Customer Reviews

Road to Daytona (Rolling Thunder Stock Car Racing)

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I just got finished reading "Rolling Thunder - Road to Daytona", the second book in the Rolling Thunder series.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It deals with 3 Tennessee racers who make it to the big time stock car racing world by running at the first Daytona race held at the Speedway.

The story kept my attention, and the history and characters, both real and fictional, held my interest.

I can't wait for #3.

I thought White Lightning was great, but the authors had to pack a lot into it to get to Jodell's first big race by the end of the book. With all that background out of the way, in Road to Daytona they can concentrate, for the most part, on the minute details of a single race. That level of detail really gives the reader the sense that they are there, watching the story unfold in front of them, instead of just reading words on a page.

This book particularly gave me insight into the tasks the pit crew has to do. Before, on the rare occasions that I would watch a race, I would think it wasn't that big a deal, filling a car with gas as fast as they could. Novice that I was, I couldn't understand why the tires needed to be changed so often, or the pressures the pit crews work under. Now, when I watch the race, I'm almost as fascinated watching the pit crews work as I am when the cars are on the track.

Just as welcome are the subplots dealing with the personal lives of the characters. Make no mistake: this is a series about stock car racing, but I find myself just as interested in seeing what happens to Jodell Lee and Cathy as I am in finding out who wins the race.

Finally, I appreciate the way the authors work in historical information about racing without seeming overly pedantic. They make it seem like part of the story, rather than shoehorning in a history lesson.

Overall, Rolling Thunder is a really fun series, and the authors promise that it'll just keep getting better.