NASCAR Drivers Are Athletes According to New Research
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[/media-credit]A recent, first of its kind study published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research proved definitively that not only are athletic skills needed behind the wheel of a stock car, but also that there is a significant correlation between performance on the track and the length of resistance training sessions.
The study also revealed that those stock car drivers who assessed their own fitness positively performed better on the track. Their conditioning also correlated with less fatigue and less susceptibility to injuries.
“The sport is actually more demanding now than it used to be,” four-time NASCAR Cup champion Jeff Gordon stated. “We’ve gotten smarter on the physical side of it, working out more.”
“So, I think the drivers are in a little bit better physical shape than what they used to be as far as preparing for the races.”
The study also showed that “upper body strength was identified as the most important physical ability for driving stock cars by 100% of the subjects in the study.”
“I do a lot of strength training,” Danica Patrick, NASCAR Nationwide driver, said. “I work with a trainer and he sends me programs every four or five weeks.”
“The most important thing is performing in the car so that is what I’m weight training for,” Patrick continued. “I feel that weight training is very beneficial for your physique.”
“I do two days upper and one day lower,” Patrick said. “The program changes throughout the year.”
“I take a month off at the end of the year to recover so I don’t get injured,” Patrick continued. “As the year goes on, I work on peak strength so what I do in the car is easy.”
“I think working out has to help and I’ve always felt that it helped me,” Patrick said. “I’ve always worked out since I started in racing and I work out as hard as I ever had right now.”
“I’m in as good a shape as I’ve ever been,” Patrick continued. “I think being prepared physically and mentally is a big part of racing for me. For myself, I know it helps me.”
The study revealed that “62.5% of the subjects reported cardiovascular endurance as one of the top physical demands of driving a stock car.” According to the research, this is consistent with the reports of the drivers who often feel intense fatigue, elevated heart rate and shortness of breath as a result of the physicality of their racing.
“I work with weights four days a week – just the different muscle groups and trying to get more endurance and strength,” five-time NASCAR Cup champ Jimmie Johnson said. “The mindset being that I’ll have more energy and perform better at my job.”
One important aspect of racing that the study highlighted was the need for strength training in order to assist in thermoregulation and heat tolerance. In fact, being able to cope with the temperatures in the race car was found to be the third most important physical demand of stock car racing.
“I don’t know if there’s a direct correlation but I think you might have a little bit of an edge if you can stay in shape,” NASCAR Nationwide Series reigning champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. said. “I do work out. We have a great trainer at the shop.”
“When you’re in the seat every week, you work out every muscle,” Stenhouse Jr. continued. “The main thing is to stay hydrated in the cars and that’s what I really focus on.”
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rookie driver Paulie Harraka agrees with his racing compatriot, especially as far as working out to deal with the heat. Harraka also added the element of dealing with the gravitational forces in the race car as another reason to include strength training in preparation for being on the track.
“Certainly as a driver, you’ve got to train for the g-forces that you feel,” Harraka said. “One lap is tough but it’s when you get to lap 150 and you’ve been in there and not able to move that you get fatigued.”
“You have to deal with that and with the heat inside the race cars.”
Finally, the study revealed that one of the major physical demands of stock car racing included hand/eye/foot coordination, reflexes and reaction time. In fact, 30% of the drivers indicated that “hand, eye, and foot coordination was an important physical demand associated with stock car racing.”
Two NASCAR drivers, Kasey Kahne and Carl Edwards, have taken this aspect of training to heart, using Dynavision™ D2, a machine that tracks and improves reaction time, peripheral awareness, hand-eye coordination and other visual-motor skills.
The D2 has a sphere of buttons that light up in random succession and the drivers have to call out the random flashing numbers in the midst of noises simulating those on the track.
“That’s the kind of environment that we race in,” Edwards said. “There is a lot of noise; you are focusing on different things.”
“You’re having to verbalize something a lot of times about the car,” Edwards continued. “So, that’s actually a good test.”
