Neal Thompson is a veteran journalist who has worked for the Baltimore Sun, Philadelphia Inquirer, and St. Petersburg Times, and whose magazine stories have appeared in Outside, Esquire, Backpacker, and Men’s Health. He teaches at the University of North Carolina-Asheville’s Great Smokies Writing Program and is author of Light This Candle: The Life & Times of Alan Shepard, America’s First Spaceman. Thompson, his wife, and their two sons live in the mountains outside Asheville, North Carolina.
"Thompson exhumes the sport's Prohibition-era roots in this
colorful, meticulously detailed history."
-Time Magazine
“Here’s the real story, not just of NASCAR, but of the new South
that emerged from moonshine and speed.”
—Richard Ben Cramer, author of Joe DiMaggio: The Hero’s Life and
editor of The Best American Sports Writing 2004
“Neal Thompson has written NASCAR’s Glory of Their Times. He tells
the true story of NASCAR’s beginnings, revealing the sport’s strong
whiskey roots and letting us get to know its key movers and
shakers, including the triumvirate of racer Red Byron, mechanic Red
Vogt, and bootlegger car owner Raymond Parks. Like Seabiscuit,
Thompson makes a sport and an era come wonderfully alive.”
—Peter Golenbock, author of Miracle: Bobby Allison and the Saga of
the Alabama Gang and American Zoom: Stock Car Racing—From Dirt
Tracks to Daytona
“Driving with the Devil is a full-tilt excursion through the back
roads of NASCAR’s past, when moonshiners and scofflaws pioneered
the sport. This is a tale that sanitized corporate NASCAR would
rather forget about, but with Neal Thompson at the wheel, it makes
for wonderful reading.”
—Sharyn McCrumb, author of St. Dale
“Driving with the Devil is a treasure trove of historically
relevant information that tracks the history of the American
automobile industry, the culture and morality of the broader
society, and the motivations and personalities of early
stock-car-racing operatives. All of which have inexorably
contributed to the foundation and fabric of NASCAR’s brand of
stock-car racing as it manifests itself today.”
—Jack Roush, chairman of Roush Racing
“Driving with the Devil is a most impressive piece of work. Most
Americans have the vague notion that big-time stock-car racing
sprang from moonshine-hauling in the southern Appalachians prior to
the Second World War, but here is documented proof that it was that
and much more. Neal Thompson’s Driving with the Devil nails it once
and for all: a riveting report any student of Americana will
cherish. It’s no more about racing than The Old Man and the Sea is
about fishing.”
—Paul Hemphill, author of Lovesick Blues: The Life of Hank Williams
and Wheels: A Season on NASCAR’s Winston Cup Circuit
"A fascinating and fast-moving account of NASCAR's fledgling
days."
–Atlanta Journal Constitution
"There are more divorces, drunks and wrecks than you can shake a
checkered flag at...A thoroughly researched account of a 'simpler
time' in a sport that has since become a multi-billion dollar
business."
–NBC News anchor Brian Williams, in the Wall Street Journal
"Thompson exhumes the sport's Prohibition-era roots in this
colorful, meticulously detailed history."
-Time Magazine
"Here's the real story, not just of NASCAR, but of the new South
that emerged from moonshine and speed."
-Richard Ben Cramer, author of Joe DiMaggio: The Hero's Life
and editor of The Best American Sports Writing 2004
"Neal Thompson has written NASCAR's Glory of Their Times. He
tells the true story of NASCAR's beginnings, revealing the sport's
strong whiskey roots and letting us get to know its key movers and
shakers, including the triumvirate of racer Red Byron, mechanic Red
Vogt, and bootlegger car owner Raymond Parks. Like
Seabiscuit, Thompson makes a sport and an era come
wonderfully alive."
-Peter Golenbock, author of Miracle: Bobby Allison and the Saga
of the Alabama Gang and American Zoom: Stock Car
Racing-From Dirt Tracks to Daytona
"Driving with the Devil is a full-tilt excursion through the
back roads of NASCAR's past, when moonshiners and scofflaws
pioneered the sport. This is a tale that sanitized corporate NASCAR
would rather forget about, but with Neal Thompson at the wheel, it
makes for wonderful reading."
-Sharyn McCrumb, author of St. Dale
"Driving with the Devil is a treasure trove of historically
relevant information that tracks the history of the American
automobile industry, the culture and morality of the broader
society, and the motivations and personalities of early
stock-car-racing operatives. All of which have inexorably
contributed to the foundation and fabric of NASCAR's brand of
stock-car racing as it manifests itself today."
-Jack Roush, chairman of Roush Racing
"Driving with the Devil is a most impressive piece of work.
Most Americans have the vague notion that big-time stock-car racing
sprang from moonshine-hauling in the southern Appalachians prior to
the Second World War, but here is documented proof that it was that
and much more. Neal Thompson's Driving with the Devil nails
it once and for all: a riveting report any student of Americana
will cherish. It's no more about racing than The Old Man and the
Sea is about fishing."
-Paul Hemphill, author of Lovesick Blues: The Life of Hank
Williams and Wheels: A Season on NASCAR's Winston Cup
Circuit
"A fascinating and fast-moving account of NASCAR's
fledgling days."
-Atlanta Journal Constitution
"There are more divorces, drunks and wrecks than you can
shake a checkered flag at...A thoroughly researched account of a
'simpler time' in a sport that has since become a multi-billion
dollar business."
-NBC News anchor Brian Williams, in
the Wall Street Journal
Thompson (Light This Candle) focuses on the early history of NASCAR racing. Unlike other writers on the subject, however, he delves into the pre-World War II roots of the sport-the beginnings of true "`stock car" racing-and finds older drivers still alive to tell their stories. He also outlines the development of the organization that structured freelance competitive racing events into a sanctioned sport, one much safer for both driver and spectator. In the portraits that emerge here, Thompson mines the rich heritage of Southern culture and mixes macho adventurists, speed, grim determination, and the automobile, capturing not only the regional appeal of the sport, but also the tenor of the times. The book ends where most other histories begin: in the 1950s, as the sport finally organized itself into a going concern. This is recommended as a revealing look at the oldest history of what has grown to be a multi-billion-dollar industry and the second most popular spectator sport in the country.-Eric C. Shoaf, Brown Univ. Lib., Providence Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
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