Racing Reviews

An excellent and complete review of this book was written by the Zimmermans. I would, however, like to add that from the perspective of a better than middle of the pack masters runner, that this book contains everything you need to be a successful road runner. Most of the information is not new but it is an excellent SINGLE SOURCE for anyone who wants to find a way to improve his or her running. Although co-written by an elite runner, I was pleased to read about training in a manner to which I could relate. The pace charts, age graded and other tables are excellent. Thanks to both Alberto and Richard for writing a running book that made me feel they were talking directly to me. BRAVO!

The audience for this book is those who have been running for six months or more, who have possibly completed a road race, and who now want to improve their racing times. The book's aim is to teach correct principles of training for faster times and to help runners apply those principles to a training program. The book succeeds well in its goal.

I particularly like the explanation of the four types of training (base, VO2max, running efficiency, and tempo) and the four types of speed work (long intervals, medium intervals, short intervals, and tempo runs). Salazar and Lovett clearly explain the purpose and methods for these runs, and how to incorporate them into an overall training program.

The material is, for the most part, scientifically correct and thorough. The book is authoritative, due Salazar's experience as a competitive runner and coach, and well written, due to Lovett's experience as a recreational runner and freelance writer. In fact, the book approaches training from two points of view: the elite competitive runner's (Salazar's) and the serious competitive recreational runner (Lovett's).

I especially like Salazar and Lovett's coverage of stretching, strength training, and injury prevention. As a marathoner, I would have like a stronger emphasis on that racing distance. If your focus is marathoning, I recommend "Advanced Marathoning" by Pfitzinger and Douglas.

The weaknesses of the book are few and minor. Some readers might want more example training charts. Some scientifically minded readers might want more cited research. In one case, the authors err in suggesting the method of glycogen depletion to proceed carbohydrate loading (the depletion phase is dangerous and ineffective), but that's about the only serious mistake I found in the book.

How does Salazar's book compare to others? Salazar's book has the same audience and purpose as Pfitzinger and Douglas's "Road Racing for Serious Runners," and Glover's "The Competitive Runner's Handbook." My favorite of the three is Glover's book, because of its complete and authoritative information, numerous helpful tables, predesigned and customizable training charts, and coverage of heart-rate monitors, injuries, cross training, and many other specialized topics. I would rank Salazar's book at the same level of quality and coverage as Pfitzinger and Douglas's book; both are excellent.

In summery, Albert Salazar's Guide to Road Racing is an excellent training guide for serious runners. If you want to improve your racing time, you'll love this book.

The audience for this book is those who have been running for six months or more, who have possibly completed a road race, and who now want to improve their racing times. The book's aim is to teach correct principles of training for faster times and to help runners apply those principles to a training program. The book succeeds well in its goal.

I particularly like the explanation of the four types of training (base, VO2max, running efficiency, and tempo) and the four types of speed work (long intervals, medium intervals, short intervals, and tempo runs). Salazar and Lovett clearly explain the purpose and methods for these runs, and how to incorporate them into an overall training program.

The material is, for the most part, scientifically correct and thorough. The book is authoritative, due Salazar's experience as a competitive runner and coach, and well written, due to Lovett's experience as a recreational runner and freelance writer. In fact, the book approaches training from two points of view: the elite competitive runner's (Salazar's) and the serious competitive recreational runner (Lovett's).

I especially like Salazar and Lovett's coverage of stretching, strength training, and injury prevention. As a marathoner, I would have like a stronger emphasis on that racing distance, even though Salazar includes a separate chapter on marathoning. If your focus is marathoning, I recommend "Advanced Marathoning" by Pfitzinger and Douglas, although the Salazar book is book will certainly provide sufficent information.

The weaknesses of the book are few and minor. Some readers might want more example training charts. Some scientifically minded readers might want more cited research. In one case, the authors err in suggesting the method of glycogen depletion to proceed carbohydrate loading (the depletion phase is now known to be dangerous and ineffective), but that's about the only serious mistake I found in the book.

