Pre-Owned Wide Open Paperback Shaun Assael

Publishers Weekly,With its roots in the moonshine country of the Carolina hills, NASCAR racing has evolved into a multimillion-dollar business with an annual awards ceremony held at the Waldorf-Astoria and offices in New York City. NASCAR traces its beginning to 1947 when William France Sr. invited 35 race-track promoters to a meeting in Daytona Beach, Fla., and formed the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. As described by Assael, a writer for ESPN magazine, the sport grew steadily over the next several decades and was propelled into the big time in the early 1980s when the broadcast networks and various cable channels began to air stock-car racing on a regular basis. In his look at the world of NASCAR, Assael focuses on the 1996 Winston Cup tour and gives a vivid account of the brutal toll racing takes on drivers, crews and their families. The author gives a race-by-race account of the 1996 tour and notes that nearly every event features a "wreck" that injures at least one driver. In addition to the physical demands of the sport, Assael shows the pressures team owners face in trying to find sponsors who have the resources to back these expensive operations. Far from being a gossipy tell-all, this is a solid, exciting account of what is one of the most popular and fastest-growing sports in the country. Photos not seen by PW. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved