Best of
Racing

2018

Racing to the Finish: My Story


Dale Earnhardt Jr. - 2018
    What he didn’t know was that it would also end his driving for the year. He’d dealt with concussions before, but concussions are like snowflakes—no two are the same. And recovery can be brutal—and lengthy.As a third-generation driver in a family forever connected to the sport of stock-car racing, how could Dale Earnhardt Jr. sit on the sidelines and watch everyone else take their laps? It was one of the toughest seasons of his life—one that changed him forever.In this gripping narrative from one of professional sports’ most beloved figures, Dale Jr. shares stories from his journey: how his career and his injury have transformed him, how he made the decision to retire at the end of the 2017 season after eighteen years behind the wheel, and what lies ahead for him in the next chapter of his life. There’s no second-guessing and no regrets from Driver #88. He simply wants to go out on his own terms and make the rest of his life off the racetrack count. Junior says, “I don’t want these last races to be just about me but rather the people who made my success possible: my fans, the folks who pack the grandstands rain or shine, my teammates and crew members through the years, industry colleagues, track volunteers, friends, family, sponsors. They’ve all played a role. I couldn’t have done it without them.”

The Race


Alice Ward - 2018
    She likes it faster. Who will win this race? As founder and CEO of UnCaged Fitness, I sponsor some of the hottest fitness properties around. Top female athletes and models beg for my attention. I’m rich. I’m ruthless. And when it comes to my business, I don’t play around. Until Emma James and her beautiful curves comes to Daytona. With dreams of winning the NASCAR Cup, Emma has one speed — fast. She’s hot, deadly behind the wheel, and she doesn’t take crap from anyone. Especially me. Which only makes me more determined to have her. If she doesn’t take me down first. *** This is a full length novel with a happily ever after, no cliffhanger, no cheating, and plenty of steam. For a LIMITED TIME, this copy ALSO includes another brand new NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED book of mine, The Fight, as a bonus. ***

Burndown


Winter Travers - 2018
    Not only is he at the bottom of the totem pole, he’s pretty sure his crew chief hates him. Remy knows anything worth having takes hard work and dedication. As he slowly tries to earns the trust of his crew chief, Remy falls for the new girl in town, and without him knowing it, she steals his heart. Everything is lining up, almost clear to the finish line of capturing her heart just as she has won his, when Remy figures out who Harlyn Krinston is. She may be the thing to make his whole world pause and delay the race he’s been on to create the career he’s always envisioned. Will Remy have the reaction time it takes to win Harlyn’s heart, or will he foul start before the race even begins?

The Perfect Car: The Biography of John Barnard


Nick Skeens - 2018
    Written with Barnard’s cooperation and with input from dozens of associates, drivers and rivals, this biography tells the entire story, both personal and professional, of a British design genius. Barnard’s technical achievements are explored in detail — and in accessible language — with special emphasis on his brilliant initiatives while at McLaren (the first carbon-fibre composite chassis) and Ferrari (the first semi-automatic gearbox). The Perfect Car is also a human-interest story, telling a tale of innovation under intense pressure while Barnard endeavoured to maintain a stable family life. This is a landmark book that will be relished by anyone interested in motorsport and design.

Thrust (Racing Dirty #1)


J. Lynn Lombard - 2018
    I had the girl and the racing career that put me on top of the world. It took one night. One mistake to tear it all away. I failed the only woman who forever owns my heart. She left. It's been five long, dark years. A tragic accident shakes the racing world and she's on her way back. I can breathe again. The misery and torment has eased, her light bursting back into my dark world. IzzyI didn't expect pain this intense would ever affect me. I didn't know falling for someone would rip my heart out. Until Xavier. His decision all those years ago changed the course of my life. His choice made a hard decision clear. A distraught phone call has me heading back to the place where he tore my heart to pieces. A tragedy that was no accident. Now, I have to protect not only my heart, by my life as well.

J.D.: : The Life and Death of a Forgotten NASCAR Legend


Brock Beard - 2018
    Watkins Glen, New York. 52-year-old John Delphus “J.D.” McDuffie, Jr. climbs aboard his No. 70 Pontiac, lined up 35th on the grid for NASCAR’s Budweiser at the Glen. For the 653rd time, he pinches a cigar between his teeth and fires the engine. Few take notice of No. 70 as it rolls onto the 2.428-mile road course - only a small group of volunteers, fans, and family back home in Sanford, North Carolina. Even they knew McDuffie had never won a NASCAR race, and likely never would before the big-money teams squeezed him out of the sport. But no one knew that just five laps later, McDuffie would be dead, killed in a terrible two-car accident with fellow racer Jimmy Means. “J.D.: The Life and Death of a Forgotten NASCAR Legend” tells the true story of J.D. McDuffie, one of stock car racing’s most beloved owner-drivers. It’s the tale of a man who honed his skills as a mechanic and built his own team from the ground-up, his No. 70 banging fenders with the likes of Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. It’s also about the close-knit group of supporters who came together to make sure McDuffie made it to the track in a rapidly-changing sport. And it’s about that tragic weekend at Watkins Glen, the investigation that followed, and the legacy he’s left behind. Top to bottom, it’s one of the most comprehensive stories of any race car driver, and a tribute to NASCAR’s blue-collar past.

Leading the Way


Steve Letarte - 2018
    

Ultimate Speed: The Fast Life and Extreme Cars of Racing Legend Craig Breedlove


Samuel Hawley - 2018
    hot-rodder with a high school education, a family to support, and almost no money, Craig Breedlove set out in the late 1950s to do something big: harness the thrust of a jet in a car. With a growing obsession that would cost him his marriage, he started building in his dad’s garage. The car's name was Spirit of America. Through perseverance and endless hard work, Craig completed Spirit and broke the land speed record on the Bonneville Salt Flats, setting a new mark of 407 mph in 1963. He went on to be the first person to drive 500 and 600 mph, breaking the land speed record five times. In the early 1970s he turned to rockets and set an acceleration record at Bonneville that stands to this day. He built a jet car in the 1990s, Spirit of America–Sonic Arrow, to go head to head against Britain’s ThrustSSC to be the first to Mach 1. Craig’s subsequent crash at 675 mph remains the fastest in history. Even today, at the age of eighty, he is going strong with plans for yet another Spirit of America racer. The ultimate goal: 1,000 mph.Ultimate Speed is the authorized biography of Craig Breedlove, with a foreword by Craig himself. A candid revelation of one of motorsports' most interesting figures, the book is based primarily on countless hours of interviews with Craig and dozens of people connected to his life.