Customer Reviews

NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport

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As a diehard NASCAR fan, I bought this book mainly for the pictures, and I wasn't disappointed. There are some great shots, especially of the early days of the sport. However, I found that the accompanying text wasn't as informative as I would like; the content defintiely seems to have been filtered by the "NASCAR censors," as there is nothing controversial or that could possibly be interpreted as negative about the sport. I recommend Monte Dutton's AT SPEED: Up Close and Personal with the People Places and Fans of NASCAR if you are looking for a real, true, warts-and-all view of America's favorite sport. However, Mike Hembree's book makes a pretty coffee table decoration, and is a nice tribute at the beginning of a milennium.

Great photos of the early days of NASCAR and of today's events, but not much from "the middle years". Background reference material is well thought out and organized and is easy to read. Very entertaining overall but I would have appreciated a better description of the evolution of the cars and how the sport transitioned from racing jallopies purchased at used car lots to today's purpose-built machines that resemble the family's Pontiac in appearance only. In fact, the book seems to gloss over the 70's and 80's as quickly as it took Richard Petty to capture his first 10 victories (he would reach the history-making 200 victory mark in the 1980's). Instead, most of the focus is on the leadership of Bill France in taking the sport through the early days of dirt tracks and leather helmets and then re-focuses on RJ Reynolds' sponsorship and the France family's positioning the organization as a high-visibility corporate billboard (not that there's anything wrong with that - its the American way). It also doesn't really delve into the tragedies of NASCAR drivers, such as the deaths of Petty, Allison, and others who died at the tracks.

Still, its a good starting point for understanding NASCAR's history and makes for good entertainment, even for folks who don't really follow automobile racing.

I bought this book several years ago as a gift to myself. There is alot of history in the pages of this book. A must read for any fan of NASCAR.