Racing Reviews

i gave this book 4 stars because i enjoyed reading it. it was very informative and provided me with information i might not have been able to find elsewhere. it shows many examples of actual race cars which have used various designs which are unique and interesting. however, it is not written for engineers or someone looking to really apply what they learn in this book. as much as i believe that testing a product is the best way to gather information on it, mathematical formulas are sometimes needed to support your hypothesis. this book seemed to aviod using math as much as possible. it did not touch on reynolds numbers and other important areas related to aerodynamics.

Like his book on chassis design, I found this to whet the appetite, but fail to feed it once whetted!!

While it gave a good all round view of the aerodynamic field, I would have been pleased to see more diagramatic representations - for example, a graphic of a sports car, with many of the features in the text pointed out. In fact more graphics overall of the various things discussed would improve the book no end - a picture says a thousand word is especially applicable when it comes to aerodynamics!

My main problem with the book is that it didnt leave me thinking I could pen a quick diagram, that although not world class, would at least have features that would be better than someone who hadn't read the book. Of course, that could just be me!

A truly excellent book for the keen motorsport fan or engineer seeking to understand the essence of aerodynamics for racecars. It might lack solid math formulas but the simplistic approach taken by the author greatly eases the process of understanding the 'black' art of aerodynamics. A book you can't put down. With its combination of clear points and quality black and white illustrations this is a book that you will read many times over.

I was there during this era, as the wife of a driver, as a licensed flagman and while I thought this book made a heroic effort to cover this very exciting time I thought it missed the true uniqueness of the era which was the beauty of the people and the mystery of the machines. This book spends a lot of time talking in depth about a few people, one of the author's brothers for example. It is really not so much about American racing as it is about California racing - lines saying that Sports car racing (even Vintage car racing) may have begun in the Northeast but came to maturity in California give evidence to the bias toward covering this era with a definite prejudice toward certain people and certain geography. Like a previous reader, I too would like to see Volumn II perhaps the authors can cover the era with more of an eye to history and less self interest. However, to their credit these authors have assembled a tremendous number of interesting photos and despite the wordiness of the text much fascinating data.

When my book "American Racing ~ Road Racing In The 50s and 60s" was published I was deluged by calls from the West coast. Everybody wanted to know, "When are you going to do a book about West coast racing." I had to tell them I never photographed over there.

Well here it is "American Sports Car Racing in the 1950s" by Michael Lynch. And it is a winner! I learned things about the racing scene on the left coast that boggled my mind.

Michael Lynch's words hooked me and I could not put the book down. He owes a couple of nights sleep!

"American Sports Car Racing in the 1950s" is the perfect companion to my book.

I highly recommend it. Buy it today.

Tom Burnside

I was there at St Jo and Elkhart and Sebring and the airport circuits in the Midwest and this book is awash in memories. The pictures are perfect for bringing back the cars and the people that as a teenager I worshiped...remembering the ride with neighbor Masten in the Allard to the Leawood drug store on snowy streets to buy the lone copy of Road & Track. We didn't have California, but the trickle down was pretty good...Denise at Meadowdale, Hall in Kansas, Bunker and Katskee and the rest. I sold my '32 Ford for an MG and never looked back...American Sports Car racing as I recall and Lynch describes formed a life long love for the era and the cars...as I read now sitting in my '54 Morgan in my garage with a can of Schlitz. This book is a keeper.

Not since Loory's now, sadly, out of print book, "Block Island Days-Bohemian Nights" has an author captured the feel of sailing tactics in such a poetic, yet professional way.

Mr. Loory structures his work as a tournament of ideas pitting "Boat Speed" against "Right is Might". The beauty of this methodology is that it soon becomes apparent that the combination of both "Speed" and Tactics will enable the Club sailor to take home trophy's and have bragging rights at the

Yacht Club Bar.

This is a great reference book for any racing enthusiast. It is not really the type of book that you can sit down and read cover to cover, but rather allows the reader to consult a number of topics in the order that they choose. It is an excellent source for the fundamentals of advanced racing (if that makes any sense). Reads very easily, but there is a lot of stuff in here to absorb. I highly recommend this, it should be in every racer's home library.

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I think my review title says it all. I tried to come up with a way of summarizing the material in this 350 page book, and couldn't. There was too much!

Jobson and Whidden, two world class sailors, packed each chapter full of information--well may not the first chapter--that was short. But the rest of them were long, detailed and packed to the gills with important information.

If you race and don't read this book, you will probably not do as well as someone who has read the book. It is that simple.

This book is for aspiring racers who want to improve their standings in the fabulous sport of sailboat racing. Are you ready to race and win? Are you ready to learn?

What I liked best about the book was its organization. Look at the index below and you will get a hint of what I mean. But you will have to buy the book or thumb through it to really understand what I mean.