Whether strength conditioning, cardiovascular exercising or improving reaction times, the study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research proves once and for all the athletic component of NASCAR racing and the correlation between working out and improving on-track performance.
Surprising and Not Surprising: Sonoma Toyota Save Mart 350
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[/media-credit]From the land of wine, as well as left and right turns, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma.
Surprising: The most surprising thing about the first road course race of the season was just how surprised the winner of the race was in Victory Lane. In fact, he was so surprised that he forgot his car, which was out of gas, and walked to Victory Lane.
“What the hell am I doing here,” Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, said. “I’m not a road racer!”
“Never in a million years did I think I could come here and be the best of the best,” Bowyer continued. “This is a dream come true. It was meant to be.”
This was Bowyer’s first victory for the 2012 season and his first victory at Sonoma.
Not Surprising: The second and third place finishers definitely had a mutual admiration society going on for each other after racing each other cleanly, particularly during the final green, white, checkered laps.
Tony Stewart, in his No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, finished second while Kurt Busch, in the No. 51 Phoenix Construction Chevrolet, finished third.
“I’m a little choked up,” Kurt Busch said after battling for the lead in spite of an injured race car. “I’m just glad we brought it home third.”
“If I was smarter, I would have let Tony Stewart go a lap, a half-a-lap ahead,” Busch continued. “Maybe he could have got to Bowyer for a big finale.”
“What everyone probably didn’t see was that something was wrong with his car,” Smoke said of Kurt Busch in the No. 51. “Something in the rear-end was breaking and he was driving the wheel s off that thing.”
“I don’t know how he kept it on the race track,” Stewart continued. “He did a really good job of keeping that thing going.”
Stewart scored his ninth top-10 finish at Sonoma and his third straight top-3 finish. Kurt Busch posted his fifth top-10 finish in 12 races at Sonoma.
Surprising: The seemingly strongest two cars on the road course had surprising struggles to contend with before finishing in the top-10.
The fastest qualifier, Marcos Ambrose, struggled in race trim, yet finished eighth, while outside pole sitter Jeff Gordon ran out of gas, losing track time and position to finish sixth.
“We really missed it,” the driver of the No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion said. “We missed it bad and we did good to recover and get a top-10 out of it.”
“We had no speed in the car and we paid the price, “Ambrose continued. “I just feel bad for my Stanley team. It was just terrible.”
“We went about a half-of a lap too far,” Jeff Gordon said. “It never fails, you run out just as you pass pit entrance.”
“We were lucky to get back to pit road and get it fueled up,” the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet continued. “Luckily, we had enough laps to slowly work our way up into the top-10.”
Not Surprising: Since Dale Earnhardt, Jr., by his own admission, is not the biggest lover of road course racing, it was not surprising that last week’s Michigan race winner struggled at Sonoma. The driver of the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard Chevrolet finished 23rd after a late race accident.
“I’m just mad because we didn’t run better,” Junior said. “We weren’t good all weekend.”
“I mean I ain’t the best road course racer out there, but I can damn sure do better than that,” Dale Jr. continued. “We’ve just got to do a better job.”
Surprising: Joe Gibbs Racing teammates were surprisingly playing a different sport with one another. Late in the race, young Joey Logano, behind the wheel of his No. 20 Home Depot Toyota, tangled with not only Kyle Busch but also Denny Hamlin.
“He really overshot the corner and got into us,” Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota, said of his teammate Logano. “Once you drive that extra 50 feet in, there’s nothing you can do to take it back.”
“We were the bowling pins and he was the bowling ball.”
Hamlin got the worst of the bowling tournament, finishing 35th, while teammate Kyle Busch, in the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, finished 17th. ‘Bowling ball’ Logano managed to finish in the tenth spot.
Not Surprising: While he has not been regularly driving a stock car, it was not surprising that Brian Vickers was able to parlay some of his Le Mans racing experience to his NASCAR performance at Sonoma.
