Daytona : From the Birth of Speed to the Death of the Man in Black

Rating:
Summary: A great NASCAR history book focused on Daytona
Review: Ed Hinton has done an excellent job of conveying to the reader all that is Daytona. His book reads more like a novel from one who hung out with the best of NASCAR. While the focus is primarily on each year's Daytona 500, the author provides a lot of historical background from the birth of Nascar to the intense rivalry's to the story behind the top drivers - where they came from, how their team came together, etc. This is THE definitive book on NASCAR. No fan should be without it.

Rating:
Summary: Best Ever
Review: Ed Hinton is an enigma in motorsports journals. He can offer solid, fascinating information. He can also write gratuitous self-serving garbage. All of this comes into his look at Daytona International Speedway.

By now the general story of Daytona is well known, and he retells it reasonably well. Along the way he fleshes out some details, and when he keeps his opinions to himself he can offer fascinating insights. Some of the information is of the kind that was once known but has been forgotten.

It is when Hinton becomes Hinton that the book suffers. His Chapter 21 contains a lengthy dissertation on Don Williams, a driver gravely injured in the 1979 Sportsman 300 and who suffered the ensuing ten years in a vegatative state before finally passing on in 1989. The chapter is exploitive and while interesting in its own right nonetheless is used more to bash NASCAR than to serve any legitimate purpose. When Williams finally died, NASCAR sent flowers - it was the only thing they ever did for him, is the point Hinton wants to make, as if they could realistically have done anything else. Hinton does not come up with any kind of alternative to how they handled it at the time.

The book's examination of Jeff Gordon is shallow to the extreme - one gets the impression Hinton would kiss Gordon in the mouth for being such a wonderful human being the way he writes about him.

Considerably better is Hinton's less than flattering portrayal of Dale Earnhardt - DE fans remember Hinton's 1995 attack on Earnhardt in Sports Illustrated, and there is a telling anecdote about that and Hinton's relationship with Earnhardt in Paul Hemphill's book Wheels.

Hinton's big claim to fame was the Orlando Sentinel's angry four-part series on racing safety published before Earnhardt's death, and he self-congradulatorily rehashes it in the close of the book. Then and now, his case for head restraints, soft walls, etc. rings a bit hollow given the general safety of the drivers before they ever heard of such.

The basic argument is that Earnhardt died of headwhip, but if Earnhardt died of headwhip alone, why did such not happen with Richard Petty in 1986 - if Hinton hasn't seen the incar shot of Petty in that crash, he should, for Richard's head almost went out the right side window, and he didn't suffer terrible injury; similar situations have been the case with Ken Schrader at Daytona in 1998 (Schrader, involved in the Earnhardt crash in 2001, himself has noted he hit the same wall at the same speed at similar angle without injury), Dave Marcis and Rusty Wallace at Pocono in 1999, Gordon at Texas in 1999, and more cases than one can count.

Hinton tries to argue that Earnhardt suffered a basilar skull fracture due to headwhip in the millisecond before his belt broke and he struck the steering wheel, but this reeks of implausibility, in part because what is referred to as headwhip is actually head wrenching, and Hinton wisely concedes that striking the wheel would be enough to kill him. The 2002 accident that left David Pook with a broken vertebra and in need of a halo support, incurred while wearing a HANS in a crash at Phoenix, further weakens the implicit argument that Earnhardt would have survived had NASCAR mandated head restraints, and the death of Southwest Tour driver John Baker destroys the argument totally - Earnhardt would have died with a head restraint all the same. It is a fact Hinton needs to acknowledge in any future updates.

There's also the real story behind Tim Richmond and the 1988 Daytona Clash and how NASCAR was supposedly trying to discredit and humiliate Tim, never mind that Tim's subsequent lawsuit against NASCAR failed precisely because the issue that started it all - NASCAR wanted to see his medical records - was ruled a legitimate issue. Richmond's problems were self-inflicted and NASCAR really should not shoulder much of any blame.

Nor is Hinton's take on restrictor plate racing all that persuasive. He says drivers despise such racing (this is true) because of the lack of throttle response - yet it doesn't occur to him that they race just fine anyway; the whole throttle response issue is ultimately a red herring.

Hinton tries to blame lack of throttle response for Richard Petty's famous 1988 tumble at the 500, but throttle response was irrelevent, and that crash also illustrates how seperating the cars on the racetrack, far from offering a safety cushion, in fact makes impacts worse. Hinton also forgets that restrictor plates debuted in 1970, first hitting Daytona in '71 - a serious oversight as it helps weaken some of the anti-plate arguments made over the years. Hinton also writes about the 2000-2001 roof spoiler package - by far the most compettively effective aero package ever seen - with contemptible shallowness.

