Customer Reviews

My Life in the Pits: Living and Learning on the NASCAR Winston Cup Circuit

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This book should be a movie. On the other hand, though, I don't know that Hollywood could film these stories as well as Ronda Rich tells them. I read this book first then my husband kidnapped it. It is the first time we ever both loved the same book! And love it, we did. It is thoroughly entertaining and she does just as Richard Childress promises in his foreword --- she opens her heart and takes you inside to view firsthand her life as a young girl in a world dominated by men. This story is much, much bigger than just about racing --- it's about the lessons of life which are often fun and joyous but also sad and hurtful. The spin on this book is very positive and while I enjoyed every minute that I spent reading it, what I really enjoyed was the lingering feeling of warmth and good humor that it left with me for days after I finished reading it. This book is filled with heroic tales of life, tales that will entice and charm you. For the record, the author is one of those heroes. She chose to peel open her heart and share her most intimate feelings and failures. Thank you for that. I've just ordered her first book, What Southern Women Know, but I don't know how she could possibly top My Life In The Pits. Hollywood, are you listening?

I enjoyed this book immensely. In fact, this is one of the few books I have ever read, and I am an avid reader, that I read from cover to cover in one sitting. I could not put it down. I enjoy NASCAR racing, and Ronda Rich's book brings it to life. When we see celebrities and sports stars on television, they seem almost unreal, but "My Life in the Pits" shows a side of the most famous names in NASCAR that makes you feel you know them personally.

The book is divided into individual chapters on various experiences and stories that Ms. Rich had during her time as a sports journalist on the Winston Cup Circuit. There are some great stories on Dale Earnhardt, Richard Childress, Bill Elliott, Mark Martin, Richard Petty, and a really great chapter on the women behind the men in racing plus much more. Some of the stories will have you rolling in the floor laughing while others will bring a tear to your eye.

Ms. Rich is a wonderful storyteller and has a knack for making you feel you are actually there watching when these stories unfold. I read her first book, "What Southern Women Know That Every Women Should Know", and I loved it, but this one is even better. Ms. Rich is a female Lewis Grizzard, and you will love her true to life stories whether you are a NASCAR fan or not.

I was listening to our local sports radio talk show one afternoon when Ronda Rich came on. After listening to her talk about her latest book (My Life In The Pits), I decided to give it a try. The old adage `don't judge a book by its cover' is so true with this book. I am not a NASCAR fan by any stretch of the imagination, and I must admit I had preconceived ideas about the book. I thought at the very least, the book would give me a greater understanding of NASCAR.

I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised by it's content. The book is not so much about NASCAR, or the sport of racing. Rather it's about the men who make up NASCAR. It's was a joy to read about the human side of these men and the encouragement they provide by the way they have handled success, happiness, overcome failure, hardships and tragedy.

How these men and their families stayed grounded through the success, stepped up to face each challenge, each setback and even heartbreaking tragedy shows the true character of these people, its encouraging, inspiration and can teaches us all a little something.

I enjoyed reading about the intense competitiveness of these men, and surprise by their willing to help a fellow competitor, who was low on cash, buy tires for a race by reaching into their own pockets to help him out. What other sport would you find that in?

This book is filled with wonderful stories that show the character of these men that make them so admired by their fans! When all is said and done, it is the drives who are the heart of this sport and their families are their heartbeat. NASCAR could not have become the number 1 spectator sport without them. Weather you like NASCAR or not, you'll enjoy reading about these men, their families and their ride through life. And if you are lucky, you'll learn a few valuable lessons from how they dealt with life's ups and downs.

I'm glad I took the chance on this book. I was wonderfully surprised by how much I enjoyed it and would highly recommended it. Don't be surprised if you find this book hard to put down!

I recently had the opportunity to hear Ronda Rich speak about her new book, My Life In The Pits. I was compelled by her stories filled with humor and strong lessons learned by a young girl in a man's world. I'll admit that I was a fan of hers before I read the book because of the warmth and kindness she showed to each person she met after the event was over. I was impressed. I was more impressed after I read this lovely book. It's so different from any book I've ever read but so entertaining and heart lifting. She finishes each chapter with a moral or a lesson learned from that particular person or event. I found the book to be well thought out and extremely heartfelt. I don't think I could have laid my heart out in such a vulnerable way as she did. But I'm thankful she did. Thanks to her courage and openness, the readers of My Life In The Pits are well rewarded with a honest, heart touching, smile tugging look of a young girl and her heroes.

Having read Ronda's first book, I knew she was a talented writer with great stories to tell. Being a NASCAR fan, I knew that this was going to be a good book. I was not dirappointed!

The book is written in 27 short, easy-to-read chapters; each having a wonderful story about the legends of the sport. Each chapter also concludes with Ronda's life-lesson learned as a result of the events described. Once I began reading it, I lost a lot of sleep staying up into the night reading.

