Will NASCAR soon be part of the “big four”?

This weekend New Hampshire Motor Speedway hosted the first race in the chase for the Sprint Cup Championship. For some, this weekend was better than going to see a baseball game or staying home to watch week 2 of football. For others this is race weekend. It’s waking up at 4am and packing the car to go tailgate early. It’s an all day affair with burgers, hot dogs sausage and a lot of beer. The race was sold out seating 93,521 and gathering almost 2.5 million viewers on ABC. Although some people still don’t believe NASCAR can hang with the Big 3(NFL, MLB, and NBA). Professional basketball players are shaking off the dust this week as they begin training camp this fall. All summer they lifted, ran, and shot baskets. The football season ended in February but players began getting ready for the season in early May. Every athlete needs to train in the offseason but the most important thing is that on game day everything is running like a well-oiled machine. Drivers may not be doing extra hills after practice or seeing who has the best 40 yard dash time but on race day they are experiencing what most athletes could never dream of or probably even train for. On turns, drivers can experience 3 Gs of force against their bodies which is the same forces pressing down on shuttle astronauts at liftoff. G Force is the acceleration due to gravity. When you experience a force equal to your weight, that’s 1G. If a driver is experiencing 3 G’s, that’s 3 times his body weight pushing against him. So with 3 G’s of force pushing against you, your trying to turn your wheel, check your mirrors, find a clear line to drive and stay on it but people don’t think driving a car is as hard as it looks. Temperatures in the car often exceed 170 degrees in the floor boards, causing drivers to lose 5-10 pounds during a race. Away from the track, NASCAR is the fastest growing American sport. Just looking at the drivers and who sponsors them, the money that is poured into this sport is incredible. Budweiser, Aflac, UPS, Red Bull and Home Depot spend millions in sponsorship money year after year so that their name goes flying around the track at speeds near 200mph. The total amount handed out at the Sylvania 300 this weekend was $4,671,250 with the winner getting $232,750 of it. The fact that some people feel NASCAR is a “hick” sport or that driving around in a circle isn’t that hard, I want you to see if Michael Jordan or Tom Brady drop the ball and get behind the wheel for 300 laps. They may not be athletes by traditional standard but they are competing hundreds of MPH a minute.