Lone Wolf: One of Auto Racing's Most Compelling Characters Tells His Story

by Dave Wolfgang with Doug Argabright

A must read for fans of all types of auto racing. Doug Wolfgang rose from humble beginnings to become one of the most successful sprint car racers of all time. His smooth, fast style and his thoughtful, articulate observations of the world around him endeared him to legions of fans throughout the country. He reached the pinnacle of his sport by winning hundreds of races during his career, including five Knoxville Nationals triumphs. In April 1992 Wolfie was terribly burned in an accident at Kansas City, Kan., and fought through years of rehabilitation and dozens of surgeries to race again, mixed with a controversial lawsuit. After years of reflection, Wolfie looks back on his life, his career, and the sport of auto racing. Speaking from the heart, this is Wolfie at his very Honest, insightful, funny, interesting, straightforward. Ride along with Bob Trostle, Doug and Joanne Howells, Bob Weikert, Danny Peace, and many more. Race alongside Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, Darryl Dawley, Keith Kauffman, and Lealand McSpadden. Listen to the cheers in Knoxville, and dodge the boos and beer cans from the people on Beer Hill at Williams Grove Speedway. Make the long ride from Skagit to Syracuse and all points in between. This is a book you will never forget. Author Dave Argabright captures not just the words of Doug Wolfgang, but the deep emotions within the man.

Genres: Racing, Nonfiction

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really didn't want to be the first review of this book because my review is a bit biased. I read this book because Doug Wolfgang is my husband's hero. He has loved and followed Wolfgang's racing career since he was a kid and actually drives a sprint car now himself.

I think this story is meant for people that are familiar with the racing world. I have been to races and I enjoy watching races and I know a little bit about the sport but there were lots of times where things were a little bit over my head or a little bit too detailed for my liking.

But overall, I loved this book. I loved I think most of all, learning about someone that means so much to my husband and I feel like I learned about my husband in the process. Even aside from that, Wolfgang's story is so powerful and amazing. There were several times that I cried. I really appreciate the honesty and the candor with which this story was told.

[Michael Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very compelling read, if in need of better editing. I’m biased as a big time sprint car fan and remember watching Doug Wolfgang race when I was a kid, but I enjoyed it a lot.

[Shannon Dyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Raw, honest, insightful and entertaining! Telling it like it is isn't a weakness of Doug Wolfgang. I'm a huge sprint car fan and anyone that has really known me for any part of my life would immediately shake their head up and down 'yes' if I said out loud to them that sprint car racing is a passion and a way of life for me. Some of my friends from my life might not even recognize me, at first, if they saw me without a sprint car shirt on. Racing is part of my family and my dad, uncle and I all drove modifieds or sprint cars at one point in our lives. Some of my first treasured memories are of my dad taking me to the races. We'd go to Hartford Speedway, Huset's Speedway and/or Jackson Speedway every weekend during racing season. I grew up in South Dakota and was lucky enough to watch Wolfgang race for his entire career. From day one when the World of Outlaws started in 1978 Wolfgang was my Outlaw guy. Dad and I would go watch him race every time he raced anywhere near South Dakota and I'd read the racing newspapers and magazines to keep up with how he was doing at all the races. As an adult I saw him race all over the United States. Thank you Doug for sharing your story with your fans, I enjoyed it throughly! Dave Argabright did a wonderful job and I will be reading all of your racing books. Reading "Lone Wolf" I could picture it as if Doug was telling me a story in his own words and in some cases could even see an image of that grin Wolfie gets at the end of one of his stories. Argabright did a fantastic job of letting the story be told the way Wolfgang talks with just a sprinkle of facts, dates and additional information added. It was fun to hear the stories in a chronologic way that allowed me to relive the races I had watched Wolfgang run and remember the one on one interactions that I have had with Wolfgang during my life. I will most certainly be reading all of Dave Argabrights books. I've already got "Still Wide Open" pulled off my book shelf. "Lone Wolf" is a must read for any Doug Wolfgang fan and I'd highly recommend it to all sprint car fans.

[Jerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Reading this book brought back lots of memories. It almost felt like you were sitting down with Doug and just having a conversation with him. I really enjoyed his story, and am looking forward to the next time I see him. Great books for fans of racing, especially Sprint Car racing. I had read Brad Doty's book previously, and it was amazing how the two of them had very similar opinions and memories of the same events and people.

[Willy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Started - 8/10/08.

[Noah Viebrock]

i picked this book because my brother crashed and broke his back while racing. My dad told him to read this book with all of his free time he had in the summer, but he didn't sso i thought i should check it out because it looked like a great book.
the setting of Lone Wolf is mainly in South Dakota, but is all over the United States. The main characters are Doug Wolfgang, Steve Kinser, Bob Trostle, Sammy Swindell, and many more. I feel that the main characters impact the storyline a lot and it'd be very different if just one of the characters was not in the book. My favorite section in this book is when he crashes and is hospitalized(not to sound cold-hearted). Its my favorite because there is such vivid detail and i understand how his family felt. Society has changed because of Doug Wolfgang, he went through a lawsuit that made racetracks safer. He was in a bad crash and burned for about 10 minutes before they finally got the fire to stop because the lack of safety equipment.the theme of this book is to know who you are and to know what your worth, don't let others impact you just because of what they say.
I would definitely recommend this book just to learn about the history of racing and how racers got/get to where they are today.