Memoir Mondays... He Crashed Me So I Crashed Him Back by Mark Bechtel

The Story of One of the Roughest & Rowdiest Seasons in Racing...

He Crashed Me So I Crashed Him Back by Mark Bechtel...From the publisher: On a cold February day in 1979, when most of the Northeast was snowed in by a blizzard, NASCAR entered the American consciousness with a dramatic telecast of the Daytona 500. It was the first 500-mile race to be broadcast live on national television and featured the heroes and legends of the sport racing on a hallowed track. With one of the wildest finishes in sports history--a finish that was just the start of the drama--everything changed for what is now America's second most popular sport. HE CRASHED ME SO I CRASHED HIM BACK is the story of an emerging sport trying to find its feet. It's the story of how Bobby Allison, Donnie Allison, Cale Yarborough, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip, A.J. Foyt, and Kyle Petty came together in an unforgettable season that featured the first nationally televised NASCAR races. There were rivalries--even the sibling kind--and plenty of fistfights, feuds, and frenzied finishes. Rollicking and full of larger-than-life characters, HE CRASHED ME SO I CRASHED HIM BACK is the remarkable tale of the birth of modern stock-car racing.

NASCAR stands for The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. What is a "Stock Car"? It's defined as, "A stock car, in the original sense of the term, described an automobile that has not been modified from its original factory configuration. Later the term stock car came to mean any production-based automobile used in racing. This term is used to differentiate such a car from a race car, a special, custom-built car designed only for racing purposes." And thanks to Mark Bechtel, there's a wonderful new book that brings NASCAR to life.

What did I think of the book? I thought it brought the sport of NASCAR to life! Especially for someone like me who knows only a little about the sport. And I enjoyed it too! Mark Bechtel is a great writer, and the book brought the people like Bobby Allison and Dale Earnhardt to life, but it also brought some of the excitement of NASCAR to the page. A look at the behind the scenes fighting, the men, the friendships and the history of NASCAR makes this a must read for any racing fan, but it's also a great story that any non-racing fan can enjoy! He Crashed Me So I Crashed Him Back is funny, feisty and full of great NASCAR history! Mark did a great job researching and interviewing people for this book, and all his sources are noted in the back of the book. Plus through out the chapters there are interesting footnotes added at the bottom of the page that add some great insights.

February 6th, 2010 marks the start of NASCAR's 62nd season. Read about the infamous fight that put NASCAR on the map! Read an Excerpt of He Crashed Me So I Crashed Him Back.

*And Thanks Valerie for my review copy! It was a fun read!