Piloting the No. 55 RKMotorsCharlotte.com Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, Vickers kept both his nose and his car clean to finish fourth.
“It was great to run LeMans and then come here,” Vickers said. “I learned a lot about road racing.”
“Everyone at MWR is putting great cars on the track,” Vickers continued. “They’ve all made it possible for me to take the RKMotors car and put it in the top-five.”
Surprising: Casey Mears, behind the wheel of the NO. 13 GEICO Ford Fusion had a surprisingly good go of it at Sonoma, finishing top-15.
“We had a good car all weekend,” Mears said. “”It was a solid day for us. I am proud of what everybody did here and we will just keep improving.”
Not Surprising: To no one’s surprise, two Roushketeers ended up atop the leader board in the point standings.
Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Ford EcoBoost Ford and NASCAR’s newest free agent, finished 13th at Sonoma but still leads his teammate Greg Biffle, who finished 7th in his 3M/US Stationary Ford, by 11 points in the standings.
“We had a decent day,” Biffle said. “But we were just too loose all day.”
“We need to work on our road course program a little bit.”
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Sonoma
Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.
1. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson posted his eighth top-5 finish of the year with a fifth in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma. He is fourth in the standings, 25 out of first.
“Clint Bowyer was solid in the 5-Hour Energy Toyota,” Johnson said. “But does that necessarily make him a contender for the Sprint Cup title? What’s more impressive? Doing it five times, or for ‘5-Hours?’
“There’s a lot of drivers, Bowyer included, who have a single victory this year. They’re just a drop in the bucket. If five-straight Cup titles is a ‘reign,’ then one win is merely a drop of reign.”
2. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth held on to the Sprint Cup points lead with a 13th at Sonoma. With ten races left until the Chase For The Cup, he leads Greg Biffle by 11.
“As you know,” Kenseth said, “I’m leaving Roush Fenway Racing at season’s end. However, I’m not at liberty to discuss my contract situation. And that’s sad, because the one time I have something to talk about, I’m not able to.
“In any case, when I do sign a new contract, it will be the first time I’ve been paid for my autograph in ages.”
3. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: After snapping a 143-race winless streak with a victory at Michigan on June 17th, Earnhardt followed with a disappointing 23rd in the Toyota/Save Mart 350. Earnhardt was running 13th when he spun on the final lap. He is now third in the point standings, 14 out of first.
“I can’t be too upset for not winning at Sonoma,” Earnhardt said. “No, not because I just won at Michigan, but because Junior Nation would never forgive me for drinking wine.”
4. Tony Stewart: Stewart passed Kurt Busch with one lap to go to take the runner-up spot at Sonoma. Stewart chased Clint Bowyer to the checkered flags, but finished .829 behind, and is now eighth in the point standings, 74 out of first.
“The hard part was getting around Busch,” Stewart said. “He’s never easy to overtake, unless it’s in a test of mental stability. I know Kurt is struggling to find sponsorship, but I think now is the time for Planter’s to get back into sport. What better sponsor for Busch than ‘nuts?’”
5. Greg Biffle: Biffle’s No. 16 3M Fusion was the first Ford across the line at Sonoma, finishing seventh for his ninth top 10 of the year. He remained third in the point standings, and trails Matt Kenseth by 17.
“I’m just happy I didn’t have a confrontation with Boris Said,” Biffle said. “I surely don’t want to wake with ‘Said Head’ almost as much as I don’t want to wake up with a ‘Said Head.’ His fans are crazy, and not even my type.
“But I finished seventh, while Boris finished 29th. And Boris, of all people, knows a ‘whuppin’’ when he sees one.”
6. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer dominated at Sonoma, leading 71 of 112 laps for his first win of the year. Bowyer pulled away from Kurt Busch on the green-white-checkered finish, and held off Tony Stewart down the stretch. Bowyer is ninth in the point standings, 84 out of first.
