Haven't all professional athletes gotten weaker? Remember the Steelers Jack Lambert? Racing has a ton of hard men, Schwantz, Rainey, Doohan, McCoy, Gardner, and many more...Lots of pro ballers have gotten lazy with pulled little fingers, toe jams, and trivial injuries that some just thought was part of the sport.
There are a few hard guys left. Haga racing with broken collar bones, Bayliss asking for his finger removed, Duhamel won Daytona on a broken leg one year