As I have noted before, when I am riding on a bus or train to a sporting event, I like to have a book with me about that sport. I listened to the audio version of this book on the bus to the NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono this past Sunday and I learned a lot about a driver in which the only thing I knew about him is that he was killed in a race in 1991. Here’s my review of “J.D.”
Title/Author: “J.D.: The Life and Death of a Forgotten NASCAR Legend” written and narrated by Brock Beard
Rating: 4 of 5 stars (very good)
Review:
J.D. McDuffie was a NASCAR driver/owner who certainly loved what he was doing in the sport. He was a dying breed - a single car team owner who was also the driver. Because of this, he often had less sponsorships, funds for parts and employees and other luxuries that well-financed motorsports teams have (for current teams like that, think Hendrick Motorsports or Joe Gibbs Racing). This book by Brock Beard tells a great story about the man, his love for racing and his tragic death on the road course at Watkins Glen.
Beard, who also narrates the audio version (I listened to this version), had access through interviews with family members, former drivers and crew members and even the small-time sponsors who gave McDuffie at least a little extra money and some decals on his no. 70 blue car. This gave the book some very interesting stories on McDuffie, both as a person and as a determined racer.
While McDuffie never did win a race on NASCAR’s highest level, then called the Winston Cup Series), he nonetheless won much respect from nearly everyone involved in the sport and that comes through in the writing as well. No matter how poorly McDuffie did in qualifying or in a race, one could be assured he’d try again the next week. He did qualify for the pole position once and was running well when he had that crash in Watkins Glen that ended his life.
But that life was fulfilling, doing what he loved to do and with a loving and supporting family. Because of this, it isn’t a stretch to call him a “legend” as the book’s subtitle does, because there are way to be a legend outside of just winning races, and McDuffie showed us how that can be done.
No comments:
Post a Comment