I liked the emphasis on teamwork, communication, and leadership, which I find under-emphasized in other books I've read.

Great information is provided on the winds in different parts of the country. Read the section on your sailing area and any place you race.

This is not a one night read of a book. Plan on spending lots of time with this book reading it, and re-reading, and applying it to improve your on the race course performance.

Index:

1.What is a Tactician

2.Creating a Game Plan

3.Starting

4.Upwind Tactics

5.Downwind Tactics

6.Faster Finishes

7. Steering

8.Tactical Instruments

9.Putting it All Together

---------------------------------

Smooth Sailing,

Bart Senior

To begin with, I would first like to say that Rat Race was a much better mystery story than what I had first expected it to be. While it could have been much better, it was not a complete waste of time. This is a book that frequently centers on horse racing, which I despise, so you may want to keep my prejudices in mind while reading my opinions.

Rat Race slowly begins with pilot Matt Shore flying passengers to a horserace for a little airline company named Derrydowns. Matt was taking over for another pilot who had left the job just a week before. On his fist flight to the races Matt found out that other pilots despised him just because he worked for Derrydowns. He also found out that one of his passengers was the famous jockey, Colin Ross. Colin became one of Matt's permanent costumers. Everything was going well with Matt's job until he had trouble with one of the plane's steering cables on a trip home from the races. He then made an emergency landing to have the airplane checked out. The disgusted crew was suddenly jolted by an explosion at of nowhere as they walked from the plane. Luckily, though, no one was close enough to be injured. Right timing and chance seemed to have been the only thing that saved them.

After much questioning from the Nazi-like Board of Trade, Matt was reprimanded and then decided to search for answers to the explosion. As a result he made an astonishing find: one of his passengers was an explosives expert! The 'chance' that saved his life was now thought to be a deliberate ploy by one of his own passengers riding in the plane with him. Was this loose maniac planning to take Colin Ross' life? Maybe someone had made a bet on Colin Ross to win or lose a race and needed that bet secured. But why would he blow up a plane with no one in it.

As time passed Matt forgot about the explosion because of the fact that he met Colin Ross' sister, Nancy, and became infatuated with her. The story then turns into a boring romance between Matt, Nancy, and her doped-up ex-lover. Fortunately, the story picks up again when Colin is in another near-death plane incident. This time Nancy, who is not very experienced, is flying. The same man who hid the explosives on Matt's plane has now sabotaged her plane. With all electrical devices not working, she is done for in the cloud-filled sky. Luckily her lover, Matt, finds out about the plot and manages to find her in the sky in his own plane and guides her to safety.

Matt now knows who has sabotaged the planes both times but is unable to have him arrested. He also finds out that others are involved. Other peoples' lives are in danger but he cannot tell them without looking like a fool because he has no solid proof. Even more disturbing is that the crooks know that Matt knows about their scheme. Which side will come out victorious in the end?

Was this book worth reading? No. There was not enough excitement or enough suspense. Nor was the plot original. It was the same story of two lovers falling in love, some kind of event splitting them up, and they finally live happily ever after in the end. While I suppose this sort of 'fairytale' type of story is possible, it is highly unlikely. For example, Matt is invited to move in with Colin and Nancy in the end. Colin is very rich, so the rest of Matt's life is a breeze. I am sure this sort of thing could and does happen, but for the most part, only in dreams.

One good thing about the story, though, is that it develops the characters very well. I was able to learn the personalities of most the characters fairly well. This, of course, is essential in a mystery story. If I had to give it a grade on the overall quality of reading I would give it an average, solid 'C'.

RAT RACE is mainly about insurance fraud. The side issues are the fixing of horse races and a feud between rival air taxi services. As a former jockey and pilot the author is able to lend an air of authenticity to the story.

Once again he makes you run to the store to get another one of his books. The mystery and supense is just a great read

I bought this book in the Christian section, and it really does not belong in this section. I ended up not reading the book after I read the first few pages.

As soon as I started this book, I knew it was a keeper. I've read it several times and enjoyed it just as much as the first time.
Ms Schede does the flighty European princess so well, I'm left wondering if she isn't one herself. And her detail with her sexy hero makes me want to join the Nascar circuit. They are so different, they mesh together perfectly. Her hero reluctantly helps his delightfully darling neighbor escape an arranged marriage, and she in turn helps him conquer his fears.
I just loved this book!

In a year that's seen its share of royal romances and runaway brides, "The Runaway Princess" is an impressive standout. Carol Schede's voice is like a breath of fresh air. Funny, sexy, tastefully raunchy, emotionally satisfying -- this story has it all. As does this delightful new author.

This is a book by a very conventional trainer about the training and care of Unbridled to win the Derby and Breeder's Cup. Mr. Nafzger sets out the training program of Unbridled, and for his stable, and as such the book gives a valuable insight into the methods of one successful trainer. I think Mr.Nafzger is to be congratulated and thanked for putting all this in writing. If you want to know how the majority of your trainers at the race track operate, this book is most instructive.

