Books : The Wildest Ride: A History of NASCAR (or, How a Bunch of Good Ol' Boys Built a Billion-Dollar Industry out of Wrecking Cars)
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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.720973
EAN num: 9780743226257
ISBN number: 0743226259
Label: Simon & Schuster
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 336
Printing Date: May 07, 2002
Publishing house: Simon & Schuster
Sale Popularity Level: 110281
Studio: Simon & Schuster
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
In The Wildest Ride, Joe Menzer gives us a timely, comprehensive look at the dramatic, rollicking history of stock-car racing in America, exploring both its inauspicious bootlegging beginnings and the billion-dollar industry that it has become. Menzer straps the reader into the driver's seat for a run through NASCAR's history, revealing the sport's remarkable rise from rogue outfit to corporate darling. Menzer also profiles the many superstar drivers who have dominated the sport, men as unpredictable as they are fearless, including 'The Intimidator,' Dale Earnhardt, whose ferocious driving made him NASCAR's signature personality -- and whose tragic death at the 2001 Daytona 500 was mourned by millions.
Menzer expertly maneuvers through the tight corners and wide-open straightaways of NASCAR's history, examining the circuit's endeavor to distance itself from its 'redneck racin'' past without compromising its country roots. Simultaneously rowdy and insightful, The Wildest Ride is a thorough and unfailingly honest account of NASCAR's amazing rise to prominence and a sweeping account of a uniquely American phenomenon.
Amazon.com Review:
In The Wildest Ride: A History of NASCAR, Joe Menzer traces the vivid history of stock car racing from when bootleggers drove hopped-up cars to outrun the law for fun and profit to the present racing frenzy that has thrust NASCAR to the front of the pack as one of America's fastest-growing sports industries.
The result of Menzer's research is not dry prose filled with racing statistics but rather a loose chronology of anecdotes that reads like an oral history. Legendary finishes, rivalries, and rags-to-riches sucess stories are championed here, including the exploits of Joe Weatherly and Curtis Turner (both on and off the track) and the personalities of David Pearson, Bill Elliott, and the Petty family. Menzer does not back off from the low points either, from Wendell Scott's experience as the very first African American driver to the unhealthy mix of stock cars and alcohol (often at the same time).
Despite the conversational tone, Menzer never loses sight of the politics, sponsorship, and fan-base issues that have arisen, especially as faster cars and tracks began to be built in the 1950s and '60s. As driver Jimmy Thompson assessed the new Daytona International Speedway in 1959: 'There have been other tracks that separated the men from the boys. This is the track that will separate the brave from the weak after the boys are gone.' --Michael Ferch
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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I am a new fan of NASCAR so I really wasn't too familiar with it's history. Well, this book chaznged all that! This book covers NASCAR from it's beginnings in moonshine runners of the 40's up through Dale Earnhardt's death in 2001. This is just a great book. The author really brings the characters and personalities of Big Bill fRANCE AND ALL THE DRIVERS TO LIFE. I came away really understanding the sport's origins and history, and it only deepened my love for NASCAR. This is a MUST READ for any fan curious of how the sport has developed over the years. The book is written in a style that is very relaxed and down home, certainly not pompous and pretentious. This book was so well written I felt as though I were right there at all the races, right up close. I will read this book again for sure. GET THIS BOOK, you won't regret it!
Rated by buyers -
I liked that some of the less famous drivers got mentioned. Good history & some great stories.
Rated by buyers -
The book was a pleasant and entertaining read. Many of the stories have been told and retold many times including the tragic death of Fireball Roberts in, of all places, a fiery crash.
The book tells the behind the scenes politics and vision of Bill France Sr. that made NASCAR a multi-billion dollar booming business. NASCAR did not begin in 1994 when they very first went to race at Indy even though ABC television would have you believe that. It did not begin in 2001 when Fox got the coverage of the entire year and watched Dale Earnhardt die on the final lap (this is basically where the book ends). It did not even begin when Daytona was originally run in 1959.
NASCAR began as basic "Dukes of Hazzard" style moonshine running. The history portrayed in the book is accurate but a bit shallow. It also fails on another point: I would like to have seen a more in-depth treatment of the 1992-1993 Winston Cup points race and twin tragedies that deprived us of Alan Kulwicki and Davey Allison. The book is a good overview but lacks depth in some areas - and this one is the most telling.
All in all, it was a good book. But you CAN get more information from the Stock Car Racing Encyclopedia as well as Golenbock's book.
Rated by buyers 
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I'm a new NASCAR fan. I happened to buy this book at full bookstore price. I also bought a used version of Peter Golenbock's "American Zoom". I read Joe Menzer's book first. Loved it. Then I read Golenbock's 1993 book and read many of the same stories, almost word-for-word, about NASCAR.
Rated by buyers -
I'd have to agree with points made by both of the previous reviewers. Joe Menzer has done new interviews, and some of the sources he's chosen offer fresh insights, particularly Max Muhleman's thoughts. It's also a very concise, reader-friendly encapsulation of the sport's history and recent developments. So, if someone were looking for an accessible, entertaining introduction to NASCAR, especially its early history, I'd recommend the book.
However, if you're very familiar with NASCAR, its legends, and their stories, you might find some of the things he discusses to be old news or slightly cliched. But if you've never heard the anecdotes before, then they're extremely funny.
What would be interesting is a more thorough (yet not dry) history that would discuss aspects of NASCAR usually eclipsed by the moonshining myths and the Southern stereotypes. A treatment beyond just footnotes and asides of NASCAR's diverse roots and participants(Yankees and mid-Westerners like Lorenzen, Marcis, Kiekhaefer, for ex.) along with the Southern legends. It seems that historians to date reinforce a self-referential past.
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