Sports Gospel NASCAR Mailbag

Last week's NASCAR column proved to be very popular with some and very upsetting to another contingent. I got about three times the amount of e-mail I get on an average week, so I thought a mailbag column would help clear up some confusion. I did get a lot of positive feedback, but none of it made the mailbag, because frankly, unlike some writers, I'm not doing this to pat myself on the back (at least not in this version).

I did have another column planned, so don't think I'm just looking for the easy way out this week. In fact, if you can't get your fill of the sports gospel, I'm starting to do another column every week on SportsRant.com, so you can check it out there every Thursday (starting this week).

I think the main point of contention with most people was the fact that I did not consider NASCAR to be a sport. A little warning, some of the e-mails aren't well-written, and these are the e-mails that actually made the cut, I left quite a few of them out because they were embarrassing to the English language. I was really hoping to get some good arguments from NASCAR fans. Anyway, on to the e-mails.

Boy are you a f*cking no brain idiot... Why dont you walk up to Kevin Harvick or Tony Stewart when they are wound up after a race and tell them nascar is not a sport... You wont walk out you dink... At least nascar drivers dopnt have to inject steriods in there body to perform better ..They just work harder.. Why dont learn a little about it before you talk so stupid...

Mark

Mark,

I heard NASCAR drivers were supposed to be a step above the common "athlete." Anyway, the fact that the drivers would physically assault me doesn't make it a sport — otherwise we would have to consider professional wrestling a sport, as well (although I'm pretty sure I could take most of them).

As far as the steroids thing is concerned, don't pretend that drivers are perfect angels. They do a lot of alterations to their cars and try to get around many rules, so it's not like they are perfectly clean. Trust me, if steroids would help a NASCAR driver, you would have some using it.

You do have one thing going for you, though, you have a good name.

hey man you no how bad of a low life you are saying that nascar is not a sport @!@
Kyle

Know, know I don't no how much of a low-life I am.

Hey dude in almost any jock sport it only takes "one ball" to participate, in NASCAR it takes TWO BALLS and it sad that you don't have any! Since you don't have any balls pull your jock out of your ass, clear your mind and look again. NASCAR IS A SPORT!!

Sievers

Well done, Sievers, that was a very well-constructed argument. Not to take anything away from your brilliant points, but if I don't have any balls, why did I buy a jockstrap?

Anyway, I'll take your advice and look again. Done, and NASCAR is still not a sport.

(The following is from a message board).

Hey every one, maby when mark grows himself some BALLS then he might be able to see how great of a sport this really is !!!!
Kyle

Isn't that sexist? Are you trying to say that women can't see the greatness of NASCAR because of their genitalia? I tend to think men and women are pretty equal, but I guess that's just your opinion.

Kyle- um, no i`m saying when YOU become a man then you might see how good it is

Thanks for clarifying. You have to be a man to like NASCAR. Another well-constructed argument.

Seven guys change 4 tires and deliver 22 gallons of fuel less than 13 seconds and it's not a "Sport"? It's a far better example of teamwork (read: Sport) than any run/jump/throw "Game" IMO -Racing is all about TEAMWORK (again, read: Sport!)

The driver is just a part of a Team, much like a quarterback or running back in Football. Each member of a NASCAR team has an important role in the team's success, just like any other sport. If one team member fails at his assignment, the whole team will be affected. There is much more to it than just "sitting in a car and driving for hours". Please take the time to learn a little about racing before forming an opinion. - Thanks and keep up the good work

I guess this would be as good a time as any to officially clarify my stance on NASCAR. I can appreciate the physical and mental demands put on drivers. I respect their ability and I respect the teamwork of the pit crews. My point is that it's not a sport because, as a colleague put it, "it isn't entirely human-operated and powered." I also don't think it's a sport because it doesn't take a lot of God-given ability to do. Who wins the one-on-one game between Chad Johnson and Jeff Gordon?

Mark, just read your article about losing Joe to NASCAR.
Man, you stick and ball guys just don't get it. If you don't like Joe's description of an athlete, I would love to hear yours.
You are so typical of someone who just because they know nothing about something, and it is not something that you were brought up on, then by God it cant worth a damn.
Do they still play that game called Hockey?

It can be worth all the damns in the world, but that still doesn't make it a sport.

If it is so easy, get a car and go to your local track and see how tired you are after just a 20 lap feature. These guys race for 400-500 laps/miles at a time, sometimes 5 hours in the car. I have heard all the arguments "I drive everyday", "whats the big deal go straight turn left" ect. Try it, then you will gain some respect of what these guys go thru.
Dave Hurd
DMH Motorsports

I don't think it's easy and I don't even presume to believe I could do what they do.