How does Salazar's book compare to others? Salazar has the same audience and purpose as Pfitzinger and Douglas's "Road Racing for Serious Runners," and Glover's "The Competitive Runner's Handbook." My favorite of the three is Glover's book, because of its complete and authoritative information, numerous helpful tables, predesigned and customizable training charts, and coverage of heart-rate monitors, injuries, cross training, and many other specialized topics. I would rank Salazar's book at the same level of quality and coverage as Pfitzinger and Douglas's book; both are excellent.

In summary, Albert Salazar's Guide to Road Racing is an excellent training guide for serious runners. If you want to improve your racing time, you'll love this book.

As always with all the Autocourse CART Yearbooks, the quality is Empire-State-Building-high. You know, it's just awesome. And I recommend it to all the CART fans.

When I saw this book I knew I had to have it. I absolutly love CART racing and this book is for a lover of racing. All the pictures are absolutly beautiful. I was also a big fan of the late Greg Moore and I was very happy to see the tribute they did for him in this book. So if your a lover of CART this book is a must!

This book is the best of its kind, it has a collection of the best picters taken during the whole season and then some also it tells a whole story behind each picture, i first bought 1 and then orderd 2 more. I give it 10 STARS

This is one of the many outstanding books that I have in my collection that were written by Gordon Kirby. Bobby Rahal was a 3 time CART champion and the winner of the 1986 Indianapolis 500, now he is successful businessman and car-owner. Like all of the Gordon Kirby books in my collection, the photography in this book is superb. The forward by Nigel Mansfield shows the respect that Bobby Rahal generated from his fellow race car drivers. This is a must-have book for anyone who collects Indianapolis 500 or CART memorabilia.

Bobby Rahal is one of the greats of motorsports, and Gordon Kirby is one of the greats of motorsports journalism. Put them together, and the result is an engrossing look at the career of one of America's finest champions.

This is not just a listing of races and results. You get the story behind the races, and insight into Rahal's life and career you won't find anywhere else. The great photos (many from Rahal's private collection) make the book visually beautiful.

If you are a fan of auto racing, this book belongs in your collection.

First, a disclaimer: I am a friend and colleague of the author.

With that out of the way, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys racing. It does an excellent job of describing the less-than-glamorous grunt work required to make it to top-level motorsports. Many people know about Rahal's CART championships and Indianapolis 500 victory; few know about his exploits racing all around the world against guys like Gilles Villeneuve, Keke Rosberg and Nelson Piquet.

The text is an excellent balance between Kirby's narrative and Rahal's own words, and the book is attractively laid out with thoughtful photo choices. Some of the Rahal family photos are priceless.

Rahal wasn't always the fastest guy on the track, but he may have been the smartest. He's extremely intelligent and well-read in almost every subject, and this book demonstrates his success as a team owner has not come by accident.

In general, this is one of the best racing books I have read. Get it.

This book covers the period very well, giving a detailed overview of each "sub-era" nicely, without reverting into a who-finished-where-for-each-race format. It includes articles from the period from vintage magazines, photos (including some nice color photos from the early '50s) and illustrations on every page, detailed descriptions of significant technological advances, as well as the personalities of the day. It's a nice intro for those unfamiliar with the period, and a nice review for those who are. My favorite part: the chapter covering the "Silver Arrows" from the '30s, Mercedes and Auto Union. Although it's titled "The Front Engined Era," Ludvigsen also covers the early rear engined cars as well, such as Cisitalia's Porsche-designed Type 360, the Alfa Romeo Tipo 512, and, of course, the Cooper-Climax.

I was born in 1951, and didn't really pay serious attention to F1 until Mario made a serious run at the title. This book has gone a long way toward filling a major hole in my understanding of Grand Prix racing. It's a superb book. The writing and the photos are first rate. I wouldn't have imagined that I would find the early cars as interesting as Ludvigsen made them. I had no idea that GP cars had as much power as they did, as early as they did. Coupled with the so-called tires of the time, and the agricultural "suspensions", Ludvigsen has given me an inkling of the courage and skill of the drivers who drove some of those beasts. Now I'm reading Classic Racing Engines, but that will be another review...

Classic Grand Prix Cars provides an excellent history of the Formula 1 era from 1906-60, with liberal doses of vintage black and white photos accompanying information on the sports cars and engineers which powered them. Prior fans of auto racing history in general and Formula 1 in particular will find Classic Grand Prix Cars a keepsake history packed with lively descriptions and technical insights on the cars. Very highly recommended for all Grand Prix racing fans!

