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If you hang out with sports fans long enough and you disclose that you follow NASCAR, this issue is sure to come up. I’m a relative neophyte to what Jim Rome referred to as the “Left Turn League,” but in the short time I’ve been around the sport on more than a casual level, I can tell you this discussion gets spirited in a huge hurry.

See if you haven’t heard this before.“All they do is drive around in circles for four hours.” “All the drivers do is turn their steering wheels and push their feet to the floor. Anybody can do that.” “NASCAR stand for Non-Athletic driverS Circling Around Rednecks.” The list doesn’t end there, but the point they make is that the likes of Michael Jordan, Derek Jeter, Tom Brady and just about anyone else you can think of will be held up as examples of those being more athletic than your average NASCAR racer.

THEY’RE WRONG- AND I KNOW WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT.

To establish credibility,let me quickly give you my background. I’ve been a player of sports, a fan, a coach, and a commentator for 30 years. My current job as a radio sports guy requires me to be conversant on all of them. I’ve become quite familiar with the skills necessary to make a jump shot, hit a baseball, successfully complete a forward pass and yes, successfully take the checkered flag in a race.

With that out of the way, let’s consider the skills need to compete as a NASCAR driver. First you need good vision. Imagine driving 180 miles an hour, about 3 times faster than you will on the freeway on a typical day. Now, imagine 42 other guys are doing the same thing in a confined space.

Then, you need cat-quick reflexes. When you’re driving at break neck speeds, things come at you fast. Thankfully, besides the great vision, you have a crew chief and spotters to help guide you around the track. Nonetheless, if a driver 6 car lengths ahead of you wrecks, you will need to respond, very quickly to something you may not yet see yet. That’s where the advice to drive to the spot of the wreck comes in handy. You figure any collision in front of you at great speed and impact will result in scattering cars and debris. A flick of the steering wheel in the wrong direction and you may just find yourself collected into the collision.

Third- you must be conditioned for endurance. Let me paint a picture for you. The average race is 500 miles. That distance spans a trip from my home near Medford, Oregon to San Francisco. Now- do that with 40+ other guys driving at excessive speeds. Stressful- isn’t it? Not only that, there’s extreme heat inside your car….in excess of 100 degrees. You have no air conditioning. On top of that, you’re in a fire suit. Not real comfortable is it?

On top of that, there’s no rest stops, and no time to eat. If you’re lucky, you’ll get enough fluid to get you through the race. Not too much, though. Yeah, you need to time you’re eating just right so you don’t pee your pants during the race. OR worse.

Believe it or not, some strength is needed too. From time to time, a driver’s power steering will go out. You ever drove a car with manual steering? You’ll get a workout.

I haven’t even delved into the athleticism needed to be a member of the pit crew. Many are former college athletes. Think about the agility needed to get over the wall, the strength to carry tires, the quickness to get the tires on, pump the jack and the speed to perform the other tasks. And you say this isn’t a sport?

Many current NASCAR have excelled at other sports. Dale Jarrett has enough golf skills to be a PGA golfer. Kyle Petty was recruited to play college football and baseball. Elliott Sadler was headed for a college basketball career at James Madison before a knee injury changed that. Michael Waltrip has run marathons. Have you ever seen Mark Martin lift weights? Pretty buff for a guy 5-6. Carl Edwards is ripped and displays his athletic ability by doing a celebratory back flip when he wins.

Yes- things have changed since the days of Junior Johnson. Heck- even Bobby Allison had a training ritual. He’d hone his endurance by driving around rural Alabama with the windows up and the heat running full blast in the summertime.

Another illustration of challenging driving a “stock” car is comes from the ABC series last summer, “Fast Cars and Superstars.” Greats from other sports, namely John Elway, John Salley, Bill Cowher, and Serena Williams- among others- tried their hand at making their way around Lowe’s Motor Speedway in a number of challenges. Elway and rodeo champ Ty Murray got the hang of it, Salley and Williams looked thoroughly lost.

All of that to say, it takes athleticism to compete in NASCAR. I won’t deny that the machinery is a part of it in a way no other sport is, but like golf, I think it takes a different TYPE of skill from a stick and ball sport.

Can we agree on that? Heck, even Jim Rome has come over to our point of view.

(A Special Weekly Post Prepared for letsgoracingfans.com)

1954. Dwight Eisenhower was President, the Dodgers were still in Brooklyn, gas cost about a dime a gallon and Tim Flock set a NASCAR record by winning 18 Cup races. That year, Al Keller won a race in Linden, New Jersey in a Jaguar- the last time a foreign name plate won a race at stock car racing’s highest level.

