Customer Reviews

Postcards from Pit Road: Inside NASCAR's 2002 Season

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The green flag drops with an up close and personal visit with
NASCAR's 2002 Champion, Tony Stewart. You learn what makes him
happiest and what brings tears to his eyes from the sportswriter
who knows him best. You will tour the country for 36 weeks with
all the racing greats. Away from the tracks you fly with the US
Air Force in Nevada and experience country music in Texas. Buckle
up, hold on and enjoy the trip. With down to earth and descriptive writing you will feel as though you made the journey
yourself. The checkered flag drops with the last chapter only
to make you long for more. Hopefully he is pounding the keys
with one for this year.

If you are looking for a detailed summary of the 2002 NASCAR season, here it is. But beware that an insider's look this is not. I don't believe there is a driver quote in the entire book that wasn't spoken into a microphone, either from just after a race or the post race press conference. And even that material is sanitized. We all know most of these guys don't know a WAS from an IS from a WERE, and that includes the TV commentators, but Mr. Dutton has these gentlemen ripping off lines like a CNN talking head. This was the year Sterling Marlin had that amazing run and led the points for much of it. This is how Sterling talks: "We was real good and done a two tire. She gone haywire there at the end. Wore out." But coming from the author's laptop - by the way, most folks don't refer to a yellow legal pad and pencil as a laptop - he comes off like Wolf Blitzer. All the quotes are couched in an ambiguous time and local to protect the author's image of shooting pool and doing shots with the boys to get the story. I just found that irritating. There is the obligatory cutting NASCAR for creating rules but no instance of a better idea to replace the rule. So we tear from track to track, getting post race driver interviews, which is all right, but a bit tedious by the time its over. What we don't get is the inside track, real personalities, real drama, heartbreak, joy, triumph, the smoke and roar of stock car racing. The author has a nice perspective and sense of humor, and if he digs deep and writes an epic, all fans will appreciate it.

I really enjoyed this book. It was insightful and interesting. I've read several other books that are supposed to be "stories about NASCAR" and have been disappointed in what they presented, but not in this one.

I felt that Mr. Dutton wrote fairly about the people involved and that he wasn't biased in his opinions. Since I follow NASCAR regularly, the stories made me recall the 2002 season and added to my enjoyment of these recollections.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes NASCAR.