Archive for Items Categorized 'Biography/ Autobiography', only excerpts shown, click title for full entry.

Lynn Paxton—My Way

by Don Robinson

Paxton often says he’ll be addicted to racing until he dies, and this biography makes his passion abundantly clear. He’s won more than most but can’t be bothered to keep count, because he has an even greater passion: family.

The First Lady of Dirt

The Triumphs and Tragedy of Racing Pioneer Cheryl Glass

by Bill Poehler

It’s no surprise that public figures keep their struggles private. In the case of a female driver you can image what those are. Also, she was also not only black but the first black female pro driver. And hardships followed her all her life, until it ended in suicide.

Hello, I’m Paul Page: “It’s Race Day in Indianapolis”

by Paul Page & J.R. Elrod

Could auto racing reporting be Emmy-worthy? You bet—Page did it twice! He probably could have brought excitement to reading the telephone directory out loud. From the X Games to hot dog eating contests, this memoir covers six decades in the broadcast booth.

Fay Taylour, ‘The World’s Wonder Girl’ – A Life at Speed

by Stephen M. Cullen

An Irish motorcyclist travels the world as an itinerant racer, becomes a car salesperson in Hollywood and discovers that quintessential American grass roots activity, midget car racing on dirt tracks. Not unusual enough? There’s more.

Sir Joseph Whitworth

by Norman Atkinson

You know the name even if you don’t think you do. The British Standard Whitworth system codified an accepted standard for screw threads. He did many more things, in his field and as a man—and he deserves to be better known!

The Fastest Woman on Wheels, The Life of Paula Murphy

by Erik Arneson

Skates–sailboat–horse: if it moves, let’s see if it can move faster. She came to motorsports only in her thirties and then almost by accident, but it stuck and she was good with anything she drove. But she almost missed this biography, dying just a few months later.

Happy Lucky Days – My Life in Racing 

by Bob Evans

Racing in the the glory days of F5000, Evans showed plenty of talent but as his entertaining and candid autobiography shows, scoring points and wins has a lot to do with factors outside a driver’s control.

Ed Pink, The Old Master

by Ed Pink with Bones Bourcier

There was a time, before crew chiefs, when engine builders were as famous as the star drivers because they saw to every aspect of a car’s performance. Having built thousands of engines, at 92, Pink has finally called it quits.

Flying and Preserving Historic Aircraft, The Memoirs of David Ogilvy

by David Ogilvy

Can’t tell roll from bank? Ever put a fuel-soaked rag into your carb intake to encourage combustion? Ever piloted a 1910 triplane, or the first British jet? Ogilvy’s highly polished prose will transport you into the cockpit.

The Diesel Odyssey of Clessie Cummins

by C. Lyle Cummins Jr.

Cummins is not only the name behind the ubiquitous Cummins Diesel truck engine but also a world speed and endurance record holder. Readers with historical awareness will recognize in the publisher’s name a clever homage to Sadi Carnot, the brilliant young French scientist who is considered the father of thermodynamics.

Speed Queens, A Secret History of Women in Motorsports

by Rachel Harris-Gardiner

For almost ten years the author has run the Speedqueens blog, and it contains a lot of material. She has a plethora of stories to
tell, and while she crams too much information into this debut book, it also offers her and others great opportunities for further exploration.

Go Fast or Go Home: The Garth Hogan Story

by Tim Hanna

Dragster racer, record holder, FIA commissioner, founder of multiple businesses, pilot, restorer, museum founder—just reading this list makes you wonder if the differences in cyclonic motion in the hemispheres affects how time flies on Zealandia.

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