[Dudd]

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Race car drivers are less likely to have more far innate skill than the average human as compared to say, basketball players, because so many more people try the latter.

If everyone in the US wanted to be a NASCAR driver growing up and got the opportunity to try, the field would be totally different. In basketball, not so much - people have a much better idea of where they stand there.

Edit - I see that I didn't really respond to the question. Whoops.

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I think this does answer the question though. Probably 90% of the people I know at some level have played basketball, football, baseball, some sport. So, the elite of the elite at those sports are drawn from a pretty large pool. I have never met anyone who raced, not dirt track, stock cars, nothing. Maybe this is a regional thing, I'm from upstate NY, who knows, but like you said, it's beyond questioning that the talent pools from which the racing elite are chosen is significantly smaller than something like basketball, so the natural ability of the elite is much closer to the average person than other major sports. So pretty much the less popular the sport, the closer to the average person the best at that sport is.