One helluva ride: how NASCAR swept the nation
Description
From its raw beginnings on Southern dirt tracks, NASCAR smacked of a slightly depraved spectacle, as if nothing but trouble could come from the unbridled locomotion of a V8 engine. By the time NASCAR roared into the twenty-first century, it had grown into a billion-dollar sports and marketing colossus, its races attended by hundreds of thousands of fans on any given weekend from mid-February through mid-November, watched on television by the second-largest viewing audience in sports, and bankrolled by the marketing largesse of the Fortune 500’s elite. One Helluva Ride , a full-throttle account of the rise and reign of NASCAR nation, is award-winning motorsports reporter Liz Clarke’s chronicle of how stock car racing exploded from regional obsession to national phenomenon. In covering the sport for more than fifteen years, Clarke has developed a strong rapport with NASCAR’s drivers, team owners, and hard-core fans. Through her reporting and analysis, we get to know the public and private sides of NASCAR’s most iconic figures, including seven-time champion Richard Petty, who set the standard for treating fans with respect, and the late Dale Earnhardt, whose brazen, bullying tactics wreaked havoc on the track, but whose heart was as big as Daytona’s infield. The sports world stopped in its tracks the day Earnhardt was killed on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Some feared that NASCAR’s soul would die with him. But it has raced on, steered by visionary promoters, the all-controlling France family (who founded the sport), and, above all, the next generation of drivers to stir fans’ passions: Dale Earnhardt, Jr., son of the NASCAR legend and now, like his father before him, the circuit’s most popular driver; Jeff Gordon, the beloved but oft-maligned outsider, bred from the cradle to be NASCAR’s winningest modern champion; and Kasey Kahne, a reluctant heartthrob whose confidence derives entirely from an accelerator pedal. Clarke also brings us inside NASCAR’s most triumphant and tragic dynasties: the Pettys, the Earnhardts, and the Allisons–and reveals how faith, family, and a deep-seated love of their sport helps them cope with grief and loss. Clarke shows NASCAR to be at a crossroads. In pursuit of a broader audience, NASCAR has severed its sponsorship ties to Big Tobacco, abandoned racetracks in small markets in favor of speedways near glitzy major cities, and welcomed Japan’s Toyota into a sport traditionally restricted to American-made sedans. As NASCAR races toward mass appeal, some suggest it is leaving its roots behind. To others, it is boldly extending its reach from the Southern workingman to every man, woman, and child in the world. Whether you’re one of the die-hard NASCAR faithful or just a casual follower, nobody brings you closer to the sport and business of big-time stock car racing than Liz Clarke. This book, like the phenomenon it profiles, really is One Helluva Ride .
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ISBN:
9780345499882
9780345504494
9780345504494
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Grouping Information
Grouped Work ID | 0398c6bf-e12d-24a2-3f5e-02c18006c19e |
---|---|
Grouping Title | one helluva ride how nascar swept the nation |
Grouping Author | liz clarke |
Grouping Category | book |
Grouping Language | English (eng) |
Last Grouping Update | 2024-03-06 05:54:34AM |
Last Indexed | 2024-04-29 23:32:18PM |
Solr Fields
accelerated_reader_point_value
0
accelerated_reader_reading_level
0
author
Clarke, Liz, 1960-
author_display
Clarke, Liz
available_at_gcld
GRC Granby Library
detailed_location_gcld
GRC Granby Non-Fiction
display_description
From its raw beginnings on Southern dirt tracks, NASCAR smacked of a slightly depraved spectacle, as if nothing but trouble could come from the unbridled locomotion of a V8 engine. By the time NASCAR roared into the twenty-first century, it had grown into a billion-dollar sports and marketing colossus, its races attended by hundreds of thousands of fans on any given weekend from mid-February through mid-November, watched on television by the second-largest viewing audience in sports, and bankrolled by the marketing largesse of the Fortune 500’s elite. One Helluva Ride , a full-throttle account of the rise and reign of NASCAR nation, is award-winning motorsports reporter Liz Clarke’s chronicle of how stock car racing exploded from regional obsession to national phenomenon. In covering the sport for more than fifteen years, Clarke has developed a strong rapport with NASCAR’s drivers, team owners, and hard-core fans. Through her reporting and analysis, we get to know the public and private sides of NASCAR’s most iconic