The Daytona 500
Pimm, who worked in the pit box during her husband Ed Pimm’s NASCAR racing days, offers an informative introduction to the Daytona 500. Beginning in 1903, when cars actually raced on the beach, this traces the event’s history and discusses the cars, drivers, strategies, and memorable moments. Colorful photos illustrate the clear text, while the many sidebars spotlight related facts. The book concludes with a first-person feature, “Behind the Wheel with John Andretti.” From the Spectacular Sports series, which includes Goal! (2010) and Swish (2009), here’s a solid entry on stock-car racing. — Carolyn Phelan Pimm, who worked in the pit box during her husband Ed Pimm’s NASCAR racing days, offers an informative introduction to the Daytona 500. Beginning in 1903, when cars actually raced on the beach, this traces the event’s history and discusses the cars, drivers, strategies, and memorable moments. Colorful photos illustrate the clear text, while the many sidebars spotlight related facts. The book concludes with a first-person feature, “Behind the Wheel with John Andretti.” From the Spectacular Sports series, which includes Goal! (2010) and Swish (2009), here’s a solid entry on stock-car racing. — Carolyn Phelan
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Praise for The Daytona 500
“Pimm, who worked in the pit box during her husband Ed Pimm’s NASCAR racing days, offers an informative introduction to the Daytona 500. Beginning in 1903, when cars actually raced on the beach, this traces the event’s history and discusses the cars, drivers, strategies, and memorable moments. Colorful photos illustrate the clear text, while the many sidebars spotlight related facts. The book concludes with a first-person feature, ‘Behind the Wheel with John Andretti.’ From the Spectacular Sports series, which includes Goal! (2010) and Swish (2009), here’s a solid entry on stock-car racing.” —Booklist
“The granddaddy of NASCAR racing gets a spit-and-polish treatment in Pimm’s clear, readable text, nicely embellished with plenty of photos. First black-and-white images from the sand days on the beach itself, then the candy-apple reds and panther blacks of today’s aerodynamic racing machines spill across the pages. Liberally sprinkled with checkered-flag info boxes on a wide variety of topics (‘Dueling at Daytona,’ ‘Ditching the Lead,’ and ‘Ladies of NASCAR,’ among them), the text follows the development of NASCAR racing in general and at Daytona in particular. The changing rota of drivers, the rivalries, the tragedies, and the evolution of the simple stock cars to the sleek machines seen on TV are included. A special chapter puts readers behind the wheel with John Andretti as he describes his sensations and actions during a race. While not as heady as the scent of hot engine oil or as dramatic as a 10,000 rpm engine at full throttle, this colorful entry should still have young race fans wheedling for a ‘Speedweeks’ vacation and dreaming of a place in a pit box.” —School Library Journal
“Pimm effectively blends history, statistics, and NASCAR lore into an engaging, satisfying story of one of the most famous car races in the world. Chapters detail the birthplace of the Daytona 500, memorable wins by Allison, Earnhardt, and McMurray, and information about stock cars themselves. A well-chosen collection of archival and contemporary photographs enhance the volume.” —The Horn Book Guide
