughest' form of racing.

BooRadley

I don't like NASCAR, but I will admit that the NASCAR racers have more mental endurance than other racers. Going for 500 miles, in an endless circle, 12" away from other cars, in a race suit in a 130 degree car would tax anyones ability to concentrate. In a sport where winners are seconds away from each other in a 500 mile race, you can see just exactly how much concentration and control you need.

That been said, the real athletes (in the physical sense) are the motorcycle racers, you will never see one of those over age 30 (at professional levels) and you won't see one of those being the least bit overweight ( again, at professional levels).

The control of their vehicle is completely based on their bodies movement. With car racing, they are safety-harnessed into their car, with their feet and and hands doing all the controls. Motorcycle racers have to lean , operate a control with both feet, operate multiple controls with each hand, and have to change body posture completely for different operations ( deceleration, turning , jumps in motocross...)

opey99

was wondering if anybody would mention the bikes, that was the first thing to come to my mind, they have to do a lot more work to move around the track.

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General Giap

F1 cars aren't that difficult to drive? I don't think the SAE cars (although I have only glanced over the OSU Buckeyes site there's does 0-60 in 3.4s and 1.5 G's of lateral force) are on the same level as F1 cars, but it will take more reading on my part. Do you have any links to info about these cars WarWagon?

FIA Rally and NASCAR are on par skill wise? I don't see trees, rocks, animals, people, and washed out roads in NASCAR. My vote goes to the Rally guys, not the guys who go round and round and round.

shakran

OK. How many races have you run in that SAE car? How many of those races did you win? If you didn't win EVERY race you were in, then you think it's simple because you're not good enough yet

yakimushi

I might not know which racing style is the most difficult, but I do know that rally is by far the most interesting to watch.

I love it when a car gets flipped or something and all the spectators get together to flip it back over or push it out of a ditch.

FFT

The reason NASCAR is more popular than rally is that NASCAR events take place in stadiums. Rally events take place outside, in natural surroundings (most of the time). Therefore, less people can show up to watch it in person. Even when they do, they can only get part of the action due to the size of the course. The only stadium-based event in rally I've seen was during WRC Australia 2003, and that was just the first race.

This in addition to the fact that Rallies are generally held in Europe, and everywhere else besides the U.S..

MSD

I would fall asleep and crash after the first three laps of driving in Nascar. I have no problem with anyone who finds it interesting, as some of my hobbies are widely considered to be as interesting as growing mold on cheese, but I find any sort of circle-track racing to be as exciting as, and less stimulating than, a rectal exam. This is not a gripe with nascar, it is a gripe with all circle/oval track racing. F1 on an oval? Good night. I'm not going to sit there and get sunburn to watch a bunch of guys turn left for six hours. To get me to watch oval track, one of five things would have to occur.

First, the last few cars on the starting line would be outfitted with Roman chariot wheel blades. These would be of sufficient size to not only destroy the wheels of other drivers, but of sufficient size to destroy vital engine components as well as any driver who did not outfit his door with a large steel plate that would completely throw off the left/right weight distribution.

The second option is to outfit the each driver with his choice of a caltrop dispensor, or an oil-slick dropper. Use would require careful thought in addition to the concentration required to keep yourself on the track, as you wouldn't want spikes or oil in a spot where you might hit in on the next lap.

Third, yellow flags would be restricted. The caution would end the second the driver of the disabled vehicle was safely over the barrier. Alternately, the flags could be eliminated completely, with a 30-lap penalty for hitting a driver who is trying to get to safety. If, at some point, the track were to become completely blocked, the drivers would have to get out and push the blockages off the side of the track.

Fourth, several knife-wielding monkeys who have been given a large dose of PCP would be let loose into pit lane every time a car pulls in. A man in full cowboy garb with a lasso would be stationed at each end of the lane to prevent monkeys from running onto the track. An extra member of each pit crew would be required to operate a beanbag gun, used to attempt to direct the monkeys toward your opponents' pit crews. Alternately, this member would be stationed on the back wall of the stadium facing the pit lane, aremd with an army-issue sniper rifle. He would be in charge of disposing of the monkeys bewfore they reached his team. Don't feel the need to tell me that this is dangerous to the pit crews, I know that. Shooting another team's pit crew or driver would result in the disqualification of his team for the remainder of the season, and the next season as well if the current season were more than halfway through. This option would most likely require a split screen format with the pit on the bottom and the actual reace on the top.