“I’m proud to give Michael Waltrip Racing its first win,” Bowyer said. “You can best believe Michael won’t stop talking about this, ever. Now I can say I’ve won one for the ‘gabber.’
7. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin suffered difficult day at Sonoma, spinning on lap 94 after contact with Joe Gibbs teammate Joey Logano, and finishing 35th after a DNF due to suspension failure. Hamlin tumbled three places to eighth in the point standings, 73 out of first.
“Logano wrecked me,” Hamlin said. “By the way, he’s still in negotiations for a new contract with JGR. If he’s back with Gibbs, that will be two of us resigned—Joey re-signed to a new contract, and me resigned to being his teammate for longer.”
8. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex led 15 laps in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 before fading to finish 22nd. He remained seventh in the Sprint Cup point standings, 68 out of first.
“First,” Truex said, “Dale Earnhardt, Jr. wins at Michigan. Then, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. gets a ride at Roush Fenway Racing. It appears I’ll be the final ‘Junior’ to achieve glory in NASCAR. As ‘Junior’s’ go, they should start calling me ‘Martin Truex, III.’”
9. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 16th in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 after running out of gas midway through the race, costing him several positions. Harvick and the No. 29 Rheem team salvaged a decent finish thanks to the Lucky Dog free pass on lap 83. He now sits sixth in the point standings, 64 out of first.
“This is shaping up to be a forgettable season,” Harvick said. “Of course, when I say this could be the worst nine months of my life, I guess I should clarify that it’s me talking and not my pregnant wife DeLana.”
10. Jeff Gordon: Despite running out of gas on lap 73, Gordon battled back to record a sixth-place finish at Sonoma. NASCAR’s all-time road course win leader posted his second consecutive sixth-place result as he tries to make a move towards a berth in the Chase.
“I hear Matt Kenseth is leaving Roush Fenway Racing at season’s end,” Gordon said. “It’s unclear whether Matt is leaving under his own accord or was pushed out. Knowing Matt as I do, I’m almost positive he was pushed.”
NASCAR in the summer; Racing gets heated up
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[/media-credit]As NASCAR enters its summer months, the racing action is about to heat up. Every summer we see great and competitive action. I believe this summer we’ll see the best racing we’ve ever seen in the summer. The summer features some of the fan favorite tracks like; Daytona, Indianapolis, Bristol and Atlanta. These tracks provide some of the best racing action we see all year.
The first race of the summer begins this week at Kentucky. This is only Kentucky’s second ever cup race but last year we saw great racing. After last year’s traffic disaster in Kentucky, many fans won’t be returning but they’ll miss out on a great race. After Kentucky we head out to Daytona for a firework show under the lights. Every race at Daytona is incredible. The race features great racing, close finishes and unpredictable outcomes. With pack racing returning this year, we should see one heck of a race. New Hampshire shows up next on the schedule, the “Magic Mile” is a tough track to maneuver around but it provides close racing action.
After an off-week we go to Indianapolis. Indy is a phenomenal race. Last year’s race was one of the best we’ve ever seen. Paul Menard was leading and he was real close on fuel and Jeff Gordon who had pitted was racing towards Menard. Menard had enough fuel and he went on to win his first ever NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. If we see a race that spectacular this summer, it’ll be one of the greatest races we’ve ever seen. After Indy we head to Pocono. After an exciting race at Pocono in June, we should expect a great race in August as well. In June at Pocono, the newly repaved surface created close and exciting racing. A driver breaking through his winless streak added to the excitement.
Next, the Sprint Cup Series makes a stop in Watkins Glen for a twisted race. The cars will drive though the historic road course very closely. After a rain out Sunday last year at Watkins Glen, it was worth the wait until Monday. We saw one of the greatest races of the season. We saw close racing, different factors the teams had to go through like dense fog that filled the track area halfway through the race. And then we saw a green-white-checker finish that sent cars flying through the air. A vicious crash in turn two sent David Reutimann’s car up in the air. At a high-speed course like the Glen, anything is possible and we tested those limits last year.
