With more than 75 million fans, NASCAR® is one of the world's most popular sports. Racing Broadcaster John Roberts tracks down the answers to the pressing questions, such as: What are the fastest tracks on the circuit? Who had the longest winning streak? What were the longest races? Who are the best female drivers of all time? And many more. Each list has an introductory paragraph followed by a number of ranked entries, each featuring a brief explanation of ranking plus entertaining and informative background information. Also included are original lists contributed exclusive to this book by top personalities from the world of NASCAR®, including Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson, Greg Biffle, and more.
Each week of the racing season produces new excitement for the drivers and fans of NASCAR. Some weeks have produced the kind of heart-stopping moments that etch a race into the hearts and minds of fans. Those are the great races. The races featured in this book are stops along a time line that has spanned five decades of an American tradition. From the formative days on the hard-packed dirt tracks to the modern era of the superspeedway, every race has unfolded with its own unique story. NASCAR polled drivers, members of the media, and fans to select the twenty-five greatest NASCAR races. The resulting NASCAR Greatest Races is a panorama of the NASCAR experience. There are fabulous finishes, amazing comebacks, classic duels, and transforming milestones. Events such as the Rayson Memorial of 1948, NASCAR's first race, and the 1979 Daytona 500, the first NASCAR race shown live wire-to-wire on network television, helped shape NASCAR's history. The spotlight has fallen on individual drivers such as Dale Earnhardt, Bill Elliott, and Jeff Gordon, rivalries like that between Richard Petty and David Pearson, or photo finishes like the one that confirmed Lee Petty's victory in the inaugural Daytona 500 of 1959. NASCAR Greatest Races pairs more than one hundred full-color and black-and-white action-packed, historic shots with eyewitness accounts and personal reflections from the actors in this revved-up arena. The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing begins its second half-century as the fastest growing major spectator sport in the United States. Nearly six million people attended NASCAR Winston Cup Series races in 1998 and more than 150 million watched the action on television. NASCAR also sanctions twelve other touring series as well as races at more than 130 tracks throughout the nation.
Americans love heroes. And NASCAR 50 Greatest Drivers showcases NASCAR's exciting heroes through bold photography and interviews that deliver a unique insight into the lives of these legends of stock car racing. As part of its 50th anniversary celebration, NASCAR polled a group of motorsports experts to select the fifty drivers whose achievements both span and epitomize NASCAR's first half-century of accomplishment and growth. These are the top NASCAR drivers--selected as the best of all NASCAR divisions dating back to the first NASCAR-sanctioned races in 1948. From pioneer drivers racing on the Daytona Beach-Road Course and dirt ovals to today's era of flashy colors and screaming engines running on speedways across the nation--here is the lineage of NASCAR's very best. Some drivers had long and storied careers. Others had brief but spectacular ones. All are legends. "These are the drivers who made and make NASCAR fans stand on their feet and cheer. These are the drivers who made NASCAR history." -- NASCAR President, Bill France, Jr. Since its founding in 1947, the France family has built NASCAR (the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) from a small, family-run racing organization into a $2-billion-a-year industry--the leader in motorsports entertainment. Today, over 5.5 million people a year attend NASCAR Winston Cup Series races and nearly 150 million watch the action on television. "Looking back, I think the days of Petty and Pearson were very special for the sport. They became heroes to an awful lot of people, many of whom weren't car racing fans. They opened doors for the sport and welcomes the rest of us." -- Darrell Waltrip "These are the men who define the competition of our sporty." -- NASCAR President, Bill France, Jr. Their battles brought attention to NASCAR--their character and grit brought attention to themselves. Now, NASCAR 50 Greatest Drivers celebrated the men who set the standards and established the traditions: Pioneers, including Herb Thomas, Buck Baker, Tim Flock, Junior Johnson, Lee Petty, and NASCAR's first champion--Red Byron. Challengers like Cotton Owens, Ralph Earnhardt, and LeeRoy Yarbrough. Giants Richards Petty, David Pearson, Bobby Allison, and Ray Henrick. The New Generation--A.J. Foyt, Neil Bonnnett, Benny Parsons, and Darrell Waltrip. Future Legends, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Bill Elliott, and Rusty Wallace. And many more! All captures here, as NASCAR honors its past and present--the greatest drivers to ever strap themselves into a stock car!
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.
An exciting new NASCAR series for the youngest of racing fans. Introduce your children to the early basic concepts through the exciting world of NASCAR in this officially licensed NASCAR series.
From the earliest days of the sport, when Humpy often used his fists to keep order, to NASCAR's transition to a multi-billion-dollar business, Humpy's life has paralleled American stock car racing.
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.
With loyal fans supporting their major sports teams in the Seahawks (NFL), Mariners (MLB) - plus a rabid fan base for University of Washington jocks - Seattle is a great place for a sports debate. Local sports-radio talker Mike Gastineau teams up with longtime sportswriters Steve Rudman and Art Thiel to bring Seattle sports history to life with this provocative and enjoyable - not to mention debatable - book of lists. They also enlist list contributions by famous players, coaches, and Seattle celebrities including Mike Holmgren, Matt Hasselbeck, Ichiro Suzuki, George Karl, Pearl Jam, Kevin Calabro, Sir Mix-a-Lot, and more.
Racecar driver Earnhardt was at the top of his game—until a minor crash resulted in a concussion that would eventually end his 18-year career. In his only authorized book, Dale shares the inside track on his life and work, reflects on NASCAR, the loss of his dad, and his future as a broadcaster, businessperson, and family man. It was a seemingly minor crash at Michigan International Speedway in June 2016 that ended the day early for NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr. What he didn’t know was that it would also end his driving for the year. He’d dealt with concussions before, but no two are the same. Recovery can be brutal, and lengthy. When Dale retired from professional stock car racing in 2017, he walked away from his career as a healthy man. But for years, he had worried that the worsening effects of multiple racing-related concussions would end not only his time on the track but his ability to live a full and happy life. Torn between a race-at-all-costs culture and the fear that something was terribly wrong, Earnhardt tried to pretend that everything was fine, but the private notes about his escalating symptoms that he kept on his phone reveal a vicious cycle: suffering injuries on Sunday, struggling through the week, then recovering in time to race again the following weekend. In this candid reflection, Earnhardt opens up for the first time about: The physical and emotional struggles he faced as he fought to close out his career on his own terms His frustration with the slow recovery from multiple racing-related concussions His admiration for the woman who stood by him through it all His determination to share his own experience so that others don’t have to suffer in silence Steering his way to the final checkered flag of his storied career proved to be the most challenging race and most rewarding finish of his life.
