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NASCAR turns 75 years young in 2023, and celebrations are running all season long. NASCAR 75 Years is yet another wonderful publication from Motorbooks that commemorates the occasion. Like many of their books, the printing, binding, and paper stock used is top-notch. When it comes to mass-market automotive publishing, Motorbooks is hard to top for quality.
NASCAR 75 Years aims to portray the highlights of stock car” racing. Sure, they’re far from stock these days, but hey, I’m old, and besides, the book more than covers the technical evolutions as well. Back in the ’50s and ’60s, they were stock, but oh, how times have changed.
Gentlemen, Start Your Engines
NASCAR 75 Years starts back at the sands of Daytona Beach. Most NASCAR fans know that before they built the Daytona banked speedway, they used to run the races literally on the beach. But then you crack open this book and whoo-boy, rough and tumble doesn’t even begin to describe those early days.
Decade by decade, NASCAR 75 Years takes readers through a more-than-entertaining history of American stock car racing. The writing is clear and concise, moving along at a readable clip. This is all down to our quartet of authors: Kelly Crandall, Jimmy Creed, Mike Hembree, and Al Pearce. Those names should be familiar to many race fans since they crop up frequently as pit reporters and correspondents, radio show hosts and guests, motorsport writers, and book authors. This writing crew does some of their best work in NASCAR 75 Years.
The chapters are divided by decades, with the 1960s covering the superspeedway era, while the chapter on the ’90s dives into the biggest household names ever associated with NASCAR. The final chapter looks at NASCAR in the 2020s and beyond.
NASCAR 75 Years Photography
As rock solid as a Jerico four-speed transmission are the photos. Boy, howdy, NASCAR 75 Years is packed with cool photos! If you think things can get crazy at Bristol now, check out the pictures from back in the day. The whole book is crammed full of door-to-door racing shots and more.
Do you remember “The Fight?” That time Cale Yarborough and Bobby Allison got into a “discussion” about the finish of the 1979 Daytona 500? Okay, so it was less of a discussion and more of a full-blown fistfight amidst the wreckage in the infield. NASCAR 75 Years gives it two pages worth of photos: a nice one of the start of the wreck, then three full-color shots of Yarborough and Allison going at it. There’s a great one of Yarborough trying to roundhouse kick Allison a la Bruce Lee that’s comedy gold!
NASCAR 75 Years
As an Amazon Associate, Automoblog earns from qualifying purchases.
NASCAR 75 Years captures the most remarkable moments throughout the decades: from the beaches of Daytona to the jaw-clenching competition, the mind-bending technology, the triumphs, the teamwork, and the high-speed thrills.
Large-format photography throughout NASCAR history brings the stories to life, each written by a roster of veteran motorsport reporters and historians.
Perfect for NASCAR fans of all ages.
Perfect Gift For NASCAR Fans
When you get right down to it, NASCAR knows what it’s about: high-speed, close-quarters racing carried out by fearless and charismatic drivers who want to win more than anything else. It makes for a great Sunday afternoon, and it’s all covered here in NASCAR 75 Years. At the time of this writing, new and used copies are available on Amazon. If you have a NASCAR fan in your family, surprise them with this book.
Longtime Automoblog writer Tony Borroz has worked on popular driving games as a content expert, in addition to working for aerospace companies, software giants, and as a movie stuntman. He lives in the northeast corner of the northwestern-most part of the Pacific Northwest.
