Is NASCAR a sport?

Last weekend, at the invitation of one of my clients, I went to the Miami-Homestead Speedway to take in the final NASCAR race of the season. Now, I have done a lot of work for this client, who is heavily involved in auto racing, but I am not exactly a NASCAR fan. In fact, in the past I have been extremely skeptical of NASCAR, often arguing with friends and colleagues that it is not really a "sport."

Well, after the race, I am still not a NASCAR "fan," but my opinion of whether it is a sport has definitely changed.

I have scoured the web for a definition of "sport" and the following is the best one I found (it comes from the Government of British Columbia's Ministry of Economic Development web page of all places):

"Sport is a physical activity involving large muscle groups, requiring strategic methods, physical training and mental preparation and whose outcome is determined, within a rules framework, by skill, not chance. Sport occurs in an organized, structured and competitive environment where a winner is declared."

Using this definition, NASCAR is undoubtedly a sport. Large muscle groups are certainly used and strategy is a bigger part of racing than you might think (the decision to pit or stay on the track can often be the difference between finishing first or 15th). Obviously, physical training and mental preparation are a huge part of auto racing, the outcome is determined within a rules framework (see, for example, the yellow caution flag which helped Ryan Newman beat Greg Biffle in the Busch race last weekend), and I don't think anyone can argue that NASCAR drivers aren't skilled at what they do.

Regardless of the definition (and I am very interested to see what others people come up with), I think it is very tough to make out the case that NASCAR is not a sport. Now, bowling on the other hand . . .

By the way, even though I still am not a NASCAR fan, I was overly impressed by the marketing aspect. Where else do you have fans shelling out $30 for a T-shirt that has Home Depot, Lowe's or DuPont written all over it?

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