NASCAR is a very controversial topic when it comes to classifying it as a sport or not. Many people believe since the drivers are just sitting and driving, and there is nothing else involved. There are many members of the crew that often go unnoticed. 

The driver is often arguably under the most pressure throughout the race, but every member of the crew carries a huge workload in order for their racer to win. 

The pit crews, in my opinion, are the most entertaining thing to watch during a race. It is amazing how fast the pit crews can perform their job. Even though the crews have lots of expensive equipment to help them perform their tasks, it is mindblowing how they can refuel the car and change all the tires in a matter of seconds. With this, having an outstanding pit crew is the key to winning a race.

The way that the pit crews get their expensive equipment is through sponsorships. After racing a while, the drivers can receive sponsorships from big names like Office Depot, M&M’s, Subway, McDonalds, Aflac, and many more. These sponsorships that they receive help pay for much of the maintenance of the equipment and car. Most of the drivers at  this level have numerous sponsorships but alternate between which car that they want to drive. With many sponsorships there comes more cars to drive.

The drivers always have people on a headset in the box to see if anything is going wrong with the vehicle because sometimes the driver cannot see behind his car. The cars are designed to notify the driver and the crew whenever a problem occurs.

Even though people may not see the drivers to be physically fit, they are actually in shape. There is an extreme amount of skill that the drivers have to learn through driving school. 

Regardless if someone accepts NASCAR as a sport or not, it is important to accept the passion that the drivers have for racing. Some of the drivers are even 18 years old. I believe that it is important to appreciate the effort that the drivers and crew put into NASCAR. It is dangerous because the drivers are traveling at speeds of over 200 miles per hour at times. I admire the determination that the drivers have as well as their fearlessness. 

The drivers master a wide arsenal of moves to pass or stay in front of their opponents. These types of moves occur every lap. It is also very easy to lose control of the race car because they are traveling at such high speeds. It is also crazy seeing how close they get to the outside of the wall without hitting it.

In my opinion, NASCAR is very fun to watch especially when there are just a few laps left in the race. The wide variety of colorful cars is also a nice touch to the race. The fact that seeing a huge amount of sponsors that we see in our everyday life on the cars is a good way to get people interested in going there as well. It is awesome to see how many different cars the drivers drive with different sponsors on each of them.

All in all, I will consider NASCAR a sport because it requires much skill to perform in it. The pit crews are physically challenged at times when they have to refuel and put new tires on the cars.