One Helluva Ride: How NASCAR Swept the Nation

by Liz Clarke

From its raw beginnings on Southern dirt tracks, NASCAR smacked of a slightly depraved spectacle, as if nothing but trouble could come from the unbridled locomotion of a V8 engine. By the time NASCAR roared into the twenty-first century, it had grown into a billion-dollar sports and marketing colossus, its races attended by hundreds of thousands of fans on any given weekend from mid-February through mid-November, watched on television by the second-largest viewing audience in sports, and bankrolled by the marketing largesse of the Fortune 500’s elite.

One Helluva Ride , a full-throttle account of the rise and reign of NASCAR nation, is award-winning motorsports reporter Liz Clarke’s chronicle of how stock car racing exploded from regional obsession to national phenomenon. In covering the sport for more than fifteen years, Clarke has developed a strong rapport with NASCAR’s drivers, team owners, and hard-core fans. Through her reporting and analysis, we get to know the public and private sides of NASCAR’s most iconic figures, including seven-time champion Richard Petty, who set the standard for treating fans with respect, and the late Dale Earnhardt, whose brazen, bullying tactics wreaked havoc on the track, but whose heart was as big as Daytona’s infield.

The sports world stopped in its tracks the day Earnhardt was killed on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Some feared that NASCAR’s soul would die with him. But it has raced on, steered by visionary promoters, the all-controlling France family (who founded the sport), and, above all, the next generation of drivers to stir fans’ Dale Earnhardt, Jr., son of the NASCAR legend and now, like his father before him, the circuit’s most popular driver; Jeff Gordon, the beloved but oft-maligned outsider, bred from the cradle to be NASCAR’s winningest modern champion; and Kasey Kahne, a reluctant heartthrob whose confidence derives entirely from an accelerator pedal. Clarke also brings us inside NASCAR’s most triumphant and tragic the Pettys, the Earnhardts, and the Allisons–and reveals how faith, family, and a deep-seated love of their sport helps them cope with grief and loss.

Clarke shows NASCAR to be at a crossroads. In pursuit of a broader audience, NASCAR has severed its sponsorship ties to Big Tobacco, abandoned racetracks in small markets in favor of speedways near glitzy major cities, and welcomed Japan’s Toyota into a sport traditionally restricted to American-made sedans. As NASCAR races toward mass appeal, some suggest it is leaving its roots behind. To others, it is boldly extending its reach from the Southern workingman to every man, woman, and child in the world.

Whether you’re one of the die-hard NASCAR faithful or just a casual follower, nobody brings you closer to the sport and business of big-time stock car racing than Liz Clarke. This book, like the phenomenon it profiles, really is One Helluva Ride .

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, History

320 pages, Hardcover

First published February 12, 2008

Reviews

[Anthony Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brief but very well written history of NASCAR's golden age.

[Michelle Monticello · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great overview of the history of NASCAR and its rise in popularity. It's an easy-to-read, short-story-filled book. It taught me things I didn't know and gave me a new appreciation for the sport that I have enjoyed since the 1970's (though I've drifted in and out of watching over the years). If you don't like NASCAR, or you don't think you'd like NASCAR, it's worth a read (even though it only covers up to 2008, when it was written).

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you follow Nascar or are interested in the early years of Nascar, you'd enjoy this book. Written by a sportswriter who covered the circuit for over 30 years, and saw first hand events of the sport. This book covers up to the 2008 year of stockcar racing.

Great read!

[Chris Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good basic history of Nascar's rise in popularity. Problem is it needs an update detailing how the France family is slowly killing the golden goose.

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! If you are not a NASCAR fan, you must read this book (yes, you read that right). Personal, totally accessible journalistic style from Liz Clarke. It reads well and involves you in all aspects of NASCAR's history. Each part lingers just long enough, giving a proper, introspective, somewhat existential (ok, lightly) view on what racing cars has been about and what it's becoming.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the perfect book for anyone who wants to understand more about NASCAR. Clarke does a better job than anyone else I've encountered at explaining the appeal of NASCAR, the personalities and history behind it. She does it with humor, wit, and a light emotional touch that is still strong enough to make you choke up at the discussions of death and injury.

[Cherie Reeves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book of an insiders view of NASCAR, it's growth, and appeal. Throughout the reader gets a different view of greats such as dale sr. Cale Yarborough, the Allison's and the pettys. Great book for fans or people new to the sport.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh, it was ok. It's a nice over of NASCAR history if you are into racing.

[Joy Derenthal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had so many friends who love NASCAR, and yet I knew almost nothing about it. This book was a terrific introduction, an entertaining history of the sport, and a great read.

[Sandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good readable look at the history of NASCAR.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

One Helluva Ride: How NASCAR Swept the Nation by Liz Clarke (2008)

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Taking a slight detour from my normal reading ... pun intended.

[Kenneth Flusche · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book brought back a lot of memories, yet it still taught me more about NASCAR. Liz is quite a story teller I hope she writes another story fact or fiction I think it would be worth reading.