Customer Reviews

Fuel and Guts: The Birth of Top Fuel Drag Racing

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

While the book is not written in a chronological format, it does give a truly unique observation of the beginnings and growth of the sport. By using interviews from the men that were there from the beginning,from the legend of the first drag race with Vic Edelbrock Snr. and Tom Cobb. To the shared memories of such luminaries as Don Garlits, Tom McEwen, Don Prudhomme, Tommy Ivo, Ed Pink, the elusive Floyd Lippencotte Jr,Ed "the Camfather" Iskenderian, and a host of others. You are told of the dangers and developments made in the quest to go faster and quicker down the quarter mile. The photography in itself is a treasure trove for any enthusiast of the sixties era.This book rates as one of the best books ever written on the subject. It is a must have in any drag racing fans collection.

This was one of the first projects I worked on when I joined the Motorbooks staff. A rather cranky guy named Tom Madigan called me on my first morning, looking for some photographs he had sent with a book proposal about a year earlier. I told him I hadn't been a Motorbooks employee back then, but I'd be happy to see if I could locate the missing pix. When I found them, I immediately took them to my new boss, explained the situation, made him look at the photos, and asked if they weren't some of the coolest old drag racing pictures he'd ever seen. Then, I called Tom back and told him I'd found the photos and could send them back right away, but I'd prefer to keep them because I wanted to do a book with him. Thus began a long, sometimes tedious, but ultimately insanely rewarding journey.

Those of you who have read the first edition (the second edition is being printed as I write this) might have noticed that Kent Fuller's name is mispelled pretty much throughout the book as "Ken Fuller." That was my doing. Before you start thinking I'm an idiot, turn to page 181 in the book and look at the cowl of Roland Leong's "Hawaiian" dragster. What does it say? That's right, it says "Ken." I saw this just before we sent the proofs to the printer. Now, I know that Kent Fuller's name is Kent Fuller, but there it was, right on Roland's car: Ken. I panicked. I thought I must have been wrong all these years. I looked in Dr. Bob Post's seminal book on Top Fuel racing, High Performance, and it reaffirmed what I had thought I knew to be true. Why, though, would Roland have painted the wrong spelling on his car? I called Tom, but he was out of his office. So I made an executive decision. The wrong one, it turned out. Okay, now that you know the whole story, you can go ahead and tell me I'm an idiot. (As an aside to this story, I saw Roland at a book signing Autobooks/Aerobooks in Los Angeles had for Fuel & Guts. I immediately informed him of the trouble he'd caused me. To this day, he maintains that he really thought it was Ken, not Kent. No, Roland wouldn't do anything like mispell somebody's name to get a rise out of the guy, would he? Not Roland! Who, by the way, is one of the nicest people I've ever met. Which either says something about him or the rest of the folk I've encountered in my life.)

So, the basic point I'm making here is that Fuel & Guts is an oral history. There are occasional mistakes, people misremember things (I mean, most of the people in the book are approaching their 200th birthday, for crying out loud), people have axes to grind or they just want to poke fun at their peers -- it's everything a good oral history should be, and it'll give you a really good idea of what it was like to create a brand new form of motorsport. If you couldn't be there yourself, reading these stories is the next best thing. I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of making this book, from working with Tom Madigan to meeting a few of the drag-racing heroes of my youth. It was a labor of love, and, judging from all the nice reviews, it sure has paid off. Thanks to all of you for making it possible. Now quit reading this stuff and buy the book. You'll like it.

I got this book for my husband for xmas. He reads it almost nightly and is always reading me exerpts from the true stories of drag racing's legends. The pictures are awesome too.THANKS FOR A GREAT BOOK. HE LOVES IT!!!

This is a great book for anyone interested in the history of drag racing. Great stories, pictures and technical information. Brings you back to when drag racing was raw and gutsy. Makes you want to get out on the track (again?). Good for the novice and the old timers!

this was a gift for my husband and he says it is a great book....shipping was fast and received in excellent condition.....he would highly recommend this book

A coffee table sized book with lots of great photos that tells the history of drag racing from the late 40's-early 50's up 'til around 2005. It has chapters on Don Garlits, Iskendarian and Tony Nancy, among others. This is a quality book in all respects...

Bought this book for a true fan!! Thank goodness I gave it to him last on Christmas. He hasn't put it down since he opened it.

Bought this for my boyfriend... He loved it. Good for guys/girls that are really into the history of drag racing. Great pictures and lots of information

I love this book. It takes me back to a time when you could weld some tubes together, drop in an engine , pour in some nitromethane, and run it out. These are the stories of legendary men and women of our time that made history on the asphalt strips of California. There will never be a time again of such pure simplicity of art expressed in men and machines.

The title "Fuel and Guts" says it all. It's all about guys strapped into frame rails, feet against clutch cans, flames from headers, smoking tires and chutes blossoming at top end as told by the heroes themselves.