The Earnhardts

November 16, 2015
In this professional history of the Earnhardt family of race car drivers, journalist and editor Busbee focuses on its most polarizing member, Dale Earnhardt Sr., often called the Intimidator. Dale’s father, Ralph, began short-track racing in his native North Carolina in the late 1940s as a way to make extra money and escape the tedious life of a cotton mill “lint head.” Dale Sr. inherited his father’s love of speed and went on to become one of the most successful drivers in NASCAR history, winning 76 Winston Cup races before his death in a collision at the Daytona 500. His son Dale Jr. took to racing as well and gained celebrity that rivaled his father’s. Busbee smoothly integrates the Earnhardt family saga with the evolution of stock-car racing from its Southern bootlegger roots to its current status as a multibillion-dollar institution. In his role as Yahoo’s longtime NASCAR reporter, Busbee has an easy familiarity with the legends and technicalities of the sport, but never drifts too far into racing arcana for a general audience. Busbee’s narrative may lack stunning revelations, but it provides an engaging account of the tragedies and dramas of an archetypal family in a uniquely American sport.

January 1, 2016

The name Earnhardt goes hand in hand with NASCAR, and sports journalist Busbee (Yahoo Sports) examines three generations of this racing family in his debut. Mechanic and tinkerer Ralph Earnhardt quit his job to earn a living on the early tracks, winning his first NASCAR championship in 1956. His son Dale Earnhardt, a feared competitor known as "The Intimidator" and "The Man in Black," lost his life in a crash at the Daytona 500 in 2001. Without exploiting or sensationalizing his subjects, Busbee recounts tales of family neglect, legal battles, and the excesses of the NASCAR life without dwelling heavily on the beer, women, and rock 'n' roll. He keeps the focus adeptly on the father-son relationships among the Earnhardts, and the control of the racing business after Dale's death, when Dale Jr. discovered that he didn't have control of the rights to his own name. While seatbelt and other equipment failure contributed to Dale Sr.'s death, it also led to mandatory safety devices being used in all races. VERDICT Racing fans will be pleased with this evenhanded and insightful treatment of the Earnhardts; readers with only a casual interest in racing will enjoy the tale of this popular spectator sport.--Susan Belsky, Oshkosh P.L., WI

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2015
A pit-crew view of a definitively dangerous sport-turned-big business and cultural bellwether. Forget the fireworks and half-clad cheerleaders: when Dale Earnhardt (1951-2001) showed up at a racetrack, "his presence alone was enough to get the denizens of a nursing home up on their feet." Yahoo! Sports writer Busbee's account is appropriately lively, a tour de force of bravado. Still, death pervades the book, which begins with the unexpected end of "the Intimidator" on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. "Whenever Dale Earnhardt wanted a win," writes the author, "he'd eventually get it"--but not on this chaotic, big-purse day, when crashes had taken out half the competing field already. Tracking back and then forward, Busbee examines Earnhardt's storied career, not so much with an eye to the wins and thrilling victories as with a view to how Earnhardt changed auto racing, monetizing it with souvenirs and endorsements, driving not just a car, but the business and brand that he built, which "rivaled the most popular athletes of the era--Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods." Earnhardt's son continues on, though with many differences: "His father treated the press like broccoli, an annoying necessity. Junior's press conferences are often remarkable--part therapy session and part stand-up routine." Whether by virtue of father or son or, for that matter, grandfather, the Earnhardt legacy remains strong in racing today. Those who denigrate NASCAR racing as the sport of stars-and-bars-waving louts may be surprised at Busbee's fluency and thoughtful approach to his subject as well as his knack for just the right transition--including the closing, which is perfect, for after all the business and profit-taking and statistics are racked up, what remains for the rest of us, in appropriate homage, is to find a stretch of empty road and "floor it." A smart look at an iconic but not necessarily admirable superstar and at what goes on behind the scenes in big-money sports.

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