Growing Up NASCAR Racing's Most Outrageous Promoter Tells All

by Golenbock, Peter; Wheeler, Humpy

• ISBN13: 9780760337752
• ISBN10: 0760337756
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-03-15
• Publisher: Motorbooks

Summary

In 1949, when Humpy Wheeler was 11, he attended the very first NASCAR race. For the next ten years, he spent as much time in the pits as he could, and came to know many of the sportrs"s pioneers. Eventually, Wheeler began promoting races at Carolina tracks such as Concord Speedway, Robinwood Speedway, and Starlight Speedway. Racing was so rough back then he kept a gun by his side when he paid the purse, and often used his fists to keep order. By the time Wheeler retired in 2008, he had helped NASCAR become the six-billion-dollar-a-year industry it is today. Filled with photographs from Wheeler's personal archives,Growing up NASCARpresents the ultimate behind-the-scenes look at NASCAR from the consumate insider.

Author Biography

In 1947, when Humpy Wheeler was nine years old, he put his thumb out on Highway 29 and hitched a ride to the Charlotte Speedway. Since then, Humpy has held just about every job there is in NASCAR. The consummate promoter, Humpy invented the pre-race show.

Peter Golenbock has been writing books about sports since 1975. Some of his best sellers are Dynasty, The Bronx Zoo (with Sparky Lyle), Number 1 (with Billy Martin), and Balls (with Greg Nettles.) He has also written a series of NASCAR histories including American Zoom, The Last Lap, and NASCAR Confidential.

Table of Contents

We Watched the Race Cars Go By	p. 1
The Scotch-Irish and the Segregated South	p. 15
Learning the Ropes	p. 32
Moonshine and Racing	p. 45
The Robinwood Speedway	p. 52
Slick	p. 69
Witness to Disaster	p. 79
When the Rubber Meets the Road	p. 95
Big Bill France	p. 109
Ralph and the Indian	p. 116
Bobby Allison	p. 123
Junior Johnson	p. 130
Driving for Junior	p. 138
Curtis and Bruton Go Bust	p. 155
Hired to Run the Charlotte Motor Speedway	p. 162
Bruton and I	p. 173
Dirt Poor Dale	p. 186
Dale and Richard Childress	p. 193
Rick Hendrick Changes the Game	p. 201
Days of Thunder	p. 213
Alan Kulwicki's Too Short Journey	p. 223
The All Star Race	p. 229
Robert Yates Knows Tragedy	p. 244
Bobby Allison's Nightmare	p. 249
NASCAR and Bruton Go National	p. 253
Joe Gibbs and Dale Jarrett	p. 268
Jack Roush and Mark Martin	p. 272
The Death of Dale Earnhardt	p. 276
The Corporatization of Racing	p. 282
Good-Bye	p. 288
Racing of the Future	p. 294
Index	p. 299
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Supplemental Materials

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

Rewards Program

Currently unavailable