In truth I finished reading "The Wildest Ride" during the summer of 2004, but the election distracted me from writing a review. Nonetheless I was glad to take a break from an endless line political books. Officially titled: "The Wildest Ride, A History of NASCAR (or How a Bunch of Good Ol' Boys Built a Billion-Dollar Industry out of Wrecking Cars)", the book concentrates on the early history of NASCAR. We often hear that stock car racing has its origins in running moonshine. But the idea of racing cars goes back to the creation of the automobile itself. A more accurate description is that people who used aggressive driving skills to effectively evade the police while smuggling alcohol found they could also use their skills racing. Many early stars of stock car racing did in fact cut their teeth violating Prohibition. While stock car racing is a general term like downhill skiing, NASCAR refers to a specific set of racing series established by (and still run by) the France family. Before NASCAR, southern racing series were plagued by fraud with drivers and car owners getting the short end of the stick. Bill France Sr. was able to bring several track owners together to create racing series with more consistent and enforced rules. While he brought order to the racing world, NASCAR has always been a dictatorial organization. "The Wildest Ride" tends to concentrate on one character at a time, whether drivers like Fireball Roberts, Ned Jarrett, and Junior Johnson or promoters like Humpy Wheeler.
One thing that did surprise me were two efforts at organizing driver's unions. The introduction of a "superspeedway" at Daytona, then later at Talladega offered wilder crashes which helped ticket sales but weren't so good for drivers. The first effort went under when organizer Curtis Turner was banned for life from racing. [He had support from the Teamsters which didn't sit well with many]. The second effort, in 1969, was led by none other than Richard Petty. In fact the #43 car (and thirty-two others) refused to enter the inaugural race at Talladega. There had been some very real concerns about higher speeds, particularly with respect to tires staying together. Later in 1987 Bobby Allison almost sent his car into the stands at Talladega, resulting in engine restrictor plates being required there and at Daytona ever since.
I would say "The Wildest Ride" is best suited to someone who already has an interest in NASCAR. I'm not sure the book would stand on its own, but understanding changes in the sport over time is important to appreciating the events of today.