Flat Out and Half Turned Over: Tales from Pit Road with Buddy Baker [Hardcover]

Buddy Baker (Author), David Poole (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 4, 2002

In Tales from Pit Road, 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 from the very drivers, owners, crew chiefs, and pit crew that make up the heart and soul of stock car racing.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Baker began racing cars at age 18 until the early 90s when he becam a NASCAR color commentator for CBS Sports.

David Poole has been a motorsports writer for the Charlotte Observer since 1997, traveling around the country more than 30 weekends a year covering NASCAR's top series and teams. He is the author of several books on NASCAR, including Flat Out and Half Turned Over: Tales from Pit Road with Buddy Baker, Race With Destiny: The Race That Changed NASCAR Forever and Tim Richmond: The Fast and Remarkable Times of NASCAR?S Top Gun.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: Sports Publishing LLC (October 4, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582613907
• ISBN-13: 978-1582613901
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,173,174 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Buddy Baker's Memories, October 28, 2007

By 

Winslow Bunny "Winslow_Bunny" (Rockledge, Florida United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flat Out and Half Turned Over: Tales from Pit Road with Buddy Baker (Hardcover)

Buddy Baker's "Flat Out and Half Turned Over: Tales from Pit Road" is a chronological rememberance of a time when NASCAR moved from a regional non-sponsored organization to the time when the corporate interests of NASCAR started to take over. Baker, son of the famed Buck Baker, tells stories of when drivers were human enough to play practical jokes on each other, have knock-down, drag-out fights if they had an altercation on the track, and then get drunk together that night when all was forgotten. In today's big-money sanitized stock car racing world, this activity seems like ancient history, if it is recalled at all.

As a driver and a TV commentator, most of these stories have been told and retold before, although they are still interesting. Two of the less-mentioned chapters of Baker's stories are 1) why he had to retire (serious medical injuries, which were a testament to his build and strength), and 2) how significantly the NASCAR landscape would look if three drivers (Davey Allison, Alan Kulwicki and Tim Richmond) had lived. This is a point that I had considered in my own thinking as a race fan; life's coming and going is what it is and we don't have a say in that, but these three bright stars in NASCAR would have made the sport look much different over the past 15 years if they had the opportunity to compete.

Buddy Baker's book, to his critics, is not "War And Peace" or Shakespere, but it never claimed to be. It is simply an interesting book about simpler times; stories about how men raced hard for a living so they could support their families and how Buddy Baker made his way in this world. It's good to have recorded and read a book like this, before NASCAR and its drivers become too close to the America that the corporate world loves and individuality disappears.

5.0 out of 5 stars Flat Out and Half Turned Over: Tales from Pit Road with Buddy Baker, February 6, 2010

By 

Priscilla Evans (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Flat Out and Half Turned Over: Tales from Pit Road with Buddy Baker (Hardcover)

Great book. Easy and fast read. A lot of interesting NASCAR history for buffs.

5.0 out of 5 stars Flat Out Hilarious !!!, June 11, 2008

By 

NAVYDAVY - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flat Out and Half Turned Over: Tales from Pit Road with Buddy Baker (Hardcover)

11 JUNE 2008

I JUST RECV'D THIS BOOK. IT SHOULD HAVE A GREAT BIG WARNING ACROSS THE FRONT OF IT; "NO EATING OR DRINKING WHILE READING THIS" !!!! THOUGHT I WAS GONNA DIE LAUGHING!!! IF YOU ARE A FAN OF OLD DIRT TRACK RACING & OR THE EARLY DAYS OF NASCAR, YOU'LL LUV IT !!! IF YOU'RE NOT A FAN, AFTER YOU READ THIS, YOU WILL BE!!!,,,, OR YOU'RE JUST PLAIN NUMB !!! BUDDY IS A HOOT !!!