REAL MEN WORK IN THE PITS: A Life in NASCAR Racing

While many NASCAR drivers have told their stories of life on and off the track, Hammond is the first to offer a glimpse of life in the pits. A crew chief for the famed driver Junior Johnson and, later, Darrell Waltrip, Hammond grew up listening to the roar of stock car engines and the smell of burning rubber at the nearby Charlotte, N.C., Speedway. When he was 12, he was working on cars with his father; by the time he graduated from high school, he'd joined the Johnson team. In lively prose, Hammond narrates a dynamic tale of working in the pits; the aggressive competition between drivers; the sometimes illegal maneuvers drivers use to win; and the changes the sport has undergone since the early 1970s, when Hammond entered that world. Hammond reflects on his close friendship with the late Dale Earnhardt as well as on the rivalries between early drivers like Johnson and Fireball Roberts. He also charts NASCAR's evolution, from its dirt track origins to its current place as the second most popular sport in America. Although Hammond no longer works in the pits, he continues to be involved in NASCAR racing as its most knowledgeable and savvy radio and television broadcaster. His hard-driving book offers a valuable history of the sport. (Feb.)