There was a surplus of fatherhood-related articles online last week due to Father’s Day, but one that really captured my attention was this piece about the psychological and emotional impact of being a dad while making a living driving cars 200 mph around an oval track.

Yep. The perils of NASCAR fatherhood.

Jeff Gordon is the father of two, a young daughter and a son:

“When you have children, it doesn’t make you less passionate about what you love to do,” Gordon said. “I think if anything it makes you more passionate about it. …

“I think most people just automatically assume when you’re in a dangerous sport like this that when you have children it makes you think, ‘I don’t want to do this.’ You know, to me, it makes me even more inspired to want to do it better.”

In the piece, he’s joined by drivers like Ryan Newman and Carl Edwards in discussing the impact being a dad has made on their driving and careers.

I’m not a big NASCAR guy, but I know enough about it to appreciate how dangerous of a sport it can be. I appreciate the perspective that Gordon has, that being a father hasn’t softened his approach to driving, but rather has made him focus on doing it better. That makes sense to me, but it also occurs to me that he gets paid millions of dollars to do his dangerous job.

I’d rather hear from someone like a policeman or soldier. Many of these guys are fathers who are doing dangerous work and, most likely, not getting paid a ton of money for it. Does fatherhood make you more passionate about doing your job well? Does it make you go about it more intensely in order to stay safe? Or can it cause you to become more conservative in decision-making? Can fatherhood become a distraction and make you less effective at a dangerous job?

If you fit any of those categories (or another dangerous job I haven’t listed) — or if you know someone who does — feel free to chime in.