As the summer winds down, we go to Michigan for another high-speed race. As we saw in June, high-speeds will be present and they’ll create the same obstacles for teams. Many fans were fond of the outcome of the June race because Dale Earnhardt Jr took the checkers for the first time in four years. A high speed race will always create exciting racing. One of the best races of the year shows up next at Bristol.
This race at Bristol will be nothing like before because of the new surface that was created to produce exciting racing. After a “boring” race in the spring, Bruton Smith dug up Bristol and altered the surface to a surface similar to the “old Bristol” track. The “Old Bristol” had a one lane track and required a lot of bumping to make your way around the track. The summer races come to a close once we reach Atlanta. The final party of the summer takes place on Labor Day Weekend. By this time in the summer, we’ll be nearing the chase and the end of the season.
Races at Atlanta are always exciting due to the fast paced speedway. After a tropical storm delayed the race last year for two days, many fans stuck out the delay to witness a great race and Jeff Gordon pull into victory lane. The summer races are always exciting and they should be better than ever this summer. From Kentucky to Atlanta, expect some great racing. A lot of unknowns surround us now about how the season will play out but by the end of the summer, we’ll be closer to figuring out the unknowns. We all hope to see incredible action this summer and I don’t think we’ll be disappointed.
NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: RACING HARD TO FEED CHILDREN
The NASCAR Nationwide Series will roll into Sparta-Kentucky for a Friday night, 300 mile, race at the Kentucky Speedway. This event is going to be about racing hard, or business as usual, but the Feed The Children 300 is also about helping children all around our nation.
The Kentucky Speedway is owned by Speedway Motorsports Inc. This racing corporation owns eight major speedways, all of which currently hosts NASCAR sanctioned events. Each raceway has a chapter of the Speedway Children’s Charities which addresses needs involving children in the communities where the tracks are located. The Speedway Children’s Charities has teamed up with Feed The Children and has reached their goal of filling 27 tractor trailers with food and essentials which will be distributed to needy families with children at various racing communities throughout the country.
There are also, of course, racing stories connected to the Nationwide Series at Kentucky. Chief among them is the stunning Tuesday morning announcement that said Roush Fenway Racing driver Matt Kenseth will be leaving the team at the end of this year and reigning Nationwide Series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr will be promoted to the Sprint Cup next year. It’s already THE big story and Stenhouse will be receiving a lot of media attention at the track on Friday.
Also garnering a lot of attention at Kentucky will be the red hot Joey Logano. After taking a race off from the series, he didn’t participate in last weekend’s Road America, Logano returns to his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to resume a series hot streak that includes five wins in 11 starts. He has won four of the last five Nationwide Series races he has entered. His Nationwide stats at the Kentucky Speedway are also quite strong. He won the first ever series race there, back in 2008, and then won the 2009 and 2010 events. His average finish ratio at this track is a very low 3.3.
Joey Logano is not the only NASCAR Sprint Cup driver who is entered in Friday night’s Nationwide Series race. Also performing double duty will be drivers Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Joe Nemechek.
The series’ championship points standings will also be a point of interest Friday night. Richard Childress Racing drivers Elliott Sadler and Austin Dillon are currently ranked one-two in the standings separated by 11 points. Ricky Stenhouse Jr is third, 23 points from the top.
THE RACE BREAKDOWN
Friday night’s Feed The Children 300 is 200 laps/300 miles around the Kentucky Speedway’s 1.5 mile oval.
The race has 46 entries vying for the 43 starting positions.
16 of those entries are on the go or go home list. These teams are not guaranteed a starting berth in the race because they are currently outside of the top 30 in NASCAR’s owner points. These teams will have to rely on qualifying speeds to make the race. The Lone exception is Jeff Green who has a past champion’s provisional available to him.
The defending race champion is Brad Keselowski.
The Feed The Children 300 will be televised live by the ESPN2 Network beginning at 7 pm eastern time.
