Are Racecar Drivers Really Athletes?
The average speed of a car around the ¾ mile track at RIR is 118mph, and drivers had to complete one lap in under 21 seconds just to qualify for the race. There are approximately 108,000 fans screaming and 42 other cars on the track at the same time trying to bring home the checkered flag.
So, what do you think? Are Racecar Drivers really athletes? Evaluate and answer these questions while proposing evidence to support your opinion. You can either express this in writing or using a visual aid (such as a picture of a NASCAR driver with explanation of muscles used etc.)
1.What muscles do they have to use? When and why do they use each muscle?
2. How does the slope of the track affect certain muscles?
3. A driver does 400-600 laps depending on the race. What factors come into play due to this statistic?
4. What is the approximate average HR of a driver during a race? What does that tell you?
5. Is intelligence a factor? Is intelligence a factor in other sports? Please give examples to support your opinion.
6. Do you consider this a team sport or an individual sport? Explain your answer.
7. If you were the driver’s trainer, write a workout for one week with explanation of why you chose the activities you did.
8. The average temperature in the racecar during a race is over 100 degrees. How could this affect the driver?
9. What is an athlete? What qualities do they have?
Site for reference: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/4243400/
Working out and Racing
There are many similarities and comparisons that can be drawn between running or working out and racing a car. For example, calories are very similar to gasoline. You fill up, then you burn it off. The type of food or gasoline you put in affects performance.
How is running or working out similar to racing a car? Consider the track, training regime, racing tactics, preparation, set backs, speed, injuries etc. and make a comparison chart for the two.
http://www.nascar.com
http://www.rir.com/
What are the economical benefits to a city when hosting a NASCAR event?
Students wil brainstorm a list of what groups would benefit from this event. Some ideas are listed below.
· Some of these benefits include:
o Financial benefits (Revenue)
§ Motel/Hotel
§ Restaurants
§ Advertisers
§ Gasoline
§ Security
§ Concessions (food/drink)
§ Sales (NASCAR souvenirs)
§ Concessions (workers)
§ Ticket Takers
§ Parking attendants
§ Garbage collection
§ Utilities
§ Catering for sky boxes
o Human benefits
§ Increased Police coverage
§ Increased Firefighter/EMT coverage
§ Increased Hospital alerts
§ News Coverage
§ Radio Coverage
Click here to read an article from the Richmond Times Dispatch about the amount of money the RIR generates on a race weekend.
How Much Jack Will You Back To Be On The Track?
0 Comments Published by amlund March 23rd, 2009 in Articles
Richmond International Raceway (RIR) has a goal of bringing in $5,000,000 in Advertising money. The advertisements are painted on the wall around the track and RIR will cover ½ the wall. Each ad is 17 feet long X 2 feet wide. Click here for more information about the track – http://www.nascar.com/races/tracks/rir/. How much should RIR charge each advertiser to place an ad on the wall?
by aml and grm
Finding a connection between NASCAR and Social Studies can be a challenge. Today, we got to go to to RIR, the Richmond International Speedway, to find ways to create a lesson using NASCAR as the tool.
It begins with Google Earth, but there are ways to extend this activity with each city NASCAR goes to. The first thing is that students can research each city (here is the NASCAR schedule) and find out specific information and maybe predict why races are located in cities at certain times.
Here is the actual Google Earth File that you can use to search in Google Earth.
What other ideas can you come up with for Geography and NASCAR?
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