Racing comes in many shapes and forms from NASCAR and Formula 1 to big horse racing events like the Kentucky Derby. Even though they are very different, every racing sport has the same principles. Whichever participant finishes the race in the shortest time, is declared the winner.
In today’s article, we will focus on the two most popular sports in the United States which are motor racing and horse racing. There is no doubt that those who drive the cars and those ones that sit on top of a horse are pure adrenaline junkies. After all, they reach incredible speed and put their body on the line just to finish first.
This got us wondering, which racing event is more intense, the NASCAR race or the Kentucky Derby. Even though they might look completely different, both events share many similarities. Let’s highlight some of the facts and see which one is more intense.
Kentucky Derby
If you are a horse racing enthusiast then you already know the importance of the Kentucky Derby in the horse racing calendar. This is without a doubt the most-watched horse race in the United States with millions of people turning to watch this exciting two-minute race.
The Kentucky Derby is the opening of the prestigious Triple Crown renewal of the season, and the stakes cannot go higher. When it comes down to the actual event, apart from the horses, jockeys also play an important role when it comes to getting out the best performance from the horse.
Just like in any racing sport, jockeys must have a plan and tactics that will win them the race. For example, some decide to go to full speed right from the start, while others sit behind the leaders and make a late challenge down the finish line.
20 horses will be competing for the Kentucky Derby trophy, and since this is one of the biggest and most prestigious races in the world, all the high-performance horses in the world want to take part in the Derby. This means that the competition is always very high which is great for horse racing enthusiasts since they can watch some amazing racing on the racecourse.
Even though the speed that horses run isn’t anywhere close to the speed of NASCAR, it is still very exciting to watch. On top of that, the Kentucky Derby lasts for little more than two minutes, which means that it is a short event full of thrills. If you want to find out what horse is favored to win the Kentucky Derby in 2022 click here.
This is one of the differences between NASCAR where the action is a little more spread for a longer period of time.
NASCAR
NASCAR is the most popular racing sport in the United States, where the drivers reach the top speeds of 200mph or more and with 40 cars on the track, drivers must make snap decisions in order to avoid a devastating collision.
NASCAR is really exciting to watch and it is full of thrills from the close high-speed action, where one small mistake can cost the driver a lot.
As we mentioned before, NASCAR races last anywhere from 1 and a half to 3 hours long. With that said, it is worth mentioning that there isn’t a non-stop action. Although there are many different elements to a race, eventually they come to a point where there aren’t much overtaking or exciting moments on the track.
It is an intense sport, but on intervals, which is perfectly fine since nobody can race in high-tense situations for 3 hours.
Conclusion
Both sports are very intense. The only significant difference is the delivery of the thrills. With horse racing, you’ll get a short high-tense race, and on the other hand, NASCAR can provide you with similar thrills in a more comfortable fashion over a couple of hours.
With that said, it is very exciting to watch athletes both from horse racing and NASCAR as they willingly enter dangerous situations, and rely on their skills to make it out without any injuries.