Its a very good book, at the same time similar and not similar to Thom Taylors "How to Draw Cars like a Pro".
I gave this book a 5 star rating, but there is just one thing that was making me feel like giving it a "4", the thing is that the book could have some more explanation about the colouring process, beacause painting is not that simple to understand for a beginner artist. Well, I hope that more books similar to this one will be published and i can promise i will buy all of them. I like it.
Thanks Amazon.

There are a lot of photographers specialized in capturing exciting moments in motor racing. On the other hand, painters on motor racing is not easy to find. Michael Turner has been painting racing cars for some years and his works had been published and well accepted by F1 fans.

This book is not one just to demonstrate his works but it actually walks you through on how to draw and paint racing cars. With Michael's expertise in this area, you won't feel lost while picking up the techniques described. If you want to try it out yourself, this is a very good book to start with. Don't expect to become an expert right away but at least you have the expert telling you where and how to start.

This book is absolutely one of its kind, you couldn't find any other like this one.

What a fantastic book! Michael Turner not only shows you amultitude of examples, most of which are beautiful full colorpaintings of various racing subjects from what appears to be the 50's right through to present day, but he also provides basic lessons that will assist beginners and professionals alike. The cover gives away the content in that the bulk of the book consists of Formula 1 cars, but the principles contained within can be applied to other drawing disciplines. Mr. Turner provides suggestions for the materials to be used to render your artwork and covers all aspects from drawing the car itself to background setting and the various details in between. Rudimentary lessons are provided in the basics of perspective, ellipses, and overall development of the vehicle's appearance from a simple shell to a fully detailed racing machine!

It would be foolish to say that reading this book will instantly have you creating masterworks on level with those in the book, but the techniques contained within will certainly set you in the right direction. I cannot recommend this book enough. As an aspiring artist and racing fan, I often lamented the fact that there were no books that specifically combined my two loves. Thanks to an ad in an issue of MotorSport (which I picked up on a whim) my wish has now been answered! For artists, or just for fans of racing art, this book is highly recommended!

This amazing b&w photo book takes you into the pits and brings you so close to the action, you can taste the pre-mix and feel the vibration of the motors rumble thru your bones. Every single page cries for a frame and a wall. It brings you to the top of triumph and to the low of horrific crashes. A perfect gift or keep for yourself and collect your favorite racer autographs!

A wonderfully put together book. A must for all enthusiasts. Beautilful photogrphy!

For all race fans, a must. This coffee table picture book re-creates the tension, excitement and thrills,and victory of the "behind the sceans" at the race track. The pictures are beautiful. The black and white photos bring out the true feeling of the race life. Thank you for this exceptional book.

Whether you're a stock car fan or not, this is fascinating and hilarious. What a sport, what a history, what a culture. NASCAR is something different. Couldn't possibly have learned or enjoyed more.

I had no knowledge or affinity towards NASCAR racing before reading this book. The author makes the subject interesting to those of us who don't know the drivers, the car racing teams, the tracks or anything else about NASCAR. It is a funny and at times hilarious read of one man's love with racing and the Winston Cup. While not at all "high browed", one begins to understand the sociological context of this fast growing sport. I recommend this book the fan, nonfan and the curious.

This book was a nice change from the typical "behind the scenes" books you usually find about Nascar. The author tells it like it is from a fan's point of view. He describes his trips to several different NASCAR events. His stories are amusing, and entertaining, and his information is accurate. I used this book to show a friend of mine why I go to so many races and why I am such a big NASCAR fan. Next thing you know, she was begging me to take her to Rockingham,NC. She's a NASCAR fan now too, so I guess that says something for the book. I highly recommend it to any true NASCAR fan or anyone who doesn't understand why NASCAR is America's fastest growing sport. Read "Fixin' to git" and just maybe you'll become a fan too......

INCREDIBLE! As a relatively new fan to NASCAR I feel like I have been brought up to speed! This book is a must buy. I love the stories. They made me laugh and get a little choked up at times. It's a very easy read and the cd that comes with it is amazing. Dale Jr.'s tribute to his dad is incredible and the Petty's are amazing. I want more!

