Beyond the Flag
Fansided

Race car drivers are held to a ridiculous double standard

By Asher Fair

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MAY 27: Cars start their engines during the 102nd Indianapolis 500 (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MAY 27: Cars start their engines during the 102nd Indianapolis 500 (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /
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MONTE-CARLO, MONACO – MAY 27: Sebastian Vettel of Germany driving the (5) Scuderia Ferrari SF71H leads Kimi Raikkonen of Finland driving the (7) Scuderia Ferrari SF71H (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
MONTE-CARLO, MONACO – MAY 27: Sebastian Vettel of Germany driving the (5) Scuderia Ferrari SF71H leads Kimi Raikkonen of Finland driving the (7) Scuderia Ferrari SF71H (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) /

The double standard

The whole concept of “going around the same circle over and over again” making race car drivers not athletes and making racing not a sport is a true joke — that’s even if it were true, which it isn’t seeing as how no two tracks are alike and the NASCAR Cup Series, IndyCar and Formula 1 all race on several road and/or street courses.

I’ll believe that the people making this claim actually believe that this makes race car drivers not athletes and racing not a sport when these people claim that basketball, football, hockey and baseball aren’t sports and basketball, football and hockey players aren’t athletes because all they do is “go back and forth over and over again” and all baseball players do is “run around in circles” throughout games.

It’s the exact same concept. Plus, every NASCAR Cup Series, IndyCar and Formula 1 race track is bigger than every National Basketball Association (NBA) court, National Football League (NFL) field, National Hockey League (NHL) ice rink and Major League Baseball (MLB) field, and it really isn’t even close.

The smallest track in the NASCAR Cup Series, IndyCar and Formula 1 is the 0.526-mile Martinsville Speedway, which hosts two NASCAR Cup Series races per season. Its two straightaways are 800 feet (266.67 yards) long. Keep in mind, Martinsville Speedway is the SMALLEST track in those three series.

Meanwhile, the longest track is the 4.352-mile Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, which is used by Formula 1. That track isn’t a circle, either; it is a road course with several turns, both left and right.

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