figures, including seven-time champion Richard Petty, who set the standard for treating fans with respect, and the late Dale Earnhardt, whose brazen, bullying tactics wreaked havoc on the track, but whose heart was as big as Daytona’s infield. The sports world stopped in its tracks the day Earnhardt was killed on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Some feared that NASCAR’s soul would die with him. But it has raced on, steered by visionary promoters, the all-controlling France family (who founded the sport), and, above all, the next generation of drivers to stir fans’ passions: Dale Earnhardt, Jr., son of the NASCAR legend and now, like his father before him, the circuit’s most popular driver; Jeff Gordon, the beloved but oft-maligned outsider, bred from the cradle to be NASCAR’s winningest modern champion; and Kasey Kahne, a reluctant heartthrob whose confidence derives entirely from an accelerator pedal. Clarke also brings us inside NASCAR’s most triumphant and tragic dynasties: the Pettys, the Earnhardts, and the Allisons–and reveals how faith, family, and a deep-seated love of their sport helps them cope with grief and loss. Clarke shows NASCAR to be at a crossroads. In pursuit of a broader audience, NASCAR has severed its sponsorship ties to Big Tobacco, abandoned racetracks in small markets in favor of speedways near glitzy major cities, and welcomed Japan’s Toyota into a sport traditionally restricted to American-made sedans. As NASCAR races toward mass appeal, some suggest it is leaving its roots behind. To others, it is boldly extending its reach from the Southern workingman to every man, woman, and child in the world. Whether you’re one of the die-hard NASCAR faithful or just a casual follower, nobody brings you closer to the sport and business of big-time stock car racing than Liz Clarke. This book, like the phenomenon it profiles, really is One Helluva Ride .
format_category_gcld
Books
format_gcld
Book
id
0398c6bf-e12d-24a2-3f5e-02c18006c19e
isbn
9780345499882
9780345504494
9780345504494
itype_gcld
Adult non-fiction
last_indexed
2024-04-30T05:32:18.711Z
lexile_score
-1
literary_form
Non Fiction
literary_form_full
Non Fiction
local_callnumber_gcld
796.72 CLA
owning_library_gcld
Grand County Library Dist
owning_location_gcld
GRC Granby Library
primary_isbn
9780345499882
publishDate
2008
publisher
Villard
recordtype
grouped_work
subject_facet
Electronic books
NASCAR (Association) -- History
Nonfiction
Sports & Recreations
Stock car racing -- United States -- History
Stock cars (Automobiles) -- United States
Transportation
NASCAR (Association) -- History
Nonfiction
Sports & Recreations
Stock car racing -- United States -- History
Stock cars (Automobiles) -- United States
Transportation
title_display
One helluva ride : how NASCAR swept the nation
title_full
One helluva ride : how NASCAR swept the nation / Liz Clarke
One helluva ride [electronic resource] : How nascar swept the nation. Liz Clarke
One helluva ride [electronic resource] : How nascar swept the nation. Liz Clarke
title_short
One helluva ride
title_sub
how NASCAR swept the nation
topic_facet
History
Nonfiction
Sports & Recreations
Stock car racing
Stock cars (Automobiles)
Transportation
Nonfiction
Sports & Recreations
Stock car racing
Stock cars (Automobiles)
Transportation
Solr Details Tables
item_details
Bib Id | Item Id | Shelf Loc | Call Num | Format | Format Category | Num Copies | Is Order Item | Is eContent | eContent Source | eContent URL | Detailed Status | Last Checkin | Location |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
overdrivecmc:ODN0000148566 | ODN0000148566 | Overdrive (CMC) | Online Overdrive (CMC) | eBook | eBook | 1 | false | true | Overdrive (CMC) | http://link.overdrive.com/?websiteID=162&titleID=148566 | Available Online | Overdrive (CMC) | |
ils:.b27638315 | .i51249303 | GRC Granby Non-Fiction | 796.72 CLA | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | Sep 18, 2018 | grgan |
record_details
Bib Id | Format | Format Category | Edition | Language | Publisher | Publication Date | Physical Description | Abridged |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
overdrivecmc:ODN0000148566 | eBook | eBook | English | 2008 | 1 online resource | |||
ils:.b27638315 | Book | Books | 1st ed | English | Villard | [2008] | xix, 293 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm |
scoping_details_gcld
Bib Id | Item Id | Grouped Status | Status | Locally Owned | Available | Holdable | Bookable | In Library Use Only | Library Owned | Holdable PTypes | Bookable PTypes | Local Url |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ils:.b27638315 | .i51249303 | On Shelf | On Shelf | false | true | true | false | false | true | 128, 129, 193, 130, 262, 126, 127 |