Tony Stewart Granted Release from JGR

Why is this news?

This is big news when it comes to NASCAR. He is a two time champion who has been affiliated with JGR and Home Depot for many years.

I believe you missed my point. Why is NASCAR news being reported on a SPORTS site?

Probably because NASCAR is the second highest rated in sport in America right behind football. Go ahead and look it up.

Again, I believe my point was missed once again. How can NASCAR be rated as a sport, when it is not a sport?

Do you live under a rock, or are you really just that narrow-minded? Please explain to me how/why NASCAR is not a sport ... because it doesn't have a ball?

First of all, I find it amusing that you rate my comments negative and then comment on them.

Second of all, no I don't live under a rock and contrary to popular belief (well, actually just your personal belief) I am not "just that narrow-minded".

However, in regards to your question. NASCAR is not a sport because a sport requires an athlete. An athlete is one who requires "physical strength, agility, or stamina" (as defined by Webster). A NASCAR driver does not exhibit any of these traits (and please don't try to tell me it takes stamina to sit in a car, that's like saying Terri Schiavo was an athlete). If NASCAR doesn't have athletes competing, then NASCAR is not a sport.

Go ahead and drive 500 laps at Bristol with no power steering, and then tell me that it doesn't require strength and stamina. Besides, even if you don't like that argument, you conveniently left out the other portion of the definition of athlete: "a participant in a sport, exercise, or game requiring physical skill."

I enjoy this debate. I did leave that part of the definition out because I didn't feel that it impacted our discussion. The debate is whether NASCAR is a sport, which nullifies the first part. It is definitely not an exercise (I think we can both agree at that). But the question is whether it is a game requiring physical skill.

I went ahead and looked up "physical skill" and found a nice little list. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Games_of_physical_skill

Obviously NASCAR does not fall into any of these categories.

Another definition of sport: "Sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determiner of the outcome (winning or losing)".

Don't get me wrong, a driver must drive the car. But the car is a very important aspect of the race. I would argue the car is at least equally important to the driver. Therefore, the drive is not the primary determiner of the outcome of the event. Therefore, NASCAR is not a sport.

I'll start by letting you know that I went ahead and gave you some thumbs up for your last two comments to make up for the previous negative feedback. I'll admit that I'd mistaken your comments originally as naive and closed-minded, but you've at least been able to come back with an intellectual argument in all of this, so I'll give you that. Let me make some points, though:

1) You pointed out that for it to be a sport, it must have athletes, claiming that NASCAR drivers did not fit the bill of an athlete, and therefore it could not be a sport. I came back with the portion of the definition that you omitted, and yes, I do believe that driving the car requires physical skill. I'll further that by presenting you with the second definition of agility, which is "The ability to think and draw conclusions quickly," which I think we can both agree fits a NASCAR driver.

2) Your wikipedia reference conveniently left out the very first sentence in their definition of a sport: "Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively." NASCAR definitely fits that label.

3) If you're going to use wikipedia as one of your sources, then try looking up NASCAR, where it states, "NASCAR has grown to become the second most popular professional sport in terms of television ratings inside the U.S., ranking only behind the National Football League." It also states that NASCAR fans are considered the most brand-loyal of all sports and that is why more Fortune 500 companies sponsor NASCAR than any other governing body.

4) Every major sports website carries NASCAR on their pages. This would include ESPN, FoxSports, and the Sporting News, just to name a few. And, those that don't have a NASCAR-specific section usually carry it under "Motorsports".

Some of your points are valid. I will agree to accept NASCAR as a pseudo-sport.

If you have an issue with NASCAR being classified as a sport, then bring it up to the site and say that they should take it off their list of sports. There are millions of people around this country that love NASCAR, and if you don't like, don't read about.

nadja22, this site covers professional wrestling.

lol ... whatever. I'll take it.

lol, I have a question for you. What are your 3 sports that require the most talent to compete in?