Tuesday, March 27, 2012

The book of NASCAR stories

I'm in the editing stage after writing the update of "Then Junior Said to Jeff...", a book of NASCAR stories.

There are stories about old-timers like Junior Johnson, Tim Flock and Curtis Turner, plus current Cup stars like Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, Bobby Labonte, Brad Keselowski and Clint Bowyer.


The book was pretty good before, but I can modestly say that it's better now.


More later.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Then Junior Said to Jeff...


THEN JUNIOR SAID TO JEFF...

I didn't write the NASCAR book "Then Junior Said to Jeff...", one of a series of books by Triumph Publishing. Jim McLaurin and the late David Poole wrote it in 2006.

But I updated it in early 2012.

This is how it came about: Triumph Publishing wanted to update the book, but David Poole had died a few years ago and Jim McLaurin felt he was too long out of racing. So Jim suggested I do it.

The book isn't just about Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon. Poole and McLaurin wrote about everyone from Junior Johnson to Dale Earnhardt to Darrell Waltrip and more. I've added stories about Tim Flock and Jocko Flocko, Cale Yarborough, Sterling Marlin, Tony Stewart and more.

Most of the stories are funny. Buddy Baker, a born storyteller, is a good source of funny stories. Some of the stories — like the one about Mark Martin and former car owner Bill Davis — are interesting.

Poole and McLaurin did a wonderful job, and I hope I made the book better.


A couple of months ago, I went through the galley sheets, looking for mistakes. The new cover is cool — they added the cars of Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt Sr. at the top — and the book came out in October.



More blog entries from The Auto Racing Journal:
• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr. (a book of great stories)
• Then Junior Said to Jeff... (the book of great NASCAR stories)