Lost between all the World Cup excitement and the British Open rounds came a little tiff between Jimmy Johnson and Seattle receiver Golden Tate. It all started when Jimmy Johnson was nominated for athlete of the year at the Espy Awards. Tate taking to twitter as so many pro athletes do he said “Jimmy Johnson up for best athlete???? Um nooo  Driving a car does not show athleticism.” Of course this started a nice little controversy of Johnson coming back at Tate saying “Ignorance is a state of being uninformed (lack of knowledge).” And true to all twitter form Tate apologized and we can all move on but it does raise the interesting question. Can a driver be considered a top athlete?

I think it’s already been proven that Nascar drivers are athletes, but are they a top athlete? I know we are in the south and if the Confederacy won the Civil War the racing would be our national pastime but look at it from a non bias point of view. The prime example I use is horse racing, you never hear anyone complaining that jockeys getting little respect. Jockeys have to train, they need to practice, and they compete at the highest level so why is there no outcry? Because most people agree that the horse does the work. That’s how I see Nascar, sure the drivers have to train, they need practice, they compete at the highest level but doesn’t the car do the work?

Guys like Michael Jordon, Babe Ruth, Wayne Gretzky, and Joe Montana are never called into question about being a top athlete. They trained, practice and competed but most importantly they relied on their skill to take them to the top. A Nascar driver can train and practice all he wants but if his car fails him, there is nothing he can do. Just like a jockey running a race that the horse falls out of the gate. Top athletes rely solely on themselves, if their teammates have an off day they can take over a game and win it almost single handedly. A Nascar driver can run a perfect race, overcome a flat tire but if the car stops running they are out of luck. No disrespect to all the Nascar fans this is just one random guys opinion.