Dirt Tracks to Glory by Sylvia Wilkinson

The Early Days of Stock Car Racing As Told by the Participants

More than forty years ago, Sylvia Wilkinson took her note pad, a tape recorder and an open mind to the dirt bull rings and backwoods of garages in the American South in the hopes of capturing the reflections of the people who made NASCAR stock car racing happen. What she encountered were the folksy origins, colorful characters and rough beginnings of today’s billion-dollar sport.

In this all-new edition of Dirt Tracks to Glory we return to the very personal and often hilarious inside stories of sharp-witted people who became legends in the early days of NASCAR. Bill France Sr, Humpy Wheeler, Curtis Turner, “Little Joe” Weatherly, Glenn “Fireball” Roberts, the Flock Brothers, Banjo Matthews, Smokey Yunick and a host of others emerge from these pages with their personal reflections and wry commentary on the way it was in the days of “haulin shine”, bangin’ fenders and out-smartin’ the other hot-shoes on Saturday nights.

To quote the author: “This book was told to me by and about the people who went with stock car racing from its beginnings…It is not an encyclopedia of stock car racing biographies, but a series of individual remembrances and perspectives of one special revelation of the American dream – from Dirt tracks to Glory!” It’s hard to disagree with her candid analysis or her engaging presentation of NASCAR’s early days.

Hardbound | 208 pages | 136 illustrations