Ross Chastain, an Alva, Florida, native began racing at age 12 at Punta Gorda Speedway in his home state, in the “Fastkid” division. At 14, he moved to the Fastruck Series and then raced Crate Late Models at age 16. During his short-track racing career he scored more than 50 feature wins. All of this prepared him for his next steps: two wins in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and four in the Camping World Truck Series before debuting in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2017. The 2024 season was Chastain’s fourth full-time in the Cup Series. He drives the No. 1 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing–a team owned by former racer Justin Marks and entertainer Pitbull. In 2022, he won his first Cup Series race at the Circuit of the Americas in March and got his second victory a month later at Talladega Superspeedway. He ended that season as the series championship runner-up. Chastain is nicknamed “Melon Man” due to his family’s longtime watermelon farming business.

H.A. Branham worked in the communications departments at NASCAR and Daytona International Speedway for nearly two decades. Prior to that, he worked as an editor and writer at the Tampa Tribune (Florida) for 21 years. He has authored five previous books, including four works of NASCAR history: Big Bill–The Life and Times of NASCAR Founder Bill France Sr.;Bill France Jr.–The Man Who Made NASCAR;The NASCAR Family Album; and The NASCAR Vault. Branham, a graduate of the University of South Florida, is a native of Indianapolis, Indiana. He lives in Ormond Beach, Florida, with his wife, Catherine.Holly Cain, a veteran sports reporter, has covered all forms of auto racing for more than three decades–from Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, and A.J. Foyt to Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, to today’s stars such as IndyCar’s Scott Dixon, NASCAR’s Kyle Larson, and Formula 1's Max Verstappen. Cain has worked at major newspapers in Tampa, Dallas, and Seattle, and numerous online publications such as AOL Fanhouse, CBS Sports, [...], and the NASCAR Wire Service. She is the author of Rusty’s Last Call chronicling NASCAR racer Rusty Wallace’s farewell season. She makes regular appearances on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio along with Tampa-based television stations as a racing analyst. Cain, a graduate of the University of South Florida, has two children and lives in her hometown of Lakeland, Florida.Tony Stewart is one of the most versatile racers of his--or any--generation. After a twenty-year NASCAR driving career, the last eighteen in the NASCAR Cup Series, Stewart retired from his driver duties following the 2016 season to focus on his co-ownership of Stewart-Haas Racing. His new Tony Stewart Racing Team joined the NHRA in 2022 with two full-time entries, one driven by his wife Leah Pruett. Stewart himself returned to the track full-time in 2023 in the NHRA’s Top Alcohol Dragster class. Since first wheeling a go-kart in 1978 at a Westport, Indiana, racetrack, Stewart has won 13 driving championships during a career highlighted by three NASCAR Cup Series titles. The Columbus, Indiana, native came to NASCAR in 1999 by way of the IndyCar Series, where he was series champion in 1997. Before making his mark in Indy cars, Stewart won four United States Auto Club (USAC) open-wheel titles. Stewart has been inducted into numerous halls of fame, including the NASCAR Hall of Fame (2020), the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (2019), the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame (2018), and the USAC Hall of Fame (2016) among others. Stewart lives in his hometown of Columbus, Indiana. He announced in 2023 that he would replace his wife behind the wheel of the TSR Top Fuel dragster in 2024 as the couple focused on starting a family.

Dedication
Acknowledgments
Foreword by Tony Stewart
Introduction
CHAPTER 1: THE 1940S: PRECEDENTS FOR BOLDNESS TO COME
Bill France Sr.
Robert Nold “Red” Byron
Sara Christian and Louise Smith
Raymond Parks
CHAPTER 2: THE 1950S: SUPER CARS, SUPER DRIVERS—AND SUPERSPEEDWAYS
Carl Kiekhaefer
Curtis Turner
The Flocks
Smokey Yunick
Vince Piggins and the Hudson Hornet
The Petty Family
CHAPTER 3: THE 1960S: DAYTONA DRIVES GROWTH IN ALL DIRECTIONS
Junior Johnson
Wendell Scott
Mario Andretti
Soapy Castles
A. J. Foyt
The Wood Brothers
CHAPTER 4: THE 1970S: CORPORATE AMERICA, NETWORK TV COMES TO NASCAR
The Revolutionary
R. J. Reynolds Sponsorship
The Plymouth Superbird
Janet Guthrie
“The Fight”: 1979 Daytona 500
CHAPTER 5: THE 1980S: STARS, SPEEDS, AND SAFETY CONCERNS
Dale Earnhardt
Tim Richmond
The Alabama Gang
Darrell Waltrip
Humpy Wheeler
CHAPTER 6: THE 1990S: BILL JR., BRUTON, AND “THE HAT MAN”
Bill France Jr.
O. Bruton Smith
Alan Kulwicki
Ray Evernham and the Rainbow Warriors
CHAPTER 7: THE 2000S: BRIAN, THE BUSCH BROTHERS, AND TONY STEWART—
MAVERICKS EVERYWHERE
Brian France
The Busch Brothers
Jim Hunter
Tony Stewart
CHAPTER 8: THE 2010S TO 2020S: NEW RACES AND NEW FACES
NASCAR’s Bold Initiatives
Furniture Row Racing
Ross Chastain—
“The Next Dale Earnhardt?”
Afterword by Ross Chastain
Photo Credits
Index