Summer's great for racing, but it's also a good time for some reading. That is, of course, if you're taking a book or two about racing along on vacation or to the beach. Already on the shelves are books about major racetracks such as Daytona, major drivers such as Dale Earnhardt Jr., and an inspirational release from Winston Cup team owner and Super Bowl winning coach Joe Gibbs.
To help you relax during a lazy summer day, we've pulled together a sampling of some of the latest books on racing. That way, you can kick back while you read about the many people who live their lives wide open.
* "Daytona 500, An Official History" (David Bull Publishing, $39.95). Written by veteran motorsports writer Bob Zeller, this book offers a year-by-year rundown of the events at the high-banked Florida speedway. As with many of David Bull Publishing's projects, the book thrives and succeeds on the basis of the photographs used to tell the story. The book was written in conjunction with the speedway, which allowed the publisher access to the track's archives.
* "Daytona, From the Birth of Speed to the Death of the Man in Black" (Warner Books, $29.95). Where races at the track are the focus of Zeller's book, writer Ed Hinton uses the people as the entry point and the track as the common thread running through everyone in the stock car business. Hinton was close to Earnhardt and recalls many of the comments the driver made to him over the years. Hinton then reflects on losing the driver. "Gone," he writes. "In an eyeblink."
* "A Petty Family Album" (Universal Publishing, $35). Just released is this inspirational visual memoir-written as a tribute to the life of Adam Petty-that captures the history and legacy of the Petty family. The book includes more than 200 photographs-many never seen before-culled from family scrapbooks and photographers. Proceeds will go to the Victory Junction Gang, a camp for critically ill children and their families, founded by Kyle and Pattie Petty in honor of their son Adam.
* "Racing to Win. Establish Your Game Plan to Success" (Multnomah Publishers, $21.99). Joe Gibbs and co-author Ken Abraham have come up with a book that is part autobiography, part motivational essay, and a guide to Gibbs' success. At one point Gibbs, who fields cars for Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte, recalls his decision to stop coaching in the NFL. "I retired from football because I couldn't find my family!" Gibbs writes. "I realized my sons were growing up with an absentee father, even though I was living under the same roof. I was a football recluse."
* "Driver #8" (Warner Books, $23.95). This autobiography of Dale Earnhardt Jr. is co-authored by Jade Gurss. Junior's personality flows throughout the book, and there are several funny stories. Take, for example, the story of Junior being chastised by NASCAR President Mike Helton for failing to make the sport's weekly teleconference with reporters after the July race in Daytona. "I know," Junior recalls saying to Helton about the importance. "But you've got 43 drivers out there. Of all of them, who do you expect will be the most hungover on the day after the Fourth of July? Just think about that when you schedule these things."
* "Tony Stewart: True Speed" (HarperCollins, $24.95). Stewart, along with writer Bones Bourcier, attempts to put his life, his career, and approach to racing in perspective. "If people learn anything from this book, I hope it's that I'm not such a bad guy," Stewart says in the introduction. "Really."
* "Dale Earnhardt: 23 Years With the Intimidator" (MBI Publishing, $19.95). The editors of Stock Car Racing and Circle Track magazines produced this 192-page, paperback book commemorating the life and times of Dale Earnhardt. Compiled from the archives of Circle Track and Stock Car Racing, the book assembles the best stories, interviews, photos, and race reports on Earnhardt from the magazines' nearly 40 years of racing coverage.