This book is great and the CD on the Petty's is just awesome. It will make you cry all the way through it. I loved it and would recommend it to all. God Bless the Petty family and Adam.

This is an excellent book, with stories from various drivers, fans, writers, and other motorsports personalities! Many will make you think, laugh, or even cry. Inspiring images of faith along with a true look at the NASCAR personalities you thought you knew, make this a must-buy!

"Great Horse Racing Mysteries" was awarded the Benjamin Franklin Award for best mystery/suspense book of 2000. It presents twelve true racetrack mysteries in chronological order beginning in 1932 with the death of Phar Lap, the great Australian Thoroughbred who won his first and only race in the United States before his mysterious demise. The author interviewed the few remaining eyewitnesses to Phar Lap's spectacular American debut, including Noble Threewit who is still involved with horses at age ninety-two. (I hope someone names a good horse after Noble Threewit---one of the most euphonious monikers in racing. Hint to Thoroughbred breeders: Clyde Van Dusen was named after a trainer, and both trainer and gelding went on to win the 1929 Kentucky Derby).

Anyway, Phar Lap was put on display in a Melbourne museum, and John McEvoy has presented a very detailed and even-handed account of his death. Did the "Australian Man O'War" die of arsenic poisoning? Was the poisoning deliberate, or was he put out to graze on grass that had been sprayed with insecticide? The author presents all of the remaining pieces of this fascinating puzzle.

There are other mysterious deaths in "Great Horse Racing Mysteries": a trainer; jockeys; a racing commission official; William Woodward, the owner of Nashua, who was shot by his own wife; the decline and fall of Calumet Farm after the death of the stallion Alydar.

McEvoy, a former reporter for the "Daily Racing Form" also describes two Thoroughbred kidnappings, a racetrack arson, and two stories involving the possible drugging of Derby horses---one to help the horse win, and another to make the horse lose.

The latter story was a shocker for me, because the horse involved was Holy Bull, one of my favorite Thoroughbreds. The eventual 1984 horse of the year, "ran the worst race of his life in the Derby, a departure from form so startling and disturbing as to raise numerous questions in its aftermath. His horrified owner-trainer [Jimmy Croll] subsequently became convinced this dismal effort resulted from the fleet gray colt's having been drugged prior to the Derby."

Once again, the author presents all of the evidence. Even great Thoroughbreds throw in a clunker now and then. But Holy Bull was not only fast, he was courageous. As Tom Dawson of ESPN's 'Racing Across America' series said, "It's so hard to get the horses with the talent and charisma...[Holy Bull] was the real thing."

If Holy Bull was drugged before the Derby---well, I'm glad to see him doing so well at stud. His son, Macho Uno won the Breeder's Cup Juvenile and an Eclipse award last year, giving Holy Bull's true fans the hope that one of his get will win the Kentucky Derby in some future May, and wipe away the only spot of tarnish on their sire's racing record.

"Great Horse Racing Mysteries" should appeal to horse lovers and mystery fans alike. It is a well-researched, thrilling page-turner.

Wow! You can tell this author was a newspaperman, yet this book reads like fiction. You don't have to be a racing fan to love this book, though if you are, you will enjoy the constant stream of racing stats - stuff you always wanted to know or stuff you forgot. It makes you want to take McEvoy out for dinner and pick his brain about all things racing. Each chapter is a roller coaster ride - you might not solve the mystery, but it's a wild ride. See the Woodward chapter. It makes Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio's marriage look like a walk in the park! The story unfolds like a movie in your mind. All the chapters are told with juicy details and multiple perspectives. Pray for a follow up book.

I have been a Thoroughbred racing fan for 35 years, and have been reading about racing almost as long. "Great Horse Racing Mysteries" ranks as one of the most enjoyable and informative books I have read on the subject. It combines the reportorial depth of "Wild Ride" with the breezy reading ease of Jane Smiley's "Horse Heaven" with the comforting sense of authenticity and historical perspective that Dick Francis provides. McEvoy clearly knows his sport, and respects it for what it is--a whacky, wonderdful, delightfully seedy, heart-tugging world unto its own. I highly recommend this effort to anyone who loves racing.