Bobby Isaac: NASCAR's First Modern Champion

by Steve Lehto

Bobby Isaac was champion of NASCAR in 1970 and later set more than two dozen land speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats driving a Dodge Charger Daytona. He died in 1977 and is relatively unknown, even though his name is prominent in the NASCAR record books. He won 20 poles in a single season and 17 races in a season as well. This is Bobby's story. The book also includes a modern day test drive of Bobby's famous #71 Charger Daytona on the streets of Talladega! 206 pages.

500 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 4, 2011

Reviews

[Martin Landry · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that was long overdue

When you mention the name Richard Petty, most people will know who you are referring to. When you say Bobby Isaac, for the most part you’ll get a blank stare. This book is the story of an athlete, one who rarely spoke to the press and hid from the spotlight, yet he broke more than 28 world records during his tenure as Grand National Cup champion. The book moves at a decent pace, although it could do with a good editing for typos and repeated words. It is worth reading for it’s insightful dive into who the driver was, or at least as much as could be collected (the bibliography is almost 10% of the book!) given how private an individual Isaac was. The author’s appreciation of the Charger Daytona and the engineering feat that it was are also prominent, making this book appealing to fans of the NASCAR aero-cars. I am glad to have found this book, and give my thanks to Steve Lehto for his Herculean efforts find the details of the life of a champion. « Winners never quit. Quitters never win. » Words of wisdom.

[Peter DeSilvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good biography of a interesting yet aloof man. I figured it might be hard to do a biography of such a man but the author does a great job at it. At times its more about the world around Isaac than the man himself but the story of the winged cars of the early 70s and how Isaac fit into that world is worth the read. I recommended this to fans of the early NASCAR era and want to see an viewpoint of the evolution of the Sport

[James Georger · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book casts a spotlight on a seemingly unheralded NASCAR driver, who was not a household name like his peers, but nevertheless earned a noteworthy place in the sport. The book fails to establish what the "modern" nature of racing was, and how Isaac played a unique role, compared to other drivers. While there were character anecdotes, and insights to the way France ruled the sport, each race over several seasons was recounted, and it became somewhat tedious.

[Mark Flynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

the fun old days

I remember hearing his name but didn’t know much about him
He was quite a man, soft spoken but spoke with his hands on the steering wheel and his foot on the gas pedal

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review

Very good book learned a lot of things I didn't know thank you enjoyed it very much had fun reading it