The fifth solution would not be applicable to races other than NASCAR due to space limitations in other race cars. The drivers would be able to reach out the window during the race to pick up duffel bags that were placed on the track by track employees armed with larger versions of the t-shirt launchers that are used to send shirts into the crowd. These men would be explicitly forbidden to aim at the cars themselves. The bags would contain one of several items. The first contains between one and five banana peels that can be deployed by means of a small roof-mounted catapult or a hatch in the floor. The second is a ceramic turtle shell that can be lobbed at other drivers. The third is a smoke bomb that could be deployed in a similar method to the banana peels. Foruth is a one-pound bottle of nitrous that could be attached to a quick connect system and activated via a button on the steering wheel. Since various powerups from Mario Kart cannot be implemented in real life, the ultimate powerup would be a card that can be presented to the pit crew, allowing them to remove the carburetor restrictor plate during the final 30 laps if the driver was more than two laps behind when pitting in.


Didn't he die because he wasn't wearing his seatbelt properly?

WarWagon

What I'm getting at here is that driving an SAE or cart style car, aside from being quick and knowing how to pick a decent line, pales in comparison to the endurance needed to race for hours and hours on end. I've also had my fair share of time behind the wheel of go karts when I was younger, and its the same principle. Same goes for drag cars, as well as auto x.

Not to mention, most people don't think theres any skill involved other than just holding the car straight while driving in a circle. This is because they haven't the faintest idea about the skill it takes to successfully draft a car in front of you at 180mph, how to position your car to let momentum propel you through a corner, or how to be so in tune with a car that you can easily detect 1/2 pound of air difference in any of your tires.

Vaultboy

All F1 drivers come from other forms of racing, and not all of them even took the F3000 route, considered the step-up to F1. Case in point would be Juan Pablo Montoya. Nigel Mansell went from F1 to NASCAR (I think). Didn't he win in his rookie season or something? So yeah, I would agree: Racing at that level is all pretty similar. Except maybe for Rally.

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clonmult

Mansell went from F1 to Indy (or was it Cart?), with the Newman Haas team. He went from the top in F1 to the top team (at the time) in the US, which kinda made the move easier.

And he also did well in the events not expected of him (ie. Ovals). Shame that the 500 eluded him.

BoCo

In my opinion, the form of racing that's hardest on the human body would have to be the one that not only was most mentally challenging, but also created the most G-forces and most repeated instances of G-forces. That could be nothing other than Formula 1 racing.

NASCAR is for rednecks.

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Globber

Neither NASCAR or F1 are the hardest form of motorsport: that crown defo goes to motorcycle racing. MotoGP has the same speeds and forces of F1, but you're hanging off the edge of a bike on the limits of traction. Turning a wheel and shifting does not take nearly as much out of you as leaning into turns, controlling the wheelies without traction control, and all the things (clutch, shifting) that car drivers do as well. The Isle of Man TT is the most demanding and dangerous of all: 1000cc superbikes pushing 200 bhp running on 37 miles of public roads well over 100 mph. Until this year it was 6 laps, about 2 hours of full throttle. Not to mention is you make a mistake, it will probably be fatal. That, my friends, is pure balls, pure skill, and the undoubted toughest form of racing.

silent_jay

Moto GP riders are some hardcore racers I love watching that, I think I change my answer.

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gdr2004

Moto GP is definately much more tougher, at least in my humble opinion.

Serpent

moto gp, motocross, f1, i think are all more difficult and harder on the body then nascar. The g loadings from f1 are just insane, while you have to throw your body around on a motogp bike, and take the abuse of the jumps of motocross.

