WHEELS : A Season on Nascar's Winston Cup Circuit

Rating:
Summary: WHEELS
Review: I enjoyed this book. WHEELS is a non-fiction story about a year on the NASCAR Winston Cup Circuit. It is full of rip roaring action and excitement. the author writes it lap by lap, wreck by wreck, race by race. I thought the wrecks were the mast interesting parts of this book, followed by the fixing of the cars. The author shows true spirit for all the tracks and drivers. Some of the drivers in this book are Dale Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mike Skinner, Steve Park, Dale Jarret, and Darrell Waltrip. Some of the tracks are Martinsville Speedway, Darlington Speedway, Daytona Speedway, Talladega Speedway, and Atlanta Motor Speedway. I think every NASCAR fan should read this book.

Rating:
Summary: A good history lesson for average fans
Review: I found this book to be a very nice overview of NASCAR history and the modern circuit. For anyone who wants to know the history and some neat anecdotes about the sport, this book is perfect. And while I found Hemphill's description of the 1996 season entertaining, it wasn't as complete as his background. All in all, it makes the perfect first NASCAR book--everything the basic fan should know about the sport.

Rating:
Summary: WHEELS
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed the book and its style of switching back and forth from the 96 season to historical background and vignettes of the small time racer. A couple of nits to pick. The summary of the CART-Indy 500 dispute was just plain wrong and should have been caught in the editing process. (The problem was not that Indy Speedway wanted to open up qualifying, just the opposite. He guranteed spots to his IRL drivers even if their speeds were slower. )Second, the first part of the season was covered in meticulous detail, but the last half was summarized. It seemed like the author was looking to wind it up. These points aside, this was a very well written and entertaining book.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining description of NASCAR and its participants
Review: Paul Hemphill has captured all the flavors of the fans, racers and the sport of racing. He details information not readily available to non-racing fans. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to anyone interested in the south, in racing or in just plain good writing.