Kevin Harvick Says Stephen A. Smith Missed NASCAR’s Physical Toll
Kevin Harvick pushed back hard on stephen a. smith after Smith said NASCAR drivers do not count as athletes. Harvick answered with race-day data, a smartwatch, and a blunt warning: don’t judge racing if you don’t know it.
Harvick's race data
Harvick said he had Polar make him a smartwatch to wear during races, and the first time he used it he burned over 3,000 calories. He said the brand called him afterward and offered a replacement because it thought something was wrong with the watch.
He then wore a second one and said it showed close to 2,500 calories burned. Harvick said that kind of caloric burn, or the heart-rate change behind it, is something he has only seen in marathon runners.
Smith doubles down
Smith had already said NASCAR drivers “don’t count” in the athlete category. He added, “You’re driving a car! I’m being honest, it’s a great sport. But come on, bro. Getting behind the wheel of a car is not the same. You can be behind the wheel of a car in your 60s and 70s, for crying out loud. A golfer is not an athlete. A NASCAR driver is not an athlete,” he added.
When criticism followed, Smith defended himself by pointing to his national reach and 14 years of daily broadcasting. “Do I look like somebody that needs to be relevant? I am relevant. I have a show that airs nationwide every weekday for two hours on radio after I have a national number one morning show on television or two hours every day for the last 14 years. What are you talking about? This is the problem. Can we grow up? Can we grow up?”
Hamlin and Preece react
Harvick said, “If you don’t know anything about racing, just keep your opinion to yourself because you shouldn’t even have an opinion if you don’t know anything about a sport,” he said. He also said, “I think this is just an instance where Stephen A. Smith is looking for clicks on something he knows absolutely nothing about what he’s talking about.”
Denny Hamlin backed that view, saying a normal person’s body is not trained to do what NASCAR drivers do. “The strength and the stamina is the part that no casual person would be able to do. If you’re going to use that part of the definition, we are absolutely athletes, and he’s incorrect,” Hamlin claimed.
Ryan Preece took a harder line. “I’d love for him to go tumbling 13 times, have black eyes, and show up next week doing what you got to do,” he described. The exchange left the same basic fight intact: Smith questioned the label, and drivers answered with numbers, damage, and the kind of physical demands they say outsiders miss.
