For years a "closeted" NASCAR fan, Professor Jim Wright took advantage of a sabbatical in 1999 to attend stock car races at eight of the Winston Cup's legendary venues: Daytona, Indianapolis, Darlington, Charlotte, Richmond, Atlanta, and Talladega. The Fixin' to Git Road Tour resulted in this book—not just a travelogue of Wright's year at the races, but a fan's valentine to the spectacle, the pageantry, and the subculture of Winston Cup racing.

Wright busts the myth that NASCAR is a southern sport and takes on critics who claim that there's nothing to racing but "drive fast, turn left," revealing the skill, mental acuity, and physical stamina required by drivers and their crews. Mostly, though, he captures the experience of loyal NASCAR fans like himself, describing the drama in the grandstands—and in the bars, restaurants, parking lots, juke joints, motels, and campgrounds where race fans congregate. He conveys the rich, erotic sensory overload—the sights, the sounds, the smells, the feel—of weekends at the Winston Cup race tracks.

 

"You don't have to be a racing fan to appreciate great sports writing, and even folks who don't know Dale Earnhardt from Dale Evans will savor this professor's account of his unlikely enthusiasm for NASCAR. But, if you are a fan, you'll probably like this book even more. Wright dispels a number of myths and helps us to understand why stock car racing has become America‘s most popular sport."—John Shelton Reed, coauthor of 1001 Things Everyone Should Know about the South

"Dr. Wright gives a unique perspective on the growth of NASCAR. From the short, dirt bullrings of his youth in the Midwest to today's ultramodern speed palaces, Jim Wright chronicles how NASCAR has become not only the country's most popular sport but a vital part of the fabric of American culture. It's a great read and I recommend it to all race fans."—Buz McKim, Head Archivist, International Speedway Corporation Archive Dept.

"This book's personal impressions don't take you behind the pit wall—they take you into the stands, where the average folks watch the race. Wright combines the interests of the academic and the common race fan for an uncommon vision of NASCAR."—Scott Huler, author of A Little Bit Sideways: One Week Inside a NASCAR Winston Cup Race Team

Jim Wright grew up in Indiana watching his father race on quarter-mile dirt tracks in the 1950s. After spending a couple of decades establishing himself as an academic sociologist, he began regularly attending NASCAR races in the 1990s. A sociologist who has taught at Tulane University and currently teaches at the University of Central Florida, Wright has written seventeen books. He lives in Orlando.