Are NASCAR drivers athletes?

I'm no physiologist, but despite the claims of some of the doctors in this article about how physically fit drivers are, I'd have to say "Duh, no."

That doesn't mean they're not in good shape.

That doesn't mean they don't have to have good reflexes.

That doesn't mean it isn't physically taxing to drive a race car.

But I think that the doctors are drawing the wrong conclusions from the available evidence. Would you call construction workers athletes? Miners? Firefighters? Stunt performers? Strength, agility and endurance are only part of the equation; to call drivers athletes would require calling auto racing a sport, and I'm not convinced that it is. I suppose it could be, since it's got physical exertion and competition. But when I think of "sports", I think of football, baseball, basketball, tennis, hockey, bike racing. I offer up the example of horse racing: the horses are the athletes. Not the jockeys.