Customer Reviews

Little Bit Sideways: One Week Inside a Nascar Winston Cup Race Team

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I lived in the South all my life, always aware of NASCAR, watching races every now and then. Even so, I haven't tuned into to a NASCAR race in probably 25 years. Because of this book, I will when the next season starts.

One can truly begin to understand the mystique of NASCAR after reading A Little Bit Sideways. Scott Huler's obvious love for the material really shines through. His writing transforms what, in lesser hands, could have been a dry and boring recitation of minute details into an interesting and compelling human interest story.

Read it. You won't be disappointed.

If you want to read one book about NASCAR, I recommend this one. Not because it's a hand-holding introduction, but because it's the best. It just does such a great job describing so many aspects of NASCAR. The organizing principle of the book is to examine a week in the life of Kenny Wallace's Square D Racing Team, but along the way, the author looks at NASCAR's personalities, history, technology, tracks, and fans. Huler has a real flair for description, and a genuine but not fawning affection for the sport.

I've also read Shaun Assael's "Wide Open" and Paul Hemphill's "Wheels," which are similar in many ways but to my mind are both inferior. Assael's book seemed flat compared to Huler's, though fans of Dave Marcis and Bobby Hamilton may enjoy the coverage that those drivers receive in "Wide Open." Hemphill's book spent a lot of time on a thesis that I soon found repetitively handled: NASCAR was once the province of the Southern working man but is now corporate entertainment. Both Assael and Hemphill follow NASCAR for a whole season and seem to get bored with it. Huler stays focused on a shorter timespan to much better effect.

I've read some more technical approaches to NASCAR as well, and found that Huler almost always snuck the information in those books into "A Little Bit Sideways."

Although I find this the best introduction to NASCAR because it's so engaging to read and so comprehensive in the bargain, those who are interested in learning more about NASCAR might also try "NASCAR for Dummies" by Mark "Awesome!" Martin and Juliet Macur. That book lacks Huler's style and story-line, but it does have a lot of interesting information about NASCAR, including some tidbits on strategy and technology that I haven't seen elsewhere.

I loved this book! It taught me a lot about what goes on in one week of a racing team.I always respect what the drivers have to do-but I also gained a new respect for the hard working pit crew!This is a must have book for Nascar fans!

If you think NASCAR racing is just a Sunday afternoon chase-your-tail, READ THIS BOOK. If you think all the driver has to do is point and shoot, READ THIS BOOK. If you lay on the couch watching a pitcrew perform on TV and say "I can do that", READ THIS BOOK. Sure, you've watched Jeff, Dale, Rusty & Mark in interviews always thanking the crew back at the shop, and this book is why. What about the teams that don't have big sponsors, millions to spend, teammates to run with and winning drivers to thank them all on TV? They struggle furiously with raw talent, determination, grit and total faith. These little teams are the underdog in every battle, but they are the majority of what makes NASCAR racing interesting. Like "Rocky" or "Rudy", you just pull for them 110%. What a ride...

The author is a gifted writer who captures the essence of NASCAR by focusing on one week in the life of a small, struggling team. Most books about racing are a boring slog through a season of races - or a career of races - that focus on the heroic deeds of the hero drives with a subplot about the stoic crew chief is the genius who keeps it all together.

This book illustrates nicely how less can be more. By focusing on two races in a single week, the author can cover numerous aspects of NASCAR -qualifying, sponsor relations, race track promotion, car set-up, team finances, team members, fans, etc. - without having to create a season long storyline to tie it all together. Brilliant.

Any author who can compare NASCAR fans to Deadheads and explain NASCAR's popularity by comparing it to baseball's place in the popular culture of the early 20th century deserves to be read.

and now I feel like I could drive it. This is the book that lays it all out in a logical order, explains the terms, the rules and the strategies while taking you on an emotional rollercoaster ride. Will the car qualify for the race? You can feel the tension because for that week Huler lived it. This isn't a book full of old stories that drivers told a writer - this is an observation, full of detail - it's good old particaptory journalism like Plimpton wrote, talking to (and about) everyone from the owners and spnsors to the fans and the scalpers. What a great book!

Of all the books that profess to take you behind the scenes of a typical race team, this is the most engaging and interesting. As a die-hard fan of the sport, I have read most such books and they are generally either written by writers who aren't fans or fans who aren't writers, whereas this writer clearly is both. He manages to make the mundane interesting; perhaps the most dramatic part of the book is the second round qualifying attempt.

I have no interest what-so-ever in NASCAR. However, I recognized Scott Huler from a former life and had to pick up the book when I spotted it at Borders. Mr. Huler is an excellent writer who manages to bring his readers to the scene of his subject matters. He makes anything he writes sound interesting. I hope that Mr. Huler continues to write more, and would read anything he writes! I wish him success in his book. A must-read if you're into NASCAR, or just looking for a good read!

This is a fabulous account of what a smaller race team goes through just to be there every week. Though some of the racing rules are outdated (qualifying procedure has changed, among others)the story is still fresh and relevant.

I'd never heard of NASCAR, never wanted to know anything about it. But when I heard a short reading by Huler (the writer) from this book, I had to buy/read it. His writing could be on any topic: ice, dirt, race cars... it's just facinating in an accessable, fun, fast read. I'll read anything he writes now, and gain an appreciation of worlds I never knew. Great read. I just may join the 200,000 on site NASCAR fans next year because of it!