Fast forward to 1995. Bill Clinton was President, Brett Favre won his first NFL MVP award, and gas cost about half (or less) of what it does today. That year, on March 12, Jeffrey Michael Gordon won his first race at AMS at the age of 23 years, 7 months, and 8 days.

On March 9, 2008, Kyle Busch wrote his name in the NASCAR history books. At a track known for its close finishes, Busch the Younger (also known as “Rowdy” or “Shrub”), pulled away from Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. The win gets Toyota off the snide at NASCAR’s top level, and Busch becomes the youngest winner at Atlanta at 22 years, 10 months, and 7 days (I needed extra fingers and toes to count that one).

It was just a matter of time.

While credit must go to Smoke, Junior, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Clint Bowyer for pushing Busch, he was in control in his very out of control way. Even if he whines, even if he’s overly aggressive, even he ain’t the most angelic face in the NASCAR line-up- give him his due. He knows how to race. Right now, he’s scary fast and crazy consistent.

I would be remiss to ignore the skill of other drivers who overcame long odds to break up front. Smoke gained 30 spots to his second place finish in a car he fought with and tires he hated even more. Matty Kenseth gained 30 pots as well to finish 8th- after starting 38th. Don’t look now, but there’s another promising young Toyota driver making noise, and he doesn’t even race for Joe Gibbs. Brian Vickers started 35th, but ran all the way up to 9th, putting him in the Chase if it began today. Kurt Busch and Casey Mears also quietly finished significantly better than they started.

Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne also deserve props. Johnson took another terrible car and managed to pull off a respectable finish (13th). Another racer would have finished 30th or worse. Kahne overcame a nasty early race spin to pull out a 26th place finish. In the old car, he would have wrecked out. These guys get the Rocky Balboa Award for winning a knock down drag out with their cars.

Speaking of the new car,- wouldn’t you agree that it has its merits? It’s a miracle that Elliott Sadler didn’t go after the first caution, but kept his car out there through THREE mishaps before throwing in the towel. An incredible 41 of 43 drivers finished on a day where the tires were a disaster.

Oh yeah, there’s those doggone tires. If enough guys complain, then maybe they won’t go too hard on Tony Stewart for his post-race diatribe against Goodyear Tires. Bobby Labonte tested at Atlanta back in the Fall- I’d be real interested to hear what he might have to say. As it is, I’m afraid the message will be missed because of the messenger- though his point had some validity. Those were lousy tires.

Kyle Busch has looked like a top 5 driver this year. If he keeps it up, me not only win the Cup title, but the Nationwide and CTS titles too.

(A Weekly Special Edition of Bump-Drafts prepared for letsgoracingfans.com)

You could see the race was effectively over on the last two re-starts. Each time, Carl Edwards-in his #99 Dish Network Ford- took off like a scalded jack rabbit to win the UW-Dodge 400. This makes 6 wins for Team Roush at Las Vegas, to go with a pair of victories each by Jeff Burton and Matt Kenseth, as well as Mark Martin, who took the #6 to Victory Lane back in 1998.

Roush Racing did themselves proud. Not only was Edwards strong, Kenseth looked good up until the Gordon incident at the end, Greg Biffle finished 3rd, and even David Ragan got in on the fun by edging Kasey Kahne out for 6th. Jack Roush must have some magic in his hat that he uses for Vegas, because his teams are good to the point of making you think that somebody at the “Diamond In The Desert” must owe him a favor or two.

I was just sure this was Kyle Busch’s race to lose, in spite of the fact that no one has ever won from the pole at Sin City. The younger Busch made me look like a prophet for a bit until the handling on his car went south on him late in the race. Edwards ran with the #18 M&M’s Toyota all day, first overtaking Shrub on lap 21. By lap 117, Busch surrendered the lead, and although Dale Jr. and Jeff Gordon had good runs- today seemed destined to be a Roush day.

It didn’t look that way at first. Roush driver Jamie Mc Murray almost took flight in the infield after a spin-out and Edwards darn near got penalized for a pit road incident involving a stray tire. Fortunately, crew chief Bob Osborne kept a cool head, stayed on top of officials, and they ultimately ruled in favor of Edwards, blaming a TV camera man for being in the way (Dang media types anyway).

There were a record number of cautions as it seems that NASCAR teams are still figuring out how to work the “new” car at Las Vegas. Accidents cut short the days of Tony Stewart (who bit the wall hard on lap 109) and Robby Gordon (victimized by a lfat tire on lap 144), Patrick Carpentier, DaleJarrett, Kurt Busch, and Scott Riggs.

Speaking of Riggs……it was nice to see some less familiar names up front. I thought the Haas-CNC cars of Scott Riggs and Jeremy Mayfield looked great in stretches, and it was good to see another solid performance by Elliott “Rabbit Release” Sadler. It was also weird seeing Ken Schrader up front, though he gave way later in the race.

