Real Men Work in the Pits: A Life in NASCAR Racing [Hardcover]

Jeff Hammond (Author), Geoff Norman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 23, 2004

A fascinating perspective on the sport of racing-a rare firsthand view from the pit, where races are won and lost, by the most successful crew chief in NASCAR® history.

With an astonishing 43 checkered flags and three Winston Cup championships, Jeff Hammond is in the record books as one of NASCAR®'s all-time great crew chiefs. Today, with his expert race analysis for Fox and his weekly cable show, Totally NASCAR®, for the Speed Channel, he remains one of auto racing's most recognizable figures, mobbed by fans wherever he goes.

In Real Men Work in the Pits, Hammond recalls the thrilling moments of his life in racing: starting out as a tire changer for Walter Ballard in 1974 and quickly becoming one of the best jackmen in the business, serving on all three of driver Cale Yarborough's championship seasons, and then taking over as crew chief during the glory days of legendary driver Darrell Waltrip. The stories Hammond tells about his life in NASCAR® and the greats he has known are funny and, sometimes, tragic. He has strong opinions about the current state of the sport and pulls no punches as he offers his insights about the past 30 years when the sport grew so phenomenally from a regional obsession to a national pastime.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While many NASCAR drivers have told their stories of life on and off the track, Hammond is the first to offer a glimpse of life in the pits. A crew chief for the famed driver Junior Johnson and, later, Darrell Waltrip, Hammond grew up listening to the roar of stock car engines and the smell of burning rubber at the nearby Charlotte, N.C., Speedway. When he was 12, he was working on cars with his father; by the time he graduated from high school, he'd joined the Johnson team. In lively prose, Hammond narrates a dynamic tale of working in the pits; the aggressive competition between drivers; the sometimes illegal maneuvers drivers use to win; and the changes the sport has undergone since the early 1970s, when Hammond entered that world. Hammond reflects on his close friendship with the late Dale Earnhardt as well as on the rivalries between early drivers like Johnson and Fireball Roberts. He also charts NASCAR's evolution, from its dirt track origins to its current place as the second most popular sport in America. Although Hammond no longer works in the pits, he continues to be involved in NASCAR racing as its most knowledgeable and savvy radio and television broadcaster. His hard-driving book offers a valuable history of the sport.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Racing is all about chemistry. Hammond and I had it. We were always on the same page. Sometimes I was on the front page though, and he was on the back page!"--Darrell Waltrip

"Jeff Hammond has been around racing for a long time--almost as long as me--and he has seen a lot. He's had a lot of success down in the pits where races are won, and he has a lot of stories to tell--some good, some bad--and they are all right here, in this terrific book." --Richard Petty

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Rodale Books (December 23, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594861617
• ISBN-13: 978-1594861611
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,842,997 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but a bit shallow, February 11, 2005

By 

John Standiford (Cypress, California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Real Men Work in the Pits: A Life in NASCAR Racing (Hardcover)

Some people really know how to market themselves. During the last few years, Jeff Hammond has went from being a succesful NASCAR crew chief to TV anlayst, pitchman, professional wrestler, rodeo competitor and now book author. This man has quite an agent!

As for the new book, there's not a lot of new ground. Although Hammond claims that he is willing to speak out and criticize NASCAR when necessary, there is very little commentary in the book about anything.

Along the way he provides a number of interesting stories regarding his relationships and experiences with people such as Junior Johnson and Darrell Waltrip but it is merely a recounting of his career with little detail and insight. What I found somewhat surprising is that Hammond spent his last year as a crew chief working with Kurt Busch and for Jack Roush. That was Busch's rookie season and he is now Nextel Cup Champ, but you won't get to learn a single thing about what the new champ is like from reading this book and very little about car owner Roush who has now won two championships in a row.

It's written well and an easy read but not a great literary work. The good news is that Hammond is likable, the stories are interesting and it's probably worth the three hours or so that it will take to read this book. That being said, Waltrip's recent book is much more detailed and more worthy of your attention. The even better news is that Hammond will remain on Fox covering NASCAR where he is one of the best in broadcast analysis of the sport.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Interesting Insight Into The Life Of Jeff Hammond In Racing, May 6, 2006

By 

NASCARLadybug (TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Real Men Work in the Pits : A Life in NASCAR Racing (Hardcover)

I started reading this book when I went to bed and couldn't put it down until it was finished. Jeff writes about his father racing dirt tracks and how he worked with his uncle on his dad's race car at the age of 12. From those days, he and his brother went on to build cars on their own and get drivers to drive for them. This led to Jeff putting aside his dream for playing college football and become involved with Junior Johnson's team working his way up the ranks to Crew Chief.
I found it interesting to read about the relationship Junior had with his workers and the respect that was held for him.
There are many neat personal stories about Cal Yarbrough, Junior Johnson and many pages about the relationship Darrell Waltrip had with Jeff before and after becoming his crew chief.
The underlying thread in this book from my perspective was the loyalty Jeff had for his family, Junior, teammates and friends. I really enjoyed the book and hope someday to meet Jeff in person.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thirty Years Behind the Scenes, February 10, 2005

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Real Men Work in the Pits: A Life in NASCAR Racing (Hardcover)

If there is any sport that is team oriented but where the team gets almost no recognition it's NASCAR racing. The driver gets all the glory, the kisses of the pretty girls, the photographs holding the trophy.

This book is a story of almost thirty years of being in the crew, a lot of years as the jack man. I've always thoought that the jack man had just about the hardest job of them all -- those jacks are heavy, they've got to be positioned right, and they've got to be moved fast. I guess that's a good place to start, because from there he went on to become one of the more successful crew chiefs in the business.

The book is one that will delight NASCAR fans. It's the inside story of what goes on behind the scenes, it's what you have to do to win races, it's the people who were there during the time when NASCAR was moving from the small unknown side aspect of racing to the big time national sport that it is today.

It is the stories of the people that make this such an enjoyable book.