Download or read book The Ghosts of NASCAR written by John Havick and published by University of Iowa Press. This book was released on 2013-10-01 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Who won the first Daytona 500? Fans still debate whether it was midwestern champion Johnny Beauchamp, declared the victor at the finish line, or longtime NASCAR driver Lee Petty, declared the official winner a few days after the race. The Ghosts of NASCAR puts the controversial finish under a microscope. Author John Havick interviewed scores of people, analyzed film of the race, and pored over newspaper accounts of the event. He uses this information and his deep knowledge of the sport as it worked then to determine what probably happened. But he also tells a much bigger story: the story of how Johnny Beauchamp—and his Harlan, Iowa, compatriots, mechanic Dale Swanson and driver Tiny Lund—ended up in Florida driving in the 1959 Daytona race. The Ghosts of NASCAR details how the Harlan Boys turned to racing cars to have fun and to escape the limited opportunities for poor boys in rural southwestern Iowa. As auto racing became more popular and better organized in the 1950s, Swanson, Lund, and Beauchamp battled dozens of rivals and came to dominate the sport in the Midwest. By the later part of the decade, the three men were ready to take on the competition in the South’s growing NASCAR circuit. One of the top mechanics of the day, Swanson literally wrote the book on race cars at Chevrolet’s clandestine racing shop in Atlanta, Georgia, while Beauchamp and Lund proved themselves worthy competitors. It all came to a head on the brand-new Daytona track in 1959. The Harlan Boys’ long careers and midwestern racing in general have largely faded from memory. The Ghosts of NASCAR recaptures it all: how they negotiated the corners on dirt tracks and passed or spun out their opponents; how officials tore down cars after races to make sure they conformed to track rules; the mix of violence and camaraderie among fierce competitors; and the struggles to organize and regulate the sport. One of very few accounts of 1950s midwestern stock car racing, The Ghosts of NASCAR is told by a man who was there during the sport’s earliest days.

Download or read book Tales from the Daytona 500 written by Jim Hawkins and published by Sports Publishing LLC. This book was released on 2003-01-01 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As NASCAR's popularity has sky rocketed in recent years, the Daytona 500-or "the Redneck High Holy Days," as Speedweek in honky-tonk Daytona Beach is affectionately known among stock car racing fans-has grown from its southern moonshiner roots and its humble beginnings on the hard-packed sand to become the number-one auto race in America. In Tales from the Daytona 500, Jim Hawkins, auto racing writer and sports columnist for The Oakland Press (Mich.) takes the reader behind the scenes and back into the history of the signature event in this country's fastest growing sport. Ride along with NASCAR "Wonder Boy" Jeff Gordon, three-time champion Dale Jarrett, and outspoken Darrel Waltrip. Relive the thrilling Daytona exploits of "The King," Richard Petty, hometown hero Fireball Roberts, star-crossed Bobby Allison and racing legend A. J. Foyt. Remember Dale Earnhardt's tragic death in the last-lap crash that captured the attention of the entire country and brought about the most sweeping safety changes in the history of the sport.

Download or read book Flat Out and Half Turned Over written by Buddy Baker and published by Sports Publishing LLC. This book was released on 2002 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Flat Out and Half Turned Over, driving legend Buddy Baker and racing writer David Poole join forces to compile the most hilarious collection of stories, memories, and anecdotes ever published. Read about the bumps and brawls, the blood, sweat and tears, and the practical jokes that happen behind the scenes.

Download or read book Tales from Daytona 500 written by Jim Hawkins and published by . This book was released on 2005-04-01 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Takes you around the famed 2.5-mile Daytona oval, into the garages, behind the scenes, & back into the history of the signature event in what has become this country's fastest growing sport. The Daytona 500 has grown from its humble beginnings to become the No. 1 auto race in America. Ride along with: Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Darrell Waltrip, & Tony Stewart as they rub fenders. Relive the thrilling Daytona exploits of Richard Petty, Fireball Roberts, Bobby Allison, A.J. Foyt, & the sport's other all-time heroes. Revisit racing icon Dale Earnhardt's tragic death in the last-lap crash at the 2001 Daytona 500 that brought about the most sweeping safety changes in the history of the sport. B&W photos.

Download or read book Daytona written by Ed Hinton and published by Grand Central Pub. This book was released on 2002-11-01 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A history of the Daytona 500 and NASCAR ranges from the first race in 1959 to the death of Dale Earnhardt in a collision during the 2001 race, offering a glimpse into the world of stock car racing and the lives of the racers.

