- Kevin Harvick and others respond to Stephen A. Smith’s “non-athlete” remark.
- Joey Logano’s comments seemingly struck Smith the hardest.
- Smith fires back at NASCAR, taking particular aim at Logano in his latest remarks.
Last week on Mad Dog Sports Radio, Stephen A. Smith weighed in on the greatest athletes of all time, with the focus on longevity. When a caller put forward Richard Petty as a candidate, Smith brushed it aside, saying, “Come on, man. That don’t count. You driving a car!”
From there, he doubled down, throwing the entire discipline of NASCAR into question. “You can be behind the wheel of a car in your 60s and 70s for crying out loud. A NASCAR driver is not an athlete,” he said.
However, the NASCAR garage did not let that slide. Kevin Harvick delivered one of the sharpest responses on the latest episode of SPEED with Harvick and Buxton.
Kevin Harvick brutally fires back at Smith
From Denny Hamlin to Joey Logano, drivers across the garage weighed in on Smith’s remarks. Hamlin pointed to the strain drivers endure, from G-forces to heat inside the car, arguing that the demands speak for themselves. Ross Chastain brushed off the comments as a play for attention, without fully dismissing the point.
Chris Buescher suggested that a closer look at the sport might change Smith’s view. AJ Allmendinger said he had not heard of Smith. Joey Logano said figures like Smith make such remarks to stay relevant. Ryan Preece added that Smith is free to speak his mind, but invited him to experience a 13-roll crash and walk away with black eyes.
Harvick, however, took it a step further. “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… 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,” he said.
Harvick also offered a glimpse into the physical toll of driving. He narrated that during his career, Harvick wore a Polar watch in the car to track exertion. In one race, the device showed he burned 3,200 calories. The company reached out afterward, questioning the reading and sending another watch. In the next race, with more cautions that lowered his heart rate, the figure came in at 2,400 calories.
Such numbers, he noted, are more often linked with marathon runners, stressing the strain drivers face over the course of a race.
Stephen A. Smith isn’t ready to back down
Smith returned to the topic recently and addressed comments, especially from three-time Cup Series champion Joey Logano. While he acknowledged NASCAR as a sport, he stood firm in his view that drivers do not meet his definition of athletes.
After Logano suggested that such remarks are made to stay in the spotlight, Smith pushed back, saying he did not know Logano “from a can of paint,” but still credited him for his success.
“You’re 35 years of age. You’re a three-time champion. You’re great at what you do, bro. If you want to disagree with me, let me help you, and you help me make the world a better place. Why can’t I just have an opinion about NASCAR? Why do I have to be doing it to stay relevant?” Smith said.
He then pointed to his own track record in sports media, telling Logano to Google him and stating that his position does not hinge on stirring debate.
“I need to say something to be relevant? 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 for two hours, every day, for the last 14 years. What are you talking about? This is the problem. Can we grow up?” he said.
Smith also took another swipe at Logano, noting that he has been in the business for 33 years while Logano is 35. “That means I was here since you were two years old, just removed from diapers,” he said, before urging Logano to ease off.
He closed by saying that, while he respects Logano and the sport, he does not believe that being a NASCAR driver makes one an athlete.
