DAYTONA, FL – FEBRUARY 19: Chase Elliott 9 Hendrick Motorsports NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet talks with his crew during driver introductions prior to the running of the NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Series Daytona 500 on February 19, 2023 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, FL. Photo by Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire AUTO: FEB 19 NASCAR Cup Series DAYTONA 500 Icon2302191627500
Who is an athlete? According to Merriam-Webster, it’s “a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina.” However, when it comes to motorsports, things start to get a bit ambiguous. Technically, since racecar drivers undergo intense physical and mental training to be able to compete in a sport and get paid for it eventually, they do count as professional athletes. But on the other hand, as their performance is based on the performance of their vehicles and many other factors, many, including NASCAR driver Chase Elliott, believe that they cannot be clubbed under the umbrella concept of “athletes.”
In his recent appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Elliott revealed that he does not think that he is an athlete.
Chase Elliott disagrees that NASCAR drivers are athletes
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While discussing Elliott’s take on on-track and off-track fights, the show’s host mentioned, “Oh you’re saying the little things lead to big things. Ohhh professional sports, you guys are athletes.”
However, disagreeing with the host’s interpretation, Elliott immediately said, “Listen, I’ve never been one to claim to be an athlete. I don’t think I am very athletic. But that’s a whole another debate.”
via Imago NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Daytona 500 Feb 19, 2023 Daytona Beach, Florida, USA NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Elliott 9 during driver introductions before the start of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Daytona Beach Daytona International Speedway Florida USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xMikexDinovox 20230219_mcd_ad4_16
While Elliott does not consider himself to be an athlete, other NASCAR drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr and Bubba Wallace feel the exact opposite of him. During the All-Star Weekend earlier this month, Dale Earnhardt Jr said that NASCAR is “full of athletic all-stars,” and Wallace feels that, unlike golf, NASCAR is quite a physical sport.
Hence, after hearing about Chase Elliott not considering himself an athlete, show host Pat McAfee weighed in with his own views. Explaining how NASCAR drivers require dexterity to compete in races, McAfee pointed out that the sport does require skills that drivers practice to get better at. However, he also added that even though battling on the racing field is a craft, no real points are scored by individual drivers based on it.
Some of them are bad: Elliott exposes the drivers on the field
During the conversation, McAfee said that he assumed Elliott to be an athlete since he is a snowboarder (a fact that everyone now knows due to his recent snowboarding accident). And added, “Athletes can probably drive better than non-athletes that are driving, if I had to guess. It’s the competitive juices and things like that.”
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However, Elliott once again disagreed with McAfee and his assumptions about athletes being better drivers. Explaining why he differed from his views, Elliott said, “Man, if you saw some of the field and watched them dribble a basketball, you’d potentially change your mind.”
Furthermore, he added, “Some of them are bad. I would like to think I am not the most least athletic in the field but I wouldn’t say I am the most either, but yeah, man some of them used to be jacked.”
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