Download or read book Donnie Allison written by Donnie Allison and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-05-01 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Donnie Allison was always the “other” brother of the famous NASCAR racing duo. Perhaps only true students of NASCAR history know that Donnie Allison won ten races in his career; that he posted top ten finishes in 47 percent of all the races he ever ran; that four of the five times the Allison brothers ran 1-2 in a race, it was Donnie in front at the checkers. Fewer still may know that he was Rookie of the Year in the 1970 Indianapolis 500. Little is known about Donnie Allison because he wasn’t much of a talker. Donnie lived by the philosophy that his driving did his talking for him. Over the years, his being so tight-lipped led to many misconceptions, twisted tales, and outright falsehoods about Donnie Allison, his racing career, and his life. In Donnie Allison: As I Recall . . ., he sets the record straight on a variety of subjects he’s wanted to clear up for years, including the 1979 Daytona 500 and the famous fight in the infield with Cale Yarborough; the win NASCAR tried to steal from him and give to Richard Petty; and his ultra-competitive, often-combative relationship with a racing brother who didn’t like to lose to anybody. “I’ve got lots of stories to tell, and I want to tell them the way I remember them,” Donnie says. In Donnie Allison: As I Recall . . ., he’s done just that.

Download or read book He Crashed Me So I Crashed Him Back written by Mark Bechtel and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2010-02-08 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On a cold February day in 1979, when most of the Northeast was snowed in by a blizzard, NASCAR entered the American consciousness with a dramatic telecast of the Daytona 500. It was the first 500-mile race to be broadcast live on national television and featured the heroes and legends of the sport racing on a hallowed track. With one of the wildest finishes in sports history -- a finish that was just the start of the drama -- everything changed for what is now America's second most popular sport. He Crashed Me So I Crashed Him Back is the story of an emerging sport trying to find its feet. It's the story of how Bobby Allison, Donnie Allison, Cale Yarborough, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip, A.J. Foyt, and Kyle Petty came together in an unforgettable season that featured the first nationally televised NASCAR races. There were rivalries -- even the sibling kind -- and plenty of fistfights, feuds, and frenzied finishes. Rollicking and full of larger-than-life characters, He Crashed Me So I Crashed Him Back is the remarkable tale of the birth of modern stock-car racing.

Download or read book Driving with the Devil written by Neal Thompson and published by Crown. This book was released on 2009-02-04 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The true story behind NASCAR’s hardscrabble, moonshine-fueled origins, “fascinating and fast-moving . . . even if you don’t know a master cylinder from a head gasket” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution). “[Neal] Thompson exhumes the sport’s Prohibition-era roots in this colorful, meticulously detailed history.”—Time Today’s NASCAR—equal parts Disney, Vegas, and Barnum & Bailey—is a multibillion-dollar conglomeration with 80 million fans, half of them women, that grows bigger and more mainstream by the day. Long before the sport’s rampant commercialism lurks a distant history of dark secrets that have been carefully hidden from view—until now. In the Depression-wracked South, with few options beyond the factory or farm, a Ford V-8 became the ticket to a better life. Bootlegging offered speed, adventure, and wads of cash. Driving with the Devil reveals how the skills needed to outrun federal agents with a load of corn liquor transferred perfectly to the red-dirt racetracks of Dixie. In this dynamic era (the 1930s and ’40s), three men with a passion for Ford V-8s—convicted felon Raymond Parks, foul-mouthed mechanic Red Vogt, and war veteran Red Byron, NASCAR’s first champ—emerged as the first stock car “team.” Theirs is the violent, poignant story of how moonshine and fast cars merged to create a sport for the South to call its own. In the tradition of Laura Hillenbrand’s Seabiscuit, this tale captures a bygone era of a beloved sport and the character of the country at a moment in time.

Download or read book Then Junior Said to Jeff written by Jim McLaurin and published by Triumph Books. This book was released on 2012-09-26 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of behind-the-scenes happenings from the history of the beloved stock car series shares stories of the great and the infamous, revealing privy insights into the drivers that fans thought they knew everything about. The book grants a glimpse into Buck Baker's tomato juice incident, how his son Buddy Baker landed face first in the mud on an ambulance stretcher, Dale Earnhardt's 1997 Daytona 500 rolling crash and how he famously went from ambulance to car to complete the race, Tony Stewart's realization that racing was the ideal career choice, and how Jeff Gordon "misplaced" his commemorative Richard Petty money clip. Race fans with allegiance to any era of NASCAR, past or present, will feel drawn into the inner circle of the drivers after sharing in these inside stories that are worth the telling.

Download or read book Real NASCAR written by Daniel S. Pierce and published by Univ of North Carolina Press. This book was released on 2010-04-01 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this history of the stock car racing circuit known as NASCAR, Daniel S. Pierce offers a revealing new look at the sport from its postwar beginnings on Daytona Beach and Piedmont dirt tracks through the early 1970s, when the sport spread beyond its southern roots and gained national recognition. Real NASCAR not only confirms the popular notion of NASCAR's origins in bootlegging, but also establishes beyond a doubt the close ties between organized racing and the illegal liquor industry, a story that readers will find both fascinating and controversial.

