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Review by Budd Bailey
In the past decade or so, NASCAR auto racing has been coming up fast in the rear view mirror of the sports world, passing other sports in popularity with regularity. In the process it has partly shed its image of a close association with the rural South, and has added fans and corporate sponsors across the nation.
Along the way, names such as Jeff Gordon, Terry Labonte and Dale Earnhardt have become a much bigger part of the sporting landscape. These superstars of stock car racing have been the subject of a merchandising boom, as souvenir t-shirts of those drivers probably can be purchased in every flea market in America.
With all that as a backdrop, Shaun Assael spent much of 1996 following the NASCAR tour around the country. He avoided the top names, electing to go with racers who aren't that well known for the most part. The result is an intriguing snapshot of the stock car racing world.
Assael, who will work as one of the writers for the soon-to-debut ESPN magazine, hooked up with Brett Bodine, Dave Marcis and Bobby Hamilton. Bodine has been right in the middle of the pack of drivers in terms of fame. Marcis is an old-time racer who is trying to compete on the track even though the changing finances of the sport make it ever harder to keep up off the track. Hamilton is on the verge of joining the elite.
Two themes run through the book. The first is -- surprise! -- money, which is a subtext of every major sport these days. While racers like Gordon and Earnhardt have all sorts of advantages because of stronger financial support, Bodine has to spend part of his time shaking hands with potential sponsors for next year's cars. The next time you watch an auto race, remember that while the race track may be level, the proverbial playing field is not.
The other theme is mechanical failures, and -- by extension -- crashes. The search for the perfect car is an elusive one, and just when one is set up properly for a given race track it seems to hit a wall. The drivers may not worry much about personal injuries due to accidents, but those wrecks sure do leave them angry if they think another driver was at fault.
"Wide Open" can safely be called a good intermediate book on the sport. It doesn't get too complicated about cars, concentrating on personalities. It has a few background chapters on some of the legends of the sport, such as Junior Johnson and Richard Petty. If NASCAR has gotten your attention in the past few years and you'd like to learn more, this is a good place to start.
Budd Bailey likes nitro-burning funny cars as much as the next guy. He is a sportswriter in Buffalo, New York.
©1998, ProMotion, inc.
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