Daytona: From the Birth of Speed to the Death of the Man in Black

by Ed Hinton

Book Overview

A famed racing journalist unfolds the lively history of Daytona in this narrative using the Daytona 500 as a launching pad to tell the wildly colorful story of NASCAR--from its infancy when... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0446526770
• ISBN13: 9780446526777
• Release Date: November 2001
• Publisher: Warner Books (NY)
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A Strong History of Daytona Racing - and Some of NASCAR, too

Having read a good many books about NASCAR of yesterday and today, I was fairly prepared to read the same stories about the same drivers concerning the same incidents: a rehashing of books from the past. I am happy to say that I was very wrong about Ed Hinton's book. There is the history of Daytona speed that goes back a century, which the author covers quite well; the history of the beginnings of NASCAR, which the author not only brings to life (and light, specifically in its moonshining roots) but adds new information - I had read the bare facts of the death of Lloyd Seay before, but the author gives us more to go on concerning his demise. Then there is the body of the book, a look at each year's Daytona 500 and its winner. Hinton does an excellent job of blending in the race with the driver's personality; one can empathize with Donnie Allison and how one moment in time led to a downward spiral in his career, a moment not completely of his own making. One can feel for Darrell Waltrip and the changes brought to his career - and how his changes brought him his only Daytona 500 win. Then there is the last part of the book, centering on Dale Earnhardt. The author and Earnhardt were once close friends but at this time cooler towards each other; the author explores this last race down to the last lap and the multitude of circumstances that occurred to cause the death of Earnhardt. The author researched head-and-neck injuries with three of the top people in this field in an effort to write knowledgably about this subject, and he accomplished that mission. Ed Hinton has written an absorbing story of the quest for speed, the track and the personalities - and the organization behind these three ingredients - and his book is one not to be missed by NASCAR fans.

Best Ever

I have read just about every NASCAR book written and this is the best yet! Great insight into the early days at Daytona. It's easy to tell when the author knows his subject, and Ed Hinton does. HIGHLY RECOMMEDED!!!

Not for sissies

This is racing, pure, raw, tough, not for sissies or the skittish. If you want one of those ra-ra, golly-gee, wimpo books that have been pouring out lately about NASCAR, then this one is NOT for you. Really great storytelling, but unvarnished truth. No hero worship here. Profane, brawling, rollicking, hilarious in places, tragic in others. This one does what none of the new-wave NASCAR books does: it lays out the bad with the good. Warts and all.

Best NASCAR Book Ever

If you like great storytelling you will love this book -- even if you're not a NASCAR fan. It's just a superb non-fiction book, period. One of those real, "I laughed, I cried" things.This is head and shoulders above any other book ever written about NASCAR, or any kind of racing. And I've read just about all of them.What great driver's life story do you want? Dale Earnhardt? Richard Petty? Jeff Gordon? Bobby Allison? A.J. Foyt? They're all here. Plus the history of NASCAR, and the whole story of racing at Daytona.This book goes right to the nitty gritty behind the scenes.I've got two friends who never even cared about NASCAR before they picked up this book. Now they're hooked.And I'm buying a copy for every NASCAR fan on my Christmas list.-- A reader in Mass.

By far, the best book on NASCAR, period.

Nothing comes close, actually. I've been waiting for this for a long time, because Ed Hinton is simply the best writer on motor sports there is, and I really miss him in "Sports Illustrated." Anyway, this is even better than I hoped. It's simply a great book, regardless of the subject. If you're an old-time NASCAR fan, you'll love the close-ups of all the great drivers and characters, because they're all here, and no one knows more inside stuff about them than Hinton. If you're a newcomer to the sport, this will make you understand what all the fuss is about, because Hinton does here for NASCAR what Tom Wolfe did for the space program in "The Right Stuff," and--get ready for this--he's as good a writer as Wolfe. Yes, he's that good. His description of a race morning at Daytona near the end of the book will make your hairs stand on end. It's worth the price of the book itself. And his analysis of the Dale Earnhardt fiasco is penetrating, because Hinton was the guy behind the Orlando Sentinel's fight to obtain the autopsy photos, so he should know . Just a great book, and one of the best sports books I've ever read.