"Then Junior Said to Jeff. . .": The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told (Best Sports Stories Ever Told)
For more than half a century NASCAR has been defined by the blurring of colors speeding into hairpin turns, and the fearless trading of paint down the straightaways. Precise decision-making at breakneck speeds, where one false move could spell the difference between victory and peril, is at the core of the sport that boasts America’s biggest and most impassioned fan base. But high speeds and even higher stakes are not the only things that separate stock-car racing from all other athletic endeavors. In its relatively short history, NASCAR has assembled a brotherhood of mostly like-minded characters that have helped grow a community like none other in the world of professional sports. The drivers are often as colorful as their cars, and their on-track rivalries are every bit as bitter as their off-track allegiances are sincere. And since the early days of NASCAR remain a relatively short time ago, even the oldest recollections of the greatest driving legends are easily accessible through the uniquely tight-knit racing grapevine. In "Then Junior Said to Jeff…", coauthors David Poole and Jim McLaurin have compiled the greatest stories of NASCAR racing, wading through nearly 60 years of heroics and hijinks and sharing the most memorable tales from the most memorable figures of the sport. From the "King" to the "Intimidator," Daytona to Darlington, and Junior to Jeff, this volume brings NASCAR fans the behind-the-scenes stories about the greatest drivers and their favorite races. Poole and McLaurin, two of the sport’s preeminent newspaper writers, take the reader behind the wheel of David Pearson’s No. 21 Mercury for the final moments of his famed 1976 Daytona 500 win, into the depths of Dale Earnhardt’s soul, and along for the ride on some of the sport’s funniest, strangest, and most powerful moments. The level of thrills that NASCAR has provided its fans over the years is unequalled, and this book poignantly captures that energy.