In all, the book has far too many flaws to be called a good history, but also has too much interesting information to be dismissed outright. Hinton can be a great writer, but he needs better balance to make his work really worth something.

Rating:
Summary: A Strong History of Daytona Racing - and Some of NASCAR, too
Review: Having read a good many books about NASCAR of yesterday and today, I was fairly prepared to read the same stories about the same drivers concerning the same incidents: a rehashing of books from the past. I am happy to say that I was very wrong about Ed Hinton's book. There is the history of Daytona speed that goes back a century, which the author covers quite well; the history of the beginnings of NASCAR, which the author not only brings to life (and light, specifically in its moonshining roots) but adds new information - I had read the bare facts of the death of Lloyd Seay before, but the author gives us more to go on concerning his demise. Then there is the body of the book, a look at each year's Daytona 500 and its winner. Hinton does an excellent job of blending in the race with the driver's personality; one can empathize with Donnie Allison and how one moment in time led to a downward spiral in his career, a moment not completely of his own making. One can feel for Darrell Waltrip and the changes brought to his career - and how his changes brought him his only Daytona 500 win. Then there is the last part of the book, centering on Dale Earnhardt. The author and Earnhardt were once close friends but at this time cooler towards each other; the author explores this last race down to the last lap and the multitude of circumstances that occurred to cause the death of Earnhardt. The author researched head-and-neck injuries with three of the top people in this field in an effort to write knowledgably about this subject, and he accomplished that mission. Ed Hinton has written an absorbing story of the quest for speed, the track and the personalities - and the organization behind these three ingredients - and his book is one not to be missed by NASCAR fans.

Rating:
Summary: Great start, weak finish.
Review: I had been looking forward to this book since I'd read an excerpt on espn.com some time ago. It did not disappoint me, until the last 5 or so chapters.

In the first half of the book, I read about drivers and legends I'd never heard of. From Barney Oldfield, the first real blue collar racer, to Lloyd Seay, who may have been the best ever. NASCAR in its formative years, and the iron will of big Bill France, told me more than facts and figures, it told me the story of a men's lives. If only the book had stayed true to the winning format established in these first few chapters, I'd give it six stars.

The middle chapters covered Daytona and NASCAR through the 50's into the early 80's. It started off great with stories of Junior Johnson, the Pettys, and David Pearson. Not just on the racetrack, but how they ended up in a stock car. I still remember Junior's quote: "The president's(JFK) daddy was a bootlegger, and he got sent to the white house. My daddy was a bootlegger and I got sent to prison." AJ Foyt's run in the 24 hours of Daytona was a great testament about a son's love for his father. I hadn't put the book down yet. The format of "setup, setup hyphen hyphen TA DA!" got to be a bit tiring. A surprisingly quick read to this point however.

Too bad what had been a great book became the bash Dale Earnhardt press for the last third. It's no secret of Ed Hinton's dislike of Earnhardt. Everything bad that happened since 1980 in NASCAR, to hear Ed tell it, was Earnhardt's fault. The build up of how Bill Elliot got his start saved me from not finishing the book. The story of Jeff Gordon from the time he was 5 years old, until he broke into Winston Cup was a very interesting read. Then it turned into the biggest suck up chapters I have read anywhere. Maybe he is angling for the chance to write Gordon's biography? By this point the book had gone from people and their stories, to purely wins, losses, money, and other facts and figures.

I wish I'd read this book backward. If I could have made it through the last few sorry chapters I would have put the book down after reading the front cover and said, "wow, great book." Instead, what started out as an awesome read about different personalities and history turned into an anti Dale Earnhardt, pro Jeff Gordon infommercial.

Rating:
Summary: By far the best written Nascar history yet published.
Review: I've read "From Moonshine to Madison Avenue," "The Wildest Ride," and "The Nascar Way." Those three books are each excellent histories of Nascar and each has its own focus, but apart from the last one listed, their authors don't write exceptionally well. This book by Hinton is in a whole different league, however. The man knows how to write REALLY well - and how to tell and report a story. The stories in this book are much more than good ol' boy anecdotes, although anecdotes are sprinkled into his reporting when they elucidate the point. Personal interviews of a very large number of people who have been prominent in Nascar form a good deal of this book's spine. While its focus is Daytona, it is about quite a bit more than just what has happened at that track.

