Andy Papathanassiou broke new ground when Hendrick Motorsports hired him as NASCAR's first ever Pit Crew Coordinator for Strength and Conditioning in the early 90s.

 

In mid July, the Golden Tate ESPY's controversy erupted across NASCAR nation. Basically the story went that the Seahawk's receiver and former Notre Dame star took to his Twitter account and gave the opinion that race car drivers weren't athletes and should't be up for Athlete of the Year. We talked about Tate's position in the larger context of how people, especially sports fans, perceive Racers.

During that time I set out to review a lot of the articles and opinions about Racing fitness and misconceptions that fitness isn't important in racing.   An excellent discussion on ESPN.com from David Newton on the popularized myth,  featured some wisdom from Andy Papathanassiou, former Offensive Lineman at Stanford, who serves as the strength and conditioning for Hendrick Motorsports crew. Not the drivers, the crew.  This is the new face of racing. Where everything is measured and teams compete with such intensity that whatever edge can be gained is gained.

The days of allowing a hog into the pit is over in big time racing. (I saw the picture and I just had to)

 

It was hard not to come away with a great impression of Andy and the athleticism of racers reading the piece. Check this out:

Say a driver isn't an athlete and he'll give you a 30-minute dissertation on what makes motorsports a competition in the same realm as football and basketball, and then tell you that drivers are "100 percent athletes."

He'll tell you that a driver's heart rate goes to 80 percent of the maximum the heart can beat, along the lines of a marathon runner. He'll tell you the G-forces a driver experiences put so much stress and pressure on the lungs and rib cage "that if they didn't learn how to breath correctly at certain times they would pass out."

"Because you don't see the blood, sweat and tears in a driver because he's wearing a firesuit and a helmet and you see only the outside of the car, you don't see or experience what a human being is going through on the inside of that," Papathanassiou said.

As a Kasey Kahne guy, I am fired up for what the move to Hendrick can mean for his future success. You can read the article in it's entirety here.  While you are at it, Victory K, my favorite Kasey Kahne fan site, has more on the happenings of the move to Hendrick. (including a picture of the #5 Impala. Looking sharp!!)

Another Sweet Delight from my pal Ashley, the Sassy Southern Belle and Queen of good nutritious eats.

What do you say to some butterscotch brownies with that race day tailgate or watch party?

Dang!!

 

Butterscotch Brownies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup packed Splenda for Baking Brown Sugar Blend
1 tablespoon  pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs
1 2/3 cups (11-ounce package) Butterscotch Flavored Morsels - divided use
1/2 cup chopped pecans

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
  2. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter, Brown Sugar Blend and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in 1 cup morsels and nuts. Spread into ungreased 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Sprinkle with remaining morsels.
  3. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

Makes 48 brownies.

I want to thank Ashley again for sticking with us and for her belief in what we are doing bringing Racers Workout to the race community.

 

Filed under: Racing News • Workout Tips

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