Hard Times, Hard Driving: Dirt Track Racing in the 1930s
At the age of eight John Way began selling racing newspapers at tracks in central Pennsylvania. At age 16 he started reporting for The Illustrated Speedway News. In 1949 he was driving stock cars at speedways in eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. Following army service and college, he moved to New York City and worked in the labor movement, rising to become assistant to the president of a large social services union local. After retirement he returned to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where he now resides.      Richard Sharpless is a former journalist and educator who has written books and articles on American and Latin American history. Though he is a long time fan of auto racing, Hard Times, Hard Driving is his first venture in writing about it. He lives and writes near Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.       The authors met at college in the 1950s.