Download or read book The Wildest Ride written by Joe Menzer and published by Simon & Schuster. This book was released on 2002-06-04 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Wildest Ride, Joe Menzer gives us a timely, comprehensive look at the dramatic, rollicking history of stock-car racing in America, exploring both its inauspicious bootlegging beginnings and the billion-dollar industry that it has become. Menzer straps the reader into the driver's seat for a run through NASCAR's history, revealing the sport's remarkable rise from rogue outfit to corporate darling. Menzer also profiles the many superstar drivers who have dominated the sport, men as unpredictable as they are fearless, including "The Intimidator," Dale Earnhardt, whose ferocious driving made him NASCAR's signature personality -- and whose tragic death at the 2001 Daytona 500 was mourned by millions. Menzer expertly maneuvers through the tight corners and wide-open straightaways of NASCAR's history, examining the circuit's attempt to distance itself from its "redneck racin'" past without compromising its country roots. Simultaneously rowdy and insightful, The Wildest Ride is a thorough and unfailingly honest account of NASCAR's amazing rise to prominence and a sweeping account of a uniquely American phenomenon.

Download or read book Barney Hall s Tales From Trackside written by Barney Hall and published by Sports Publishing LLC. This book was released on 2006-05-26 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Barney Hall has been covering NASCAR racing since 1958. He was working in turn-three and had a birds-eye view of the finish between Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison when they had the fistfight at Daytona in 1979. He was close friends with David Pearson in the '70s and spent a lot of time flying with him. He also witnessed the unforgettable '76 Daytona finish between Richard Petty and Pearson. In Barney Hall's Tales from the Trackside, he reflects on many memorable stories, including Bill Elliott winning the Winston Million in 1985. At that time, it was unheard of for a stock car driver to win a million dollars.

Download or read book Earnhardt Nation written by Jay Busbee and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2016-02-16 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A colorful, fearless portrait of the larger-than-life first family of NASCAR, the Earnhardts, and the rise of the world’s fastest stock car racing organization. More than sixty years ago, Ralph Earnhardt toiled in a cotton mill in his native North Carolina to support his growing family. Weekends he could be found going pedal to the metal at the dirt tracks, taking on the competition in the early days of box car racing and becoming one of the best short-track drivers in the state. His son, Dale Earnhardt Sr., would become one of the greatest drivers of all time, and his grandson Dale Jr, would become NASCAR’s most popular driver of the 2000s. From a simple backyard garage, the Earnhardts reached the highest echelons of professional stock car racing and became the stuff of myth for fans. Earnhardt Nation is the story of this car racing dynasty and the business that would make them rich and famous—and nearly tear them apart. Covering all the white-knuckle races, including the final lap at the Daytona 500 that claimed the life of the Intimidator, Earnhardt Nation goes deep into the fast-paced world of NASCAR, its royal family’s obsession with speed, and their struggle with celebrity. Jay Busbee takes us deep inside the lives of these men and women who shaped NASCAR. He delves into their personal and professional lives, from failed marriages to rivalries large and small to complex and competitive father-son relationships that have reverberated through generations, and explores the legacy the Earnhardts struggle to uphold.

Download or read book Rally Car Racing written by Chris Bowman and published by Bellwether Media. This book was released on 2016-01-01 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winding roads, unpredictable weather, and high speeds give rally car racing its wild reputation. Drivers navigate through unfamiliar courses and slide around sharp corners to beat their competition. This action-packed book will stir up interest for even the most reluctant readers.

Download or read book Motocross Racing written by Jack David and published by Bellwether Media. This book was released on 2013-08-01 with total page 26 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Motocross racing has been growing in popularity since the 1950s. The technology and competitions have changed, but the fast-paced action has not. Students will learn about the history of motocross racing, the equipment required to race, and how competition works.

Download or read book Tales of Bristol Motor Speedway written by David McGee and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2011-06-07 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is known as the "World's Fastest Half-Mile."? For fifty years and counting, Bristol Motor Speedway has been home to some of the most exciting moments in NASCAR, and the track's history is nearly as exciting as the legendary races it has held. From humble beginnings, Bristol Motor Speedway grew to become one of the largest sporting coliseums in the world, with seating for 160, 000. Join author and veteran speedway insider David McGee as he goes behind the scenes to offer a collection of stories that will surprise even the most dedicated fans. Packed with never-before-published photos from the entire history of the track, Tales of Bristol Motor Speedway is a book no racing fan should be without.

Download or read book The Go Kart Race written by Rachel Bach and published by Amicus Readers. This book was released on 2016-07-01 with total page 16 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A photo-illustrated book for beginning readers that tells the story of a go-kart race. Who will win? Includes a photo diagram"--