“It’s real sweat. I’m a high-performance athlete. Athletes sweat. Sweat, baby! Ki-ki-ki-rah! Sweat, sweat! Hu-hu!” When F1’s former driver Daniel Ricciardo barked this out loud, it became a goofy hit. And sure, it was funny, but it was also a honey badger reality check for anyone who thinks that professional racing is as simple as a late-night drive. And yet, years later, that very reality is being questioned again, and this time in NASCAR by TV personality and sports analyst, Stephen A. Smith.

The entire fiasco started on his SiriusXM show. There, a caller argued that Richard Petty, a NASCAR legend, also deserves to be mentioned among the greatest athletes. He was still winning championships at 42, after all. But Smith was not having it, saying, “Come on, man. That doesn’t count. You are driving a car. Getting behind the wheel of a car is not the same.” In a sport where risk and endurance define everything, that was disrespectful, and it landed poorly.

Mike Joy of FOX Sports gave a sarcastic jibe. “Earlier this week, a well-known online pundit said, ‘Race car drivers are not athletes,'” on the live NASCAR broadcast during the race at the Talladega Superspeedway. Reviewing brutal contact with the wall in the race, Joy added, “I want to send him this sequence and ask him to think about it.”

Well, maybe he needs to watch the races closely to just see how brutal they are. He didn’t stop at “It’s not a real sport.” Smith also compared the sport to something that “grandma and grandpa” can do!

“NASCAR is a sport. Are they athletes too? Because they can get behind the wheel of a car and drive 100-plus miles per hour around the track 500 times. You trying to tell me they’re athletes too?… If you’re out there doing stuff that grandmas and grandpas can do, I’m not gonna look at you that way.” While he might not look at the drivers, he sure can look at the actual data, backing up that they are very much athletes!

The main disconnect in Smith’s perspective comes from visibility. In sports like football or basketball, the physical toll is obvious. You see everything happening in front of you. In NASCAR that strain is hidden inside the cockpit, but make no mistakes; they too are highly trained, sport-specific athletes.

They race their horses in cockpit temperatures that can reach 50–60°C, enduring up to 5G forces through every corner, lap after lap, at speeds exceeding 180 mph. Imagine having a 40-pound weight strapped to your head, pulling violently every time you turn. All the while you’re expected to stay focused and in control.

That’s the reality these drovers operate in. And that is why this isn’t just “driving.” Moreover, the sheer dangers of the entire motorsports world no one can ignore. Just days back, a 66-year-old endurance veteran, Juha Miettinen from Finland, lost his life after a massive seven-car pileup during the opening race of the ADAC 24h Nürburgring Qualifiers.

Of course, this controversial take by Stephen A. Smith was not taken well. In fact the entire racing world is speaking against him now. For once, drivers, teams, and fans set aside their differences to mock his comments.

NASCAR drivers react to Stephen A. Smith’s comments

“Never heard of him,” AJ Allmendinger told Frontstretch, when asked about his reactions to Smith’s comments.

While this seemed a little too straightforward, it is understandable for a racing driver not to recognize a public figure. But at the same time, many did, and they seemed disappointed with what he had to say about their abilities as athletes.

“Well, it’s for the attention. I mean, [he] made a career out of that,” said Ross Chastain.

It did seem like the Trackhouse Racing driver was going to take his comments in a tougher direction, but he ended up explaining that NASCAR drivers might not be the most athletic personalities out there, but they have their training to go through.

Others, including the likes of Todd Gilliland and Chase Briscoe, mentioned that it was disappointing to see those comments coming from a figure as prominent as Smith, but didn’t seem to be too focused on it.

At the end of the day, it can perhaps be argued what defines being an athlete, or what defines being athletic, but as Chastain mentioned, “We’re not the athletes that swing baseball bats, that kick soccer balls, that we’re not. But we are our own, like we have to be able to do what we do,” it seems apparent that race car drivers, especially NASCAR drivers, have their strengths and weaknesses.

Maybe generalizing and claiming that drivers are not athletes was a rough comment coming from Stephen A. Smith, but unless he changes his stance, the likes of the fans and even Mike Joy might continue with this slander.