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

~ (Author) "Rain. Sunday morning, race day-and rain..." (more)
Key Phrases: hooligan race, souvenir trailers, pit road speed, Winston Cup, Kenny Wallace, Jeff Gordon (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"It may be the best presentation of racing I've come across in over 50 years of involvement." -- Bob Latford, The Inside Line Newsletter

Product Description

Beginning with a race on one Sunday and concluding with the race on the following Sunday, A Little Bit Sideways follows a typical NASCAR team throughout the week to uncover its inner workings, from the minute changes that affect the cars performance to the teams interaction in putting together a winning (or losing) effort.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Motorbooks (March 8, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760304556
• ISBN-13: 978-0760304556
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #668,161 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended for fan and non fan, alike, December 15, 1999

By	Henry Vogel "Storyteller" (Raleigh, NC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of the bunch!, September 28, 2000

By	"johnsetear" (Charlottesville, VA USA) - See all my reviews

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a great book for all die-hard Nascar fans!, August 30, 1999

By A Customer

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!