There are fascinating stories about Bill Elliott, Dale Earnhardt, Michael Waltrip, Bobby Allison, Ken Schrader, Alan Kulwicki, and Tim Richmond (a name many newcomers don't know, but know about--this is the life portrayed by Tom Cruise in "Days of Thunder"). As a reluctant newcomer to NASCAR, Ronda quickly became an avid fan and supporter of the sport while covering it as a sportswriter and then as a promoter for the manufacturers.

This book is a "must read" for any fans of the sport.

This book has had the most profound impact on my life. At the time that I began to read this book, I had all but given up on myself and a goal that I had set out to accomplish about a year ago. This goal took me miles away from my friends and family, and at first I was dead set on acheiving it. But, after many setbacks and rejections, I was ready to call it quits. In reading Ms. Rich's book, I decided that the last thing I was going to do was quit. Her book is filled with such touching stories involving the greatest race car drivers, and also with wise advice following. This is not just a book that gives a glimpse behind-the-scenes of Winston Cup racing, but that also shares life lessons that Ms. Rich learned along the way. It takes not only a talented author, but a strong person, to be able to share such emotion and passion. I would recommend this book to anyone, NASCAR fan or not. It is a book I will not ever forget reading, and I cannot express my gratitude enough to the author for what it has done for me as a person. If you're looking for a book about your favorite drivers, this is it. If you're looking for a book about the good times and hard times in life, this is it. If you are looking for a book without any emotion, without a clear voice, without any meaning to it, this book is not for you.

I'm still laughing over some of the stories in this book like the one where the author who is tricked by Bobby Allison into writing about "muffler bearings". This book hit me just right --- a strong mix of expert storytelling, emotion and inspiration. Don't be misled into thinking this book is just fluff and light hearted glimpses into the inside life of stock car racing. Each chapter is primarily a parable and results in increasing a young girl's education in life. These are ordinary lessons from an ordinary life and that's what I found enormously appealing about My Life In The Pits. It was on a common level so these could happen to anyone. I imagined myself in each of these stories which is often what the reader likes to do.

I particularly enjoyed reading of how this sport of enormous popularity grew up out of the moonshine runners of the Southeast. That chapter --- From Moonshine To The Sunshine --- was one of my favorites and gives terrific insight into the roots of racing.

Here's another thing I liked about this book --- the author, it seems, goes to great lengths not to disparage anyone. Although she doesn't hesitate to make fun of herself and make herself the center of the joke and embarrassment, she is very kind and and flattering about others. I, for one, am tired of seeing heroes mocked and belittled. You won't find any of that in this book. If anything, these heroes are bigger and bolder than ever. Thank goodness.

I soundly enjoyed this book. So much so that I'm reading it again and have three friends waiting in line to borrow it.

Ronda Rich's "life in the pits" of NASCAR racing is anything but that. This book will lift you higher.

I've never been to a NASCAR race in my life, but I certainly know a whole lot about the rat race of life in general. Ronda's book gave me lots of little gems of wisdom I can take and apply to that race and, hopefully, run it better, run it with more satisfaction. I'm talking about gems like measuring success on our own terms instead of society's. Or the gem of learning to make a life verses make a living. Or the one about the way you die sometimes is more important than the way you live. Then there's my favorite -- we all have the power to choose between two powers in our lives, self-elevation and self-destruction.

I could keep going. But let me stop and say, "Thank you, Ronda Rich, for writing this book and doing so with such honesty and bravery."

Go buy this book. Lift yourself higher.

From the outset let me make two things clear-I am not a NASCAR fan, and this book is not about NASCAR. At least not about the sport, it is about the people who make up the NASCAR family. It is written by an insider, and a young woman who was a pioneer in the sport as a female reporter. She has intimate knowledge of the racing scene, but more importantly she shares her knowledge of the characters who make up NASCAR. Ms. Rich learned many lessons from these people and through this wonderful book has shared them with us. She has come to understand what makes these fearless sportmen tick in this dangerous field (of the five gentlemen pictured on the back of the dust cover, two are dead and one lost a son to a racing accident.) Her perspective as a sportswriter, promoter, friend, and confident gives a unique view of the "characters" who populate this growing American sport.
I'm glad I don't own a bookstore. I wouldn't be able to decide whether to put this book in the sports or inspiration section. Perhaps it deserves a place in both.

I got this book for Christmas and could not stop reading it. Just as someone else has already said, when you are done reading it, you will wish there was more. I am an aspiring motorsports public relations lady, and Ronda's book is hands-down the most insightful book about the "inside" of this sport that I have read. Her point of view is different from most writers, in a very refreshing way! If you are new to the sport, or a fan for life, this book will turn you on to the sport, or let you in on a special side of the lifestyle you already know and love. I want to thank Ronda for being so helpful to me, and sending some much needed advice my way. I would recommend this book to anyone that has ever wanted to experience "life in the pits."