Recently, I began my sophomore year of college. And because I chose to go to a liberal arts school, they require that I take classes that have nothing to do with my major. One of those classes is a physical fitness/health class. Imagine your high school health class where they discuss exercise and healthy eating, and you'll basically be in the same place (just a little less dumbed down). But that's beside the point and off the topic I wish to discuss today.

You see, on what college students call Syllabus Day - the first day of classes where the students attend all of their classes for the first, and only time, of the semester and receive the syllabus and learn all about what they should expect - my professor wished to get to know us.

He asked about our major and how long we'd been attending college. But the more important one, he wanted to know what our favorite physical activity was. Of course, he did. It is a physical class, or at least it discusses physical things. Many boys said football, while quite a few girls said dancing or running. But what I said, not a single other student did.

Drag racing.

When the words rolled off my tongue, a collective silence fell over the class. Only to be broken by the professor's response of: "I guess it gets your heart rate going." Honestly, for a moment, I was stunned. He had rejected my favorite sport as a physical activity because he assumed that there was nothing to it but adrenaline. He hadn't even bothered to discover what it really was.

Of course, I remained stunned for only a moment, and then I became bitter and angry. First of all, how dare a professor so casually refuse my sport without even attempting to understand what was physical about it. Is it not his job to be knowledgeable in many different areas? Should he not be willing to at least learn what I considered physical about it before blowing it off because of his assumption regarding the sport?

I had a rant beginning to form on my tongue before the next student began his introduction, but I'm a good student and not a confrontational person so I kept it to myself. However, it did make me wonder how many people so casually dismissed my lifetime hobby as not a sport because they don't understand what really goes into it.

So here I am, baring my soul to the world to bring education to the uneducated regarding this intense physical activity. I give to you the reasons drag racing is a physical activity.

First of all, if you're not sure what drag racing is, I will explain. I'm not talking about Fast and Furious drag racing where the cops chase you constantly and you have to worry about crashing your vehicle into oncoming traffic. My sport is completely legal. In fact, most drag racers I know do not condone what is known as street racing but is often confused with drag racing. Just to clear the air.

My drag racing consists of loading the race car onto, or into, a trailer and towing said race car to a race track which is either a quarter mile long or an eighth mile long. There are only two competitors on the track at a time and no one is driving towards you. There is certainly more that goes into the fundamentals of the sport and I will write about that later. The main thing to know for this argument is that it is completely legal.

Now that that has been clarified, let's get down to business.

This sport consists of a driver speeding from point A to point B as quickly as possible. However, there is so much more to it. Dial-ins and reaction times, things that may not make sense to the uneducated, can cause the racer to lose. These two things make drag racing an extremely mental sport. Just like in basketball, soccer, football, baseball, and just about any other sport, drag racing is just as much mental as it is anything else. The driver has to constantly be in the game or it's over before they realize it.

With the mental aspect comes the plays. Dumping, whomping and staging battles are just some ways that competitors try to throw off their opponent to get a win. Sometimes the plays work, sometimes they don't. No single plan is a sure-fire win. No single competitor is the same as the last. Racers have to constantly be thinking about if the play is going to work and if they should adjust it at the last millisecond. Because a millisecond is all they have. A millisecond to decide if they should stomp on their brakes, lift off the gas only to stuff it back to the floor, or if they should just remained floored and hope for the best.

Sometimes they choose wrong. Sometimes they choose right. Sometimes luck is on their side, most times luck is nowhere in the car.

But mental games are not the only things that make up a sport. Another aspect is the team. Very few sports consist of a sole player. Sure, you've got golf and track. But even those sports form teams of people who cheer you on and wish to see you successfully defeat the competition.

Drag racing is exactly the same. Some teams are different than others. A lot of racers are able to complete their burn out and stage the car on their own. They can work on it by themselves and they know their race car better than they know their brother. However, my team, for example, is made up of many people. My dad acts as crew chief or coach, whichever term you prefer. My mom is my stats person running my numbers and calculating my dial-ins. My sister acts as my cheerleader, supporting me, motivating me and cheering me on. And of course, we've got other competitors on the team. My dad's best friend competes in the same class as I do, but we never fail to encourage each other and exchange fist bumps before each round. Another of our friends races in a class higher than I do, but is there if we need help and we are if he does. Our team is made up of many people who can sometimes become our competition but as soon as the helmets come off, we are once again teammates rooting for one another.

And not to be forgotten, the physical aspect of our sport. Now, when you put on all that protective gear, you hope no pain comes out of the race. But I cannot begin to explain how sore I am after a weekend of racing. My whole body aches. My back screams because of the intensity in which I'm thrown back into the seat when the lights come on. My shoulders protest from how tight I wear my seat belts. My feet hurt from wearing such thinned-soled shoes that allow optimal feeling of the pedal. I sweat just as much, if not more, as I did in basketball. My triple-layered fire suit ensures that I sweat until I'm sticky all over.

So, drag racing isn't exactly funded by high schools throughout the states. So, drag racing isn't seen as mainstream. So, drag racing doesn't exactly consist of some ball or puck being hit or shot towards an intended goal/basket/fence. But it does consist of mental games, teamwork, and physical activity. Maybe, I'm not blocking out a competitor for a rebound or diving for a pop fly in the outfield. Maybe I'm not running yards upon yards for a touchdown. Maybe I'm not defending the goal as a competitor shoots. But I promise you, drag racing is a physical sport.