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Stock Car Racing Guide: History/Social Aspects

Research guide for stock car racing topics.

History and Social Aspects of Stock Car Racing

Beekman, Scott. NASCAR Nation: A History of Stock Car Racing in the United States. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2010. Stock Car GV1029.9 S74 B46 2010. Also available electronically.

Chapin, Kim. Fast as White Lightning; The Story of Stock Car Racing . updated ed. NY: Three Rivers Press, 1998. Stock Car GV1029.9 .S74 C44 1998
Anecdotal account of the beginnings of the sport and its growth to national prominence.

Daniel, Pete. "Fast and Furious." In his Lost Revolutions: The South in the 1950's . Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2001. Pages 91-120. ASU Main Stacks F216 D36 2000
Excellent social history of the impact of automobiles and stock car racing in the South.

Donovan, Brian. Hard Driving, The Wendell Scott Story: The American Odyssey of NASCAR's First Black Driver. Hanover, NH: Steerforth Press, 2008. Stock Car GV1032 S36 D66 2008. Thoroughly researched story of the only African-American driver to win a race in NASCAR's top division.                                                                                                                                                

Falk, Duane. The Winston Cup . NY: MetroBooks, 2000. Stock Car GV1029.9 .S74 F35 2000
Account of NASCAR's top echelon of racing since 1971. Lots of illustrations.

Fielden, Greg. Forty Years of Stock Car Racing . four vols. Surfside Beach, SC: Galfield Press, 1992.
Stock Car REF GV1029.9 .S74 F54 1992. Supplemented by Forty Plus Four 1990-1993 . Stock Car REF GV1029.9 .S74 F545 1994
The most detailed history of the sport available, these volumes are compilations of newspaper articles for each race of the season plus special events like the Daytona twin 125-mile qualifying races for the years 1950-1993. Includes individual and season statistics.

Gabbard, Alex. Return to Thunder Road: The Story Behind the Legend. Lenoir City, TN: Gabbard Publications, 1992. Stock Car HJ 5021 .G32 1992. Another copy in the Appalachian Collection.Stories of moonshining in the Southern Appalachians. Includes accounts of hauling whiskey with U.S. Treasury agents in hot pursuit.

Golenbock, Peter. American Zoom: Stock Car Racing From the Dirt Tracks to Daytona. NY:Macmillan, 1994.
Stock Car GV 1029.9 .S74 G65 1994
Very readable history of stock car racing told through interviews with pioneers in the sport.

Hagstrom, Robert. The NASCAR Way: The Business that Drives the Sport . NY: John Wiley, 1998.
Stock Car GV1029.9 .S74 H34 1998
Looks at the economics of NASCAR and why it has been so successful.

Hembree, Mike. NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport. NY: HarperEntertainment, 2000.
Stock Car GV1029.9 .S74 H43 2000
Illustrated popular history of the sport.

Howell, Mark D. From Moonshine to Madison Avenue: A Cultural History of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series . Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1997. Stock Car GV1029.9 .S74 H68 1997. Another copy in the Appalachian Collection.
Traces the sport from its moonshining roots to today's big business profile. Excellent bibliography.

Hunter, Don, and Al Pearce. The Illustrated History of Stock Car Racing . Osceola, WI: MBI Publishing, 1998.
Stock Car GV1029.9 .S74 H86 1998
Heavily illustrated history of the sport, arranged by decade.

Newman, Joshua I., and Michael D. Giardina. Sport, Spectacle, and NASCAR Nation: Consumption and the Cultural Politics of Neoliberalism. NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. Stock Car GV1029.9 S74 N48 2011.
Essays on the use of stock car racing to further political and economic agendas.

Pierce, Daniel s. Real NASCAR: White Lightning, Red Clay, and Big Bill France. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina press, 2010. Stock Car GV1029.9 S74 P54 2010.
The first scholarly history of the sport. Solid scholarship is presented in a very accessible text. Especially interesting for the documented ties between racng and moonshining.

Thompson, Neal. Driving with the Devil: Southern Moonshine, Detroit Wheels, and the Birth of NASCAR. NY: Crown Publishers, 2006. Stock Car GV1029.9 S76 T46 2006.
Outstanding account of the history of stock car racing in the Southeast and its influence on the establishment of NASCAR.

Wilkinson, Sylvia. Dirt Tracks to Glory: The Early Days of Stock Car Racing As Told by the Participants . Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books, 1983. APP COLL GV1029.9 .S74 W54 1983
Wonderful first-hand accounts of the beginning of stock car racing by Bill France, Sr., Tim Flock, Humpy Wheeler, Banjo Matthews, Wendell Scott, and others.

Librarian

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Suzanne Wise
Contact:
Belk Library and Information Commons
Appalachian State University
Boone, NC 28608-2026
tel: 828-262-2798

Curator of the Stock Car Racing Collection