Growing Up Nascar: Racing'S Most Outrageous Promoter Tells All

Description

In 1949, Humpy Wheeler attended his first NASCAR race aged 11, and from then on spent as much time in the pits as he could, coming to know many of the sport's leading pioneers, and working in just about every job NASCAR had. He began to promote racing at Carolina tracks like Concord Speedway, Robinwood and Starlight Speedway, often using his fists to keep order, and with a gun by his side to guard the purse in the rough, early days of NASCAR. This blow-by-blow account - sometimes literally! - takes the reader from the early days of rough-and-ready stock car racing along an exhilarating ride with one of it's wildest prompters. A few weeks after driver Cale Yarbroughgave the less-than-complimentary nickname 'Jaws' to rival driver Darrell Waltrip, Wheeler bought a giant dead shark, placed a dead chicken in the shark's mouth, and had it driven around the track on a flatbed truck before a race at Charlotte - Yarborough's sponsor at the time was Holly Farms Poultry. In 2007, Wheeler announced that the Bank of America 500 would feature an 'all-you-can-eat grandstand,' where fans would pay a set ticket price, and would then get to eat as much as they wanted of the grandstand's food before, during, and after the race. The publicity for this event included Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest champion Joey Chestnut at the press conference - the man who invented the pre-race show, helped NASCAR become the six-billion dollar industry it is today, and has his own programme on Speed TV, the "Humpy Wheeler Show" - a book not be missed by racing fans.

In 1947, when Humpy Wheeler was nine years old, he put his thumb out on Highway 29 and hitched a ride to the Charlotte Speedway. Since then, Humpy has held just about every job there is in NASCAR. The consummate promoter, Humpy invented the pre-race show. Peter Golenbock has been writing books about sports since 1975. Some of his best sellers are Dynasty, The Bronx Zoo (with Sparky Lyle), Number 1 (with Billy Martin), and Balls (with Greg Nettles.) He has also written a series of NASCAR histories including American Zoom, The Last Lap, and NASCAR Confidential.

"Bristol"" Herald Courier", March 19, 2010 "With the assistance of author Peter Golenbock, Wheeler's recently traced his colorful life and career in the book "Growing Up NASCAR: Racing's Most Outrageous Promoter Tells All". From grimy dirt tracks to lavish superspeedways, Wheeler feels there are five essential elements for attracting and retaining fans to motorsports.""""Gaston Gazette", March 26, 2010 "Wheeler's stories of growing up in Belmont, his mother's store in Gastonia and his maternal grandparents' home in Bessemer lend a strong GastonCounty flavor to the book. It explores his days at Robinwood Speedway. Wheeler describes his role as a young promoter fresh out of college and the exploits of such Gastonia drivers as the Cooper Brothers, Jim Dimeo, Harold Dunnaway and others who created dynamic action at what he said was the best quarter-mile track ever built." "Truly a fun, entertaining book, it also gives some good insights into the man and the personality behind what we've all seen in races." - SpeedWeekly.net Herald Courier, March 19, 2010 "With the assistance of author Peter Golenbock, Wheeler's recently traced his colorful life and career in the book Growing Up NASCAR: Racing's Most Outrageous Promoter Tells All. From grimy dirt tracks to lavish superspeedways, Wheeler feels there are five essential elements for attracting and retaining fans to motorsports." Gaston Gazette, March 26, 2010 "Wheeler's stories of growing up in Belmont, his mother's store in Gastonia and his maternal grandparents' home in Bessemer lend a strong Gaston County flavor to the book. It explores his days at Robinwood Speedway. Wheeler describes his role as a young promoter fresh out of college and the exploits of such Gastonia drivers as the Cooper Brothers, Jim Dimeo, Harold Dunnaway and others who created dynamic action at what he said was the best quarter-mile track ever built." Herald Courier, March 19, 2010 With the assistance of author Peter Golenbock, Wheeler s recently traced his colorful life and career in the book Growing Up NASCAR: Racing's Most Outrageous Promoter Tells All. From grimy dirt tracks to lavish superspeedways, Wheeler feels there are five essential elements for attracting and retaining fans to motorsports. Gaston Gazette, March 26, 2010 Wheeler s stories of growing up in Belmont, his mother s store in Gastonia and his maternal grandparents home in Bessemer lend a strong Gaston County flavor to the book. It explores his days at Robinwood Speedway. Wheeler describes his role as a young promoter fresh out of college and the exploits of such Gastonia drivers as the Cooper Brothers, Jim Dimeo, Harold Dunnaway and others who created dynamic action at what he said was the best quarter-mile track ever built. " Herald Courier, March 19, 2010 "With the assistance of author Peter Golenbock, Wheeler's recently traced his colorful life and career in the book Growing Up NASCAR: Racing's Most Outrageous Promoter Tells All. From grimy dirt tracks to lavish superspeedways, Wheeler feels there are five essential elements for attracting and retaining fans to motorsports." Gaston Gazette, March 26, 2010 "Wheeler's stories of growing up in Belmont, his mother's store in Gastonia and his maternal grandparents' home in Bessemer lend a strong Gaston County flavor to the book. It explores his days at Robinwood Speedway. Wheeler describes his role as a young promoter fresh out of college and the exploits of such Gastonia drivers as the Cooper Brothers, Jim Dimeo, Harold Dunnaway and others who created dynamic action at what he said was the best quarter-mile track ever built." "Truly a fun, entertaining book, it also gives some good insights into the man and the personality behind what we've all seen in races." - SpeedWeekly.net