Speed Guts And Glory

New York Times bestselling author Joe Garner brings the sights, sounds, and thrills of NASCAR to vivid life in this authoritative and exciting book. Stockcar racing is fast becoming America’s most popular spectator sport, and now bestselling author and broadcasting veteran Joe Garner captures the most important moments in NASCAR history, including: Dale Earnhardt, Sr.’s triumphant Daytona 500 victory King Richard Petty’s 200th victory, with Ronald Reagan in attendance as the first president to attend a NASCAR event Jeff Gordon’s amazing dream season The closest finish in NASCAR history—a mere .002 of a second! Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Daytona victory—on the one-year anniversary of his father’s death on the same speedway.

"Captures the exciting finishes, the terrifying crashes, and the heartbreaking tragedies of the uniquely American popular sport of stockcar racing."--Provided by the publisher.

This two-volume encyclopedia is the Daytona 500 of stock car racing books—an essential "Bible" that provides an all-encompassing history of the sport as well as an up-to-date examination of modern-day stock car racing. How did stock car racing become firmly entrenched in American pop culture, especially in light of the lack of interest in motorsports overall as a spectator activity in the United States? And what has been the secret to NASCAR's financial success and growth over the last six decades? Encyclopedia of Stock Car Racing highlights approximately 250 subjects that have defined the sport since stock car racing was first organized. Organized in A-Z order, it covers all of the greatest drivers, such as Richard Petty, Jimmie Johnson, Junior Johnson, and David Pearson; the special races such as the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400; and the famed tracks across the country, from Bristol Motor Speedway to Darlington Raceway to Talladega Superspeedway. This unprecedented resource collects information about every element of NASCAR history in one place: the early personalities who shaped the sport and set things in motion, the past greats who have now retired, and today's rising stars who continue to make stock car racing one of the most popular sports in the United States.

The first organized, sanctioned American stock car race took place in 1908 on a road course around Briarcliff, New York--staged by one of America's early speed mavens, William K. Vanderbilt, Jr. A veteran of the early Ormond-Daytona Beach speed trials, Vanderbilt brought the Grand Prize races to Savannah, Georgia, the same year. What began as a rich man's sport eventually became the working man's sport, finding a home in the South with the infusion of moonshiners and their souped-up cars. Based in large part on statements of drivers, car owners and others garnered from archived newspaper articles, this history details the development of stock car racing into a megasport, chronicling each season through 1974. It examines the National Association for Stock Car Automobile Racing's 1948 incorporation documents and how they differ from the agreements adopted at NASCAR's organization meeting two months earlier. The meeting's participants soon realized that their sport was actually owned by William H.G. "Bill" France, and its consequential growth turned his family into billionaires. The book traces the transition from dirt to asphalt to superspeedways, the painfully slow advance of safety measures and the shadowy economics of the sport.

The tracks of NASCAR are among the most exciting aspects of the sport. This book profiles some of the most popular tracks, their histories, and their glories.

A biography of the race car driver who, at the age of twenty-four, was the youngest ever to win the Winston Cup title.

Explores the most unique, interesting aspects and greatest moments in NASCAR racing.

America loves sports. This book examines and details the proof of this fascination seen throughout American society—in our literature, film, and music; our clothing and food; and the iconography of the nation. This momentous four-volume work examines and details the cultural aspects of sport and how sport pervasively reflects—and affects—myriad aspects of American society from the early 1900s to the present day. Written in a straightforward, readable manner, the entries cover both historical and contemporary aspects of sport and American culture. Unlike purely historical encyclopedias on sports, the contributions within these volumes cover related subject matter such as poetry, novels, music, films, plays, television shows, art and artists, mythologies, artifacts, and people. While this encyclopedia set is ideal for general readers who need information on the diverse aspects of sport in American culture for research purposes or are merely reading for enjoyment, the detailed nature of the entries will also prove useful as an initial source for scholars of sport and American culture. Each entry provides a number of both print and online resources for further investigation of the topic.