A year ago, the publishing business was flooded with books about the late Dale Earnhardt. This year, things have changed.
There are dozens of new racing books on the market as we head into the holiday season. But instead of being primarily biographies and studies of individual superstars' careers, most of the books are more composite in nature. They're about guiding fans to races around the country, the history of stock car racing, family dynasties, behind-the-scenes stories and even cheating.
As we wrap up the racing season for another year, here's a brief look at some of the new books. Perhaps not surprisingly, many primarily deal with stock car racing, which has become the most popular form of motorsports in the country.
Cheating: An Inside Look at the Bad Things Good NASCAR Winston Cup Racers Do in Pursuit of Speed by Tom Jensen, (David Bull Publishing, $24.95). This is one of the most fascinating books. It's the first written about the subject, and top drivers, team owners, crew chiefs and NASCAR officials speak candidly about what they did, how they did it and what the consequences were. For example, Richard Petty was found to have an oversized engine when he won his 200th race.
NASCAR, A Celebration by Bob Latford (Carlton Books, $25). Latford has been a historian of NASCAR racing since its creation. He was a schoolmate of Bill France Jr., chairman of NASCAR'S board of directors, during childhood. Now Latford publishes his own newsletter, The Inside Line, for journalists and fans. Latford is the go-to guy on the Winston Cup Series. If you want to know if something ever happened or the last time anything occurred, Latford is the expert. For that reason alone, anyone interested in the sport should find a treasure-trove in this one.
Fixin' To Get, One Fan's Love Affair with NASCAR's Winston Cup by Jim Wright, (Duke University Press, $26.95). This book will not take you behind the scenes of NASCAR racing. Instead, Wright, a professor of sociology at the University of Central Florida, takes you to the racetracks and into the grandstands and analyzes what makes Winston Cup racing so popular. It's a travelogue that sprinkles humor into an analytical study. Be warned, however, the print is small.
Speed Dreams by Jay Ahuja (Citadel Press, $18.95). Of the books offering fans information about tracks on the Winston Cup circuit, this one is the best. It's straightforward and offers information about each track's roots, as well as useful information about how to get there, what to do and see while visiting the areas, where to eat, where to stay or camp and where to party.
Men And Speed, A Wild Ride Through NASCAR's Breakout Season by G. Wayne Miller (PublicAffairs, $25). Miller spent the 2000 racing season with car owner Jack Roush and his drivers, Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch, and tries to explain the "feeling" racing creates inside those who do it.
Talking Stock, Life in NASCAR's Fast Lane edited by Monte Dutton (Brassey's Inc., $19.95). This is a book for people who enjoy good Southern writing and lovingly told stories about the characters in stock car racing. The stories are written by eight entertaining writers.
Ride of Your Life, A Race Car Driver's Journey by Lyn St. James (Hyperion, $22.95). This is St. James' story about being a woman competitor in a man's world. Walter Cronkite, the man the country once voted as the "Most Trusted Man in America," calls it a "can't-put-it-down book." The open-wheel driver describes chilling accidents -- hers and those of others -- and tells how she survived when things "weren't going according to plan A, B, or C."
Dynasties, Legendary Families of Stock Car Racing by Frank Moriarty (METROBOOKS, Friedman/Fairfax Publishers, $12.98). Stock car racing perhaps more than any other sport has been dominated by families -- fathers, grandfathers, sons, brothers and cousins. This book looks at 17 families that have had a hand in building the NASCAR Winston Cup Series.
The History of America's Greatest Stock Car Tracks, from Daytona to The Brickyard by Kathy Persinger (Sports Publishing L.L.C., $29.95). This one covers the racetracks and offers some fan-friendly information about attractions in the area of each venue, plus information about the towns where they're located and the hot spots that race fans like to visit. You'll have to decide for yourself if you like the design, a coffee table book shaped like a racing oval.
Flat Out and Half Turned Over, Tales from Pit Road with Buddy Baker and David Poole (Sports Publishing L.L.C., $19.95). A quick read, this book lets retired driver Baker do the talking. It's a sometimes very funny collection of stories, memories and anecdotes that Baker has collected in more than 61 years around racing.
The introduction gives you a taste of what's to come. Baker, who drove the official record lap at Talladega Speedway at 200 mph in 1970, went to Talladega to help Rusty Wallace and Ryan Newman with a test last year. At one point, Baker turned the fastest lap, 190 mph with a restrictor plate motor, in one of Wallace's cars:
"One of the sport's current crop of young drivers came up to Buddy and decided to see if he could do a little needling.
" 'Let me ask you something,' the driver said. 'Do you really think you could go out there and run with us?'
"Buddy studied the question for a minute.
" 'Son, I really don't know,' Buddy finally said. 'I've never run this slow here.' "