It wasn’t a good day for Open Wheelers. Sam Hornish, Patrick Carpentier and Dario Franchitti all saw their best laid plans go up in smoke.

I’m glad Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon weren’t hurt too seriously.Gordon had two words for track owner Bruton Smith concerning the inner wall “Safer Barriers.”

Though it was a bummer to see wrecks mess up otherwise good days, there’s no doubt this race belonged to Edwards. The Columbia, Missouri native was just too much. He and his Roush teammates (Kenseth and Biffle) were easily the most consistent cars out there, with apologies to RCR teammates Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick, and the HMS combo of Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

It just hit me- another random thought- no Jimmie Johnson today. Apparently, Johnson was a victim of Murphy’s Law. Everything that could go wrong apparently did to the #48.

This may not have been the best race I’d ever seen, but it was a good one. Today’s outcome springs forth yet more new story lines in a 2008 season that bears no resemblence to 2007.

Will Carl Edwards make it three in a row, to turn At-lanta into Hot-lanta? I wouldn’t bet against it.

Potential. One definition of potential in the world of sports is “Hasn’t done it yet.” That definition is very fitting for the Gillett Evernham Motorsports crew- a team with abundant talent that has yet to be realized.

It all starts with Ray Evernham. His 3 Cup titles and 47 victories as a crew chief for Jeff Gordon speaks volumes about his briliance as a pit leader and setup guru. That brilliance set Evernham as the spearhead to lead Dodge’s return to NASCAR in 2001 (it should be mentioned that Casey Atwood did register a top 10 with Evernham as owner in one of three starts in 2000). Along the way, Evernham has had the likes of “Awesome”Bill Elliott, Atwood, Jeremy Mayfield, and Scott Riggs driving for him- but perhaps no driver has meant more to what is now known as GEM than Kasey Kahne.

The boyish Washingtonian roared onto the Cup scene in 2004, earning Raybestos Rookie of The Year honors with a 13th place in the Cup standings. After a bum 2005, Kahne rebounded with an impressive 6 victories in 2006 and 19 top 10’s en route to an 8th place finish at season’s end. Kahne’s 2007 frustrations epitomized GEM’s futility in 2007, as Kahne was never really a factor, other than a Busch Series win. A lot of GEM’s problems were obviously program related. Evernham admitted that trying to juggle business (fundraising and sponsorships) with racing proved to be overwhelming. The team was just never that competitive and looked way behind the curve on Car of Tomorrow development.

To be sure, Kahne has fulfilled some of his promise. Seven wins are not chopped liver. Yet a closer look at the number reveals a need for growth from the 27 year old if he wants to be mentioned in the same breath with Gordon and Johnson. All of Kahne’s wins have come at intermediate tracks (Atlanta, Texas, Lowe’s, Michigan- to name a few). He needs to add super speedway prowess and road course mastery to his resume. On top of that, Kahne has a vexing number of DNF’s on his track record. Compare his numbers to Clint Bowyer’s in 2007 and you get my drift.

If it sounds like I’m being harsh, it’s because he’s capable of more. He’s a winner, but he not only needs more support from his owner and he needs to spend less time enjoying the life of a rock star. He’s tested well at Vegas and California, so there is hope.

Another guy fans hope for more from in 2008 is Elliott Sadler. Like Kahne, Sadler has a following- yet at the rate he’s going, he’s destined to become another Michael Waltrip or Kenny Wallace- a popular guy due more to personality than actual performance. Sadler hasn’t visited victory lane since 2004, when he raced for Robert Yates. Quick- name a race where he was really in contention in 2007. Can’t think of one? I think there’s a reason for that. Here’s hoping the partnership with Gillett will enable Ray Evernham to provide better support for the likes of Kahne and Sadler. They deserve better.

One area where GEM is not left out is in the foreign intrigue department. Scott Riggs is out as the driver of the #10 Dodge and Canadian Patrick Carpentier takes over. So far, the best you can say about Carpentier is that he hasn’t angered established drivers by wrecking them- which puts him ahead of say, Dario Franchitti. If nothing else, Carpentier’s development will help draw attention to Gillett Evernham if winning can’t.

What we have right now is not the notoriety a team really wants: an owner more famous for being the boyfriend of a female racer (Evernham and Erin Crocker have been an item for a while now), a star driver more famous for his commercials fleeing crazed soccer moms, a journeyman driver who’s also more famous for his popularity among women and for his one time promise as a basketball player, and a rookie more famous for being a part of the open wheel mass defection to NASCAR.

These guys are better than that. I think.