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Stephen A. Smith did not make many friends in NASCAR circles when he labeled drivers as non-athletes.
“Come on, man. That don’t count. You driving a car!” Smith said last month on his SiriusXM show. “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.”
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Jeff Gordon and Kyle Larson sit in the Arrow McLaren pit box on May 18, 2023, during the third day of practice for the 107th Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Kristin Enzor/For IndyStar/USA TODAY NETWORK)
Well, Kyle Larson and Jeff Gordon caught wind of what Smith had to say, and naturally, they challenged him.
“My first response is, do we really want to give clicks and attention to Stephen A. for, I feel like that’s what he’s asking for there,” Gordon began during a recent interview with Fox News Digital.
“But at the same time, clearly he doesn’t know a whole lot about the sport, and he doesn’t know what it takes to be an athlete in motorsports. There’s no doubt about the mental fatigue it takes to be in the car for hours, the competitiveness and things that make drivers true athletes. It’s just in a different sense of how a stick-and-ball sport is perceived as an athlete.”
Larson, the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion then challenged Smith, or anyone for that matter, to go one lap in a race car “without feeling like they’re going to die.”
“Everybody’s got a little bit different definition for what an athlete might mean to them. So his definition is different than the way I would feel about it. Do I get worked up about it when I hear somebody say that we’re not athletes? No.”
Kyle Larson hits the wall in the second turn during the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis on May 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jamie Gallagher)
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“I do,” Gordon butted in.
But Larson is a bit more understanding.
“I just accept that they won’t understand, because they will never be able to strap into a race car that goes 200 miles an hour. If they did, I don’t think they would be able to make it a lap without feeling like they’re going to die,” Larson continued.
“And then you factor in three-and-a-half-hour-long races and a 150-degree car with an elevated heart rate of probably 150 for three hours, with a peak of, for me, would be 190. I think then they would quickly realize that although you’re not shooting a ball into a hoop, this is definitely a sport and definitely a tough one where you have to be an athlete — maybe more on the endurance side of things.”
Gordon said he recently invited Jason Kelce to take a lap and even drive a car on a course.
NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon speaks during a press conference at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee, on April 12, 2026. (Randy Sartin/Imagn Images)
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“I’m pretty sure he’d have a different opinion about it,” Gordon said. “Just ask him.”
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