The book is fairly critical of Nascar - and refreshingly so. ... Well, he maligns a lot of things - as a good reporter should when the subject deserves it. But he also reports the poingant, the tragic, and the triumphant, too, and the book as a whole is remarkably well balanced. If you're looking for a simple public relations fluff piece that blows sunshine [at you] about your favorite driver or Nascar in general, don't buy this book. You will be disappointed and maybe even angry because this book was not written for you. On the other hand, if you are a casual fan, or a dyed-in-the-wool one with an open mind, this book will give you a lot of wonderfully detailed history about Daytona, Nascar, the cars and races, and most important - the people and personalities big and small that have been a part of the show. You will definitely get a good deal of insight about how the facinating circus that is Nascar today has come to be. Buy this book and enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: The best book written about racing at Daytona
Review: Mr. Hinton provides a wonderful account of the racing history at Daytona. The book begins with the origins of racing at Daytona in the early 1900s and ends with the 2001 Daytona 500. He describes the morning of the Daytona 500 so elegantly in chapter two, that you can smell the gas and hear the engines. The book covers the early racing on the beaches of Daytona through the creation of NASCAR by Bill France Sr. to the rise of the superstars of racing: Pearson, Petty, Earnhardt and Gordon, to name a few. Also covered are the lesser known stories of the winners of the races at the world center of racing.

It is a very objective look at racing, and at NASCAR in particular. If you want to read the REAL story of America's second most popular sport (behind the NFL), pick up this book. You won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: By far, the best book on NASCAR, period.
Review: Nothing comes close, actually. I've been waiting for this for a long time, because Ed Hinton is simply the best writer on motor sports there is, and I really miss him in "Sports Illustrated." Anyway, this is even better than I hoped. It's simply a great book, regardless of the subject. If you're an old-time NASCAR fan, you'll love the close-ups of all the great drivers and characters, because they're all here, and no one knows more inside stuff about them than Hinton. If you're a newcomer to the sport, this will make you understand what all the fuss is about, because Hinton does here for NASCAR what Tom Wolfe did for the space program in "The Right Stuff," and--get ready for this--he's as good a writer as Wolfe. Yes, he's that good. His description of a race morning at Daytona near the end of the book will make your hairs stand on end. It's worth the price of the book itself. And his analysis of the Dale Earnhardt fiasco is penetrating, because Hinton was the guy behind the Orlando Sentinel's fight to obtain the autopsy photos, so he should know .

Just a great book, and one of the best sports books I've ever read.

Rating:
Summary: Great book for NASCAR trivia
Review: The author writes some of the most interesting stories about the birth of NASCAR and how Daytona played into the development of the sport. This was one of those books you hate to put down until you get to the last three chapters and all of a sudden it becomes filled with boring and "who cares" opinions and "facts." If you are a true NASCAR fan you'll find the book very interesting and a fun read. But, if you're an Earnhardt fan you'll be sorely disappointed, considering the title. You can skip the last three chapters, nothing new or interesting.

Rating:
Summary: Great book but there are a few errors....
Review: The title basically says it all. This fascinating book uses Daytona International Speedway and the old racing surface of Daytona Beach itself as its lens to focus on the world of NASCAR. Hinton has been a beat reporter covering NASCAR since the mid-1970s and knows all of the old stories and Hinton is able to package them so that the reader is reading one little vignette after another until the history of Daytona is told.

I was reading another book when I picked up this one (a Christmas gift that I hadn't really paid a lot of attention to) and began thumbing through it. I couldn't put it down! It is well-written and at times it is laugh out loud funny, especially if you are a NASCAR fan and are familiar with the older, retired drivers.

However, a couple of disturbing, trivial factual errors throw a negative light on the book as a whole. Two that I noted were Hinton's assertion that no rookie has won the Indy 500 since the 1926 race (in case you're wondering, Daytona Beach used to be used as a high-speed test site, much like Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah is used today and the 1926 winner died making such a high-speed run). I knew that his assertion was wrong since I witnessed rookies win the 2000 race (Juan Montoya) and the 2001 race (Helio Castroneves) - both were well-before publishing time for his book. Besides that, 2 minutes on Google told me there were two others - the 1927 and 1966 winners.

Secondly, he makes the assertion that California driver Willie T. Ribbs was encouraged by the example set by "The Dukes of Hazzard" to get drunk and play chasing games with the police in downtown Charlotte, NC in May of 1978. Since I spent a great deal of my own childhood watching the Dukes, I thought that that seemed a bit early. Sure enough, two more minutes on Google told me that the show premiered in January of 1979, so it really had no part in Ribbs' ill-conceived misadventures. Oddly enough, Ribbs' trip to the drunk tank gave Dale Earnhardt the chance to take his car - his first chance to drive a good car in the Winston Cup Series and this opportunity eventually led him to the career that made him a household name.

Despite these errors the book was a hoot to read and I'm sure I'll be lending it to every NASCAR fan I know.