The NASCAR world didn’t take long to respond when Stephen A. Smith dismissed stock car drivers as “not athletes.” What started as a routine debate on SiriusXM quickly turned into a broader pushback from teams, drivers, and fans who have heard versions of this argument for years.
The saga of response began on Mad Dog Sports Radio, where Smith was discussing longevity in sports and where LeBron James ranks among the greatest ever. When a caller brought up Richard Petty, the ESPN analyst brushed it off.
“Come on, man. That don’t count. You driving a car!” he said, before doubling down: “A NASCAR driver is not an athlete.” That comment lit the fuse for a growing chorus of reactions from the NASCAR community
Cup Series superspeedway powerhouse Front Row Motorsports was among the first to fire back, but instead of trading insults, the team issued a direct challenge to Smith’s Instagram DMs.
“Stephen A., what’s going on, my man? We heard that ABSOLUTELY PREPOSTEROUS take of yours claiming NASCAR drivers aren’t athletes, and quite frankly, we were stunned. Stunned!” the team wrote, echoing his signature delivery. Then came the invitation: step out of the studio and experience it firsthand.
They offered Smith a ride-along with one of their Cup Series drivers, challenging him to see what it feels like to run 180 mph, handle sustained G-forces, and manage a stock car for hours at a time.
Front Row wasn’t the only team to share their opinion, as their Ford breathern RFK Racing posting on X, “This guy’s never met, Mark Martin…”
Well, the blowback didn’t stop there. Soon, NASCAR drivers joined the party with fitting and somewhat personal rebuttals.
O’Reilly Auto Parts Series full-timer Lavar Scott, a rookie in the series with Alpha Prime Racing, took things up a notch. Posting a video of his workout, the 22-year-old challenged Smith to try it himself before even getting in a car.
“Come do a full workout @stephenasmith PLEASE, then get inside a car. I love the disrespect. People really just don’t know or will ever fully understand what it takes,” he wrote, adding that Smith should ask veteran Mark Martin.
Meanwhile, former NASCAR Cup Series champion and Hall of Famer Kurt Busch chose to keep it blunt and personal. “Let’s go, cupcake. I will personally drive you around a NASCAR track for 30 mins, or when you pass out on lap 30,” Busch commented on Instagram.
Below the same post, 38-year-old OAP Series driver and team owner Jesse Iwuji wrote, “I played D1A football at Navy for 4 years, and I race NASCAR part-time now. Racing drivers are athletes @stephenasmith.”
Smith also extended his argument to other sports, including golf, suggesting that activities where older competitors can still participate shouldn’t qualify as “athletic.” That reasoning is exactly what many in NASCAR pushed back on.
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