Carl Nafzger goes a great job going over the aspects of race horse training in a manor even a person not involved in racing can follow. Great Book for all horseman and wanna be horseman

this book is so awesome. carl nafzger is a well renowen trainer who can do wonders with a horse. this book tells just how good he really is. i recomend this book to other horsemen and horse racing fans all over the world!!

I see many reviews of this book are very favorable, but here's an alternate view from a race driver that has read several books on the subject.

The integration of expert commentary through the text is original, but it sounds like there's a tiff between Bertil Roos and the Author - they never seem to agree with each other, or the other contributors for that matter. Here is an example of the kind of petty squabbling you'll read about:
Carroll Smith: "'Slowest...at the initial turn-in....' Bertil is the only person in the world who believes this! Is it possible that Moss, Clark, Stewart, Lauda, Jones, Andretti, Senna, et. Al., are wrong?"

I'm not sure it's a good idea to write a book where your contributors are trying to discredit each other, or the author trying to discredit his contributors, and vice versa. It shows both sides of an opinion, but it leads the reader to think that driving technique is only about opinions. What the book misses is that there are basic tools for driving technique that give a driver the opportunity to develop his own style. Lessons on driving technique should not tell a driver whether he should be late apexing or early apexing; whether he should be full brake to full throttle or a smooth transition; or even whether trail braking should be used. These are all decisions that must be made on each individual corner of each individual track. A book like this should concentrate more on giving the reader a skill set from which he can make his own decisions and I think this is where it falls short - and to a fault, which brings me to the glossary. I couldn't tell if the author was trying to be funny, sarcastic or serious, but it ruined the whole book for me. Take these examples from the appendix:
Lift: Euphemism for getting off the gas when you probably shouldn't be doing so. Also referred to as a "slight lift" or a confidence lift." Your opponents will be grateful.
Spin (as participant): If you do not spin occasionally, you are not going fast enough.

OK, so you young drivers got that? If you lift you're a sissy - keep that foot planted regardless of that crest in the corner or the sudden understeer from the surface change! And if you end up in the wall, well that's your fault. And spin that car! - how else will you know where the limit is? >>> I just hope that his readers don't end up in the hospital or wrecking yard before they arrive at the podium. Ross Bentley will tell you that you're not going fast enough if your car feels like it's on rails, but spinning is much too expensive to test the limit. At the least it will cost you time and position; at the worst it will cost you your life.

This is a chapter analysis to give an idea of what you will find in the book:
1. Getting Started - Good discussion of classes and costs, and the SCCA; it may be a bit dated now.
2. Basic Physics - A good and basic discussion of polar moment, slip angle, and weight transfer
3. Basic Driving Techniques - this is where the contributors really chime in. Generally I enjoy reading about Driving Techniques, but this was nearly my least favorite part of this book.
4. Basic Driver Information - decent information about preparation
5. Your First Race - decent information about the first race
6. Intermediate Driving Techniques - less contributed text. Most of the information can be found in other books where it's covered more completely (Carl Lopez's Going Faster!)
7. Learning in Your Street Car - a very short chapter (3 pages) about being aware in traffic and lane positioning. Ross Bentley's Speed Secrets is more useful for this.
8. Autocross Solo II Competition - another very short chapter (4 pages) about special techniques for this type of racing
9. Unexciting But Important - decent information about safety
Appendices
Contacts, Sources, and Driving Schools - a good compilation, but a bit out of date.
Publications - suggestions for books that you should have bought instead of this one.
Hot Laps - Nice US track maps with info from the pros. Some tracks are out-dated, but it could be useful before driving a track for the first time. Just remember the pro's are probably keeping a few secrets.
Glossary - tear this out and burn it!
Index

Such as what to expect at an SCCA event as far as tech inspections, and equipment checks, and what not. It also provides several different viewpoints from different drivers. It, at times, is almost like sitting around the table with the guys, and discussing racing.

It IS a little lite on content in some places. Speed Secrets is as good if not better for the beginner, along with Going Faster! For more in-depth coverage of the topics.

I've read most (ok many) of the celebrity driver books, Carroll Smith's must read series, and years worth of motorsports magazines. George Anderson's "Winning" is far and away the best overview for the beginning racer, with plenty, I suspect, to teach the experienced driver. Full of pragmatic advice, useful examples, and concise illustrations/diagrams. The book to buy if you are only buying one book on racing, the first book to read if you are reading many books on racing.