Spyder_Venom

I will agree that racing is hard work, after a full weekend of qualifing, practice and racing it does take its toll. I don't really feel that Nascar (including the 600) is "harder" than several other forms of racing. What makes it hard - the time? Well....

Dakar Rally
24 hrs races (daytona, etc.)
Baja 1000
GNCC

One could argue that its "hard" becuase of physical strain...

Moto GP
WRC
Motocross
Shifter Carts

The only other way I could see it being "hard" is the mental strain and stress on the bodies reflexs

F1
Cart
Camp Car


...It's not that I am saying there it isn't hard to run in a Nascar (I have spend a couple years running short track in a Super Late Model, I understand from first hand how taxing it is) but I think that there are a lot of other types of automotive racing that are more taxing on the body in almost all respects. In terms of roundy-round running a 1.5 oval for 600 miles, I don't think would be as bad as running a 1/2 mile for 250 miles (normal short track event). I have run a 1/4, 3/8 and a 1/2 mile tracks - the 1/4 was defently the hardest on your body.

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jwoody

Deathrace 2000 was the toughest race ever despite it's homo-erotic overtones.

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bollocks

You're all wrong... the Isle of Man TT Races is by far the toughest and most dangerous race in the world.

If you don't have the slightest clue what the Isle of Man TT is then take a look here http://autos.msn.com/advice/article....20201&src=News

For all the rest that have heard of it, I'd expect you to agree with me thats its the toughest of tough when it comes to racing. It gets held annually on the Isle of Man around a 37.73 mile road racing course. It's, sort of, one of those things that have to be witnessed first hand to realise the danger involved... imagine racing at an average speed of 120mph on roads too thin for two cars to pass through for 3 37.73 mile laps. I mean, these roads are not race track material in the slightest. They are roads maintained by the Isle of Man (an island measuring 21 miles x 9 miles) Government... really bumpy and stupidly twisty. Also, half the Manx population live beside the course so if you crash out, there isn't any specially designed crash barriers to soften your impact, just plain old concrete walls. On average, each TT claims about 10 riders and 5 pedestrians, quite alot for an Island with a population of 65,000.

I live on the Isle of Man so i've seen the in's and out's of the Manx TT, it's brilliant, however it takes the lives of many people, for eg. the 2004 TT started 4 days ago and already 5 people have been killed (2 racers, 3 others from general road accidents involving bikes). It also turns the roads over here into death traps for pedestrians. We hold a day called "Mad Sunday" in the middle of the TT fortnight. This is where you can flog the ass off your bike or car without the restriction of speed limits as long as you stick to the TT course.

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BrassSteve

yes, those TT's at isle of man are crazy

etla

Right, NASCAR never lets team orders affect the outcome of a race.

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Tester123

IT WAS CART!! CART CART CART! CHAMP CARS>>!

cartmen34

At an F1 car's maximum braking force, a driver is placed under 4+ G's of negative G-force loading. Brian Herta, after his F1 test, was quoted as saying that when the car shifted gears "it felt like someone punching him in the back", or something to that effect. Just imagine doing 4 negative G's and being punched in the back, depending on the track, anywhere from 6 to 13 times a lap, for 60+ laps. exhausting? Me thinks so.

And lest we not forget that CART had to cancel an event at Texas motorspeedway in 2001 because the drivers were getting dizzy because of the G force effect. Over the planned 600 mile event, the drivers would have been subjected to 4.74+ G's every 5 seconds, more than 800 times. Unconsciousness ensues.
Edit:
I got these facts from this article: http://www.howstuffworks.com/question633.htm

Nascrap cars wouldn't even stick to the track long enough to generate these kinds of forces.

Edit, part Duex:
Upon further investigation, I see that several guys already mentioned this...Serpent, Spyder_Venom, Glober also voiced the same opinions

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krwlz

I dont race, so I cant really say what would be "toughest". Id say each race embodies a differant aspect. But forced to choose, i think Ill go with the champ cars.

To watch though... Any race that regularly hits 200+ with lots of curves is fun to watch. The same turn over and over again? not my thing.