Three must read books.

Read all three over the past couple of months. Hard to put down once you start.

1) No Angel (the secret life of Bernie Ecclestone) by Tom Bower

An absolute must read for Formula One fans. By hook or by crook, multi-billionaire and F1 boss has done pretty well for himself for a guy who started out selling used cars with turned back odometers in London's east end.

2) Driving With the Devil by Neal Thompson

The definitive history of NASCAR from its humble down south moon shiner/good ol' boy origins to today's big show. Even if you don't appreciate NASCAR, you will after reading this book.

3) Go Like Hell by A.J. Baime

Traces the Henry Ford II vs Enzo Ferrari battles for LeMans supremacy in the wild and crazy mid 1960's, with a lot of Carroll Shelby and Lee Iacocca, etc references thrown in. Written by a guy who probably wasn't even born then, but a damn good read just the same.

Here's a couple more:

The Last Open Road---- First in a series of books written by CMS friend Burt Levy. Gives a good feel for the beginning of the sports car scene in the 50s. Easy to read and extremely entertaining.

Best Damn Garage in Town--- Written by legendary NASCAR and Indy car builder Smokey Yunick. This book is from the "horses mouth" with no ghost writer. Follows Smokey from his WWII B-17 pilot days through the beginnings of NASCAR and the most innovative time at the Indy 500. An absolute must-read for any car guy. (beware, this book is not rated G)

I'll definately check them out. Thanks for the tip.

If you can still find it, I'd have to suggest STAND ON IT by Stroker Ace. Does this sound like a farce? Of course it's a farce! We should never take any leisure time activity totally serious all of the time.

If you want pure escapism and lots of tales, some possibly true about early NASCAR racing, this is great. Yes some call NASCAR the racing series while others call F-1 the racing series. I believe both are racing series with a lot of American Idol type promotion thrown in.