In many ways this is a quintessential Francis novel, with a fairly normal, likeable hero put into a situation where he is subjected to physical and mental challenges. The plot here is pretty good, although somewhat far fetched. However, this novel varies from the typical successful Francis formuala by having a sexual interlude between the hero and a female supporting character quite early on in the story. This is unusual, since Francis' characters are typcially fairly chaste, but this has the addes uniqueness of having the supporting female character be an older woman who wants to experience sex and chooses the hero, barely recovered from a dangerous brush with criminal types, as her man. This is diverting mostly because it seems to me that it is so different from the norm! I was quite taken aback by this!

Dick Francis brings in a different kind of hero, an accountant!

The story is very enjoyable. This novel differs from some of his others in that the hero actually has a sex life.

While, I would highly recommend this book, Francis does throw out a number of easy clues to figure out the true villian in the story.

Dick Francis has a winning formula: he writes books about a young man of around 30, in a career most people might think is boring, but which turns out to be exciting. His hero is usually taken for granted and under-appreciated by his family, and under-employed, but in the course of the book proves he is far smarter, cleverer, and more observant than anyone supposed. Usually, there's a highly intelligent middle-aged career woman who recognizes his worth and helps him along. It's a formula, but the details that Francis provides makes it work every time.

In this case, our hero is an accountant, an auditor. Many people would start to snore at the thought that auditing could be an exciting job; as a former auditor myself, who has since traded it in for the relative calm of a desk job, I was pleased to see him show how varied and interesting the job can be. Auditors have to know a great deal about a variety of industries, do a lot of travelling, and have highly analytical minds used to investigating small details and discrepancies that most people would not notice. (There might be a bit of bias on my part, of course.) All this means that an auditor winds up making a good investigator of mysteries, as well.

Along with the details of Roland's regular job, and the details of horse-racing that are in every book, we also happen to find out a great deal about yacht-building. Such details are all through Francis's books; he seems to know about every possible job, and must collect details as much as most people collect lint. I always enjoy learning these details!

In this particular book, we have some ambiguous people who turn out not to be bad guys, the person captaining the yacht that Roland first is stored on when kidnapped. Then, the bad guy turns out to be a total surprise, someone we don't suspect at all till the end is revealed. Nonetheless, once the details are pointed out, one goes "Of course!"

Soon after the release of the Beckett Racing Price Guide, the Beckett Racing & Motorsports Marketplace monthly magazine drastically reduced the book value of most trading cards. In doing so, Beckett rendered their own Beckett Racing Price Guide useless. The racing trading card enthusiast would be better off subscribing to the monthly magazine.

Folks, let's make this nice and simple, Beckett Price Guides are the most accepted price guides in the world PERIOD No other racing price guide even comes close to the popularity of Beckett. Collectors the WORLD over look enthusiastically for each new Beckett release. As for this book, I dare say you will not find another publication that covers its listings in greater detail. This book lists thousands of cards and hundreds of die-cast car values. With the card listings, many sets are given a value along with vital information about each one. Then many sets are broken down into listings for each individual card and a value placed on each card. There's listings for vintage sets as well as some of the more popular ones. Photos are included as well as special notations about things like error cards, rare subsets and the like. This guide will be a big help to anyone interested in the racing hobby. Beckett guides are the ONLY ones I currently use.

Beckett Price Guides have been around forever. With only the third edition printed specifically for auto racing cards, this has quickly become the only guide you'll need to evaluate your entire collection!

I already owned "High Speed, Low Cost" and "Race and Rally Car Source Book," both by Staniforth, so when I saw this latest book I was excited. Both are really good, with the latter being very, very useful for designing your own race/sports car suspension.

Let me preface this with saying I'm interested specifically in chassis/suspension design so my comments are limited to that portion of the book. (Of course, since the title is about suspension disign, that's pretty much the whole book.)

After reading his latest book, I felt let down by the lack of new information. For example, while this book had descriptions of solid rear axle suspension types (the same ones covered in his previous book,) it left out the "Mumford link" suspension. Surely the newer book should have described the most recent suspension, but it isn't to be found. I guess there's only so much to automotive suspension design, yet I assumed the new book would have "new" information, necessitating it's publication. I just don't see it.

My advice: If you don't have any of his books, then get this one. It's very good and includes everything from his previous works. But if you already have "Race and Rally Car Source Book," don't bother.

This book offers quite a bit of history on the progression of auto racing suspension and it talks about the differences between various suspension types. I was disapointed because I wanted a book that went into the details of tuning a suspension. This book didn't do that for me. A good book if you're not actually looking for information you can use in your car.

He has hit the nail on the head with this book. Well organized, logical progression and interesting. The pictures were in the right places at the right times and supplimented the text beautifully. The program and detailed formulas in the latter portions of the book were right on and helped immensely in calculating needed suspension geometries. I folded them into Excel and fiddled with the numbers to better understand the finer points of changes to suspension and handling.

By the time you have completed this book, you will have a true understanding of all aspects of a well designed and implemented suspension system. Well done and highly recommended.