MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Drivers who take their fitness routines seriously are no longer the minority in the garage.

Today a majority of the top-tier performers in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series are finding that workouts can in fact enhance performance on the track.

For years, drivers were content to dismiss the theory and looked to pizza and cheeseburger lovers, such as two-time champion Tony Stewart, as proof that treadmills and tofu were overrated for successful wheelmen.

“

When I was in my 20s it seemed like I was untouchable. But that's not the case now.

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JEFF GORDON

But opinions are changing.

Carl Edwards is no longer the lone gym rat on the circuit flying the fit freak flag. He has company by way of Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Burton and, more recently, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Earnhardt inside the gym may be more of a surprise than other drivers because admittedly he's more content to spend time in front of a computer as opposed to stair climbing.

Nevertheless, Hendrick Motorsports is pulling out all stops to help the No. 88 team and its driver succeed, so if it means putting the sport's favorite barbeque-loving Carolina boy on a program, then so be it.

Team owner Rick Hendrick said last week that the team is looking at everything, and that Earnhardt is working out and has changed his eating habits.

"Well, Rick wouldn't lie about it, but I'm just trying not to leave any stone unturned and obviously as you get older, you need to take better care of yourself," Earnhardt said this weekend at Martinsville Speedway.

His father, the late Dale Earnhardt, began feeling the effects of age and started an aerobics routine in his early 40s and gave up red meat.

"I'm just trying to do my part and make sure that I'm as good as I can be when these guys need me," Earnhardt said. "So I definitely needed to change my diet a little bit because I was not very proactive in what I ordered or what I bought and wasn't very picky about where I eat my meals. I'm just trying to be a little smarter and a little more responsible there." (Continued)