Mr. Chalifoux,

I enjoyed your article about the loss of a sports fan to NASCAR. I take exception, however, to your assertion that NASCAR is not a sport. Hemingway said that the only true sports were bull fighting and auto racing, because you can literally lose your life doing those. I doubt that the Battle Bot guys can make that claim.

I think once you learn more about it, you will find that NASCAR does possess the characteristics of a sport. Piloting a 3400 pound machine with it's own idea of where it's going, in excess of 180 mph for 4 hours while in 140 degree heat, mere inches from 42 other guys doing the same thing, and all fighting for the same piece of asphalt, would seem to me to be a sport. In addition, the technical aspects of the sport including the adjustments to the chassis, tire pressure and camber, pit strategy and just plain ol' competition make it very interesting. Once you go to a race and hear the roar of those engines, you'll be hooked.

I enjoy it for all of the above reasons. And besides, there are cute guys.

Greta

Finally, a well thought-out response, and from a girl no less (I thought girls couldn't like NASCAR?). I agree that there is a good deal of risk, but daredevils like Evel Knievel face the same risk, but I don't consider what he did to be a sport.

How NARROW MINDED CAN YOU BE??? I would love to see any typical "athlete" endure what a nascar driver endures for 3-4 hours- the G-forces, the extreme heat in the car- so extreme they loose 6-8 pounds a race...OH WAIT- most of those "Sports Heros" can't cause they are HOPPED UP ON ROIDS or drugs or are too busy beating their girlfriends or wives or raping random women they pick up.
If your friend Joe has any smarts..He would GO "PLAY" Nascar with the quote" Subway worker that assembles my lunch every day"
CAUSE YOU MY FRIEND ARE A MORON
Lisa

Let me get something straight, I made it clear that I'm going to take in a NASCAR race before the end of the year before completely writing it off and you claim that all athletes are hopped up on steroids, do drugs, rape women, and beat their girlfriends. I'm the narrow-minded one?

Oh God. Your hysterical. My bet is that this article was purely only to produce a reaction to your blah, blah, blah column.

Your right. It's not a sport. It's a way of life.
Angie

I don't write things just to get a reaction; I stand by what I write. That being said, I think you should go into the t-shirt business, I think that's a catchy phrase.

Just curious, isn't the Strongman competition a weightlifting competition? Last time I checked, weightlifting was recognized worldwide as an OLYMPIC sport
Is there a Mark Chalifoux dictionary that I am not aware of? Just b/c you don't agree with the literal definition sport does not change the fact that motor sports does fit into the definition of a sport.

Kaye

I wouldn't consider the Strongman competition a sport, either. I'd call it an activity. That being said, by definition, NASCAR is a sport. But then you must open it up to other things, such as paintball. If NASCAR is a sport, then so is paintball. If you want to go that route, that's fine by me, but I draw the line somewhere.

Since you brought up the comparison of Jeff Gordon and Chad Johnson, I'll use them even though Jeff is not my favorite driver. You put Jeff and Chad in the exact same car with the exact same setup on a closed street and tell them to race, who would win. That argument is bogus. Of course a basketball player will beat a racecar driver in a game of basketball...duh it takes a college degree to figure that out for ya huh?
Im sorry but you are blatently wrong on the car doing all the work or most of the work. Humans have to build it, maintain it, set it up to run fast and above all handle the thing on the track. It is powered by humans...with out a human it wouldn't go

Racer-26

No offense to you, racer, but what were your parents thinking when they named you that? Just to clarify things for those readers who may not know, Chad Johnson is a receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals, not a basketball player. As far the car thing goes, you have got to be kidding me. The only entirely human-powered car is the one from the Flintstones, where you have to pick it up and run in place to start it.

That's all the e-mails I can get to this week. Everyone who e-mails me will get a reply, the reason for the mailbag is just to clarify any misconceptions so people don't send the same e-mail 100 times. And I did get quite a few well thought-out arguments from NASCAR fans, they weren't all this bad.

For the record, I do plan to take in a race sometime this year and I'm planning on taking in the local track scene in Illinois and in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Props to the people there for the invite and for using some thought in their e-mails.

The column will be back again next week and check out SportsRant.com on Thursday for the debut of my other weekly column, where I plan to tackle the pressing issues of hotdog-throwing fans and Ricky Williams' wisdom for monkeys, among other things.

Mark Chalifoux is also a weekly columnist for SportsFan Magazine. His columns appear every Tuesday on Sports Central. You can e-mail Mark at [email protected].