In his three decades of work, ESPN First Take lead voice Stephen A. Smith has publicly clashed with NBA stars, NFL legends, and even baseball icons. But the thing is, he rarely picks fights he doesn’t intend to finish.
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Now, in April, NASCAR entered his crosshairs. What we’re seeing now is a pushback from this motorsport, and a voice that is quite central to its current racing lineup has kept the conversation going, this time around with an open invitation.
The feud with Stephen A. Smith that put NASCAR in the national spotlight
It all started on Smith’s SiriusXM show on April 25. A caller brought up Richard Petty in a debate about being among the all-time great athletes. Smith dismissed that idea outright with a quote: “You can be behind the wheel of a car in your 60s and 70s, for crying out loud,” he said. “A NASCAR driver is not an athlete.” To substantiate his point, he grouped drivers with golfers, whom he thought were skilled but not athletes.
Now, in May, Joey Logano has fired back with an open challenge. Dallin Hopkins shared his statement on X: “You know, but again, until he comes to the racetrack and experiences it firsthand—shoot, I’d love for him to come to the racetrack. If you’re watching this, come on out. We’d love to have you here.”
Referring to how he should deliver his opinion, Logano also added, “And once you get to that point, you educate your opinion about what a sport is really about and what we go through as athletes inside the race car, then you can go and have an opinion.”
“He kind of agreed with most of everything I said … I’d love to have him to the race track. If you’re watching this, come on out” @joeylogano responded to @stephenasmith‘s comments about him on his show this past Monday #NASCAR #Wurth400
Smith’s comment reached Talladega, and that is when Logano responded. Logano outright called it a publicity stunt. He said that Smith was chasing relevance and pointed to cockpit temperatures hitting 130 degrees Fahrenheit. Logano shifted that debate from driving to athletic legitimacy.
Smith backfired on April 28, saying, “I don’t know you from a can of paint.” He then directed the driver to a “Google me” sighting and pointed out that he had 14 years of experience as America’s top-rated morning sports show host.
After that, an unexpected voice also joined the conversation: Michael Jordan. The NBA legend and co-owner of 23XI Racing reportedly called Smith personally to make the case for NASCAR drivers, but even that didn’t change his stance.
Why this debate is not just a hot take
For NASCAR, this debate is not a celebrity spat. It touches on something that the sport has been wrestling with for years: recognition from mainstream American sports media.
Smith is arguably one of the most influential voices in that space. His reach is in millions on TV, radio, and even social media. Many in the racing world also hold the opinion that if Smith doesn’t engage with the sport, it will never fully enter the mainstream conversation. That is why his dismissal stings.
The data, though, makes the counterargument very difficult to ignore if we look at the specifics. During a 400-mile race, a driver’s heart rate averages 150 to 170 BPM for three to four hours straight, the same as that of a marathon runner.
The cockpit temperature hits 130 degrees Fahrenheit, and drivers can lose five to ten pounds of water weight in just one afternoon. With every corner that they take, they withstand up to three to four Gs while making split-second decisions at 200 miles per hour. That is not recreational driving.
Plus, the driver making the case here, Logano, is not just any other driver at the back of the field. He’s a three-time Cup Series champion, having won in 2018, 2022, and 2024, and a Daytona 500 winner, which is a big deal. He has also competed at the highest level since the age of 18. Nicknamed “Sliced Bread”, he never backs down, be it on or off track.
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However, Smith also has a long history of not backing down. He has had previous clashes with Kevin Durant, Shohei Ohtani, and Terrell Owens, among others. However, this time Logano’s goal isn’t war confrontation. He has invited Smith to experience firsthand what makes NASCAR a sport. Now the question is whether Smith takes him up on the offer.
