Men and Speed. A Wild Ride Through Nascar 's Breakout Season

What is it that makes a man strap himself into an automobile and drive it hundreds of laps around a track at speeds surpassing 200 miles per hour? Is it the desire for victory, the proximity to danger? Or is it the lure of speed itself -- propelling oneself ever faster, without losing control of the vehicle?

Critically acclaimed journalist G. Wayne Miller decided to find out by spending a year on the NASCAR circuit with Roush Racing's legendary owner Jack Roush and his four title-contending Winston Cup drivers: Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth, and Kurt Busch.

Miller plumbs the allure of speed and the exploding popularity of stockcar racing through the dramatic and compelling story of the 2001 season. The year began with the most famous Daytona 500 in history, when NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt was killed slamming into the wall on the first turn, and runs through the great races at Las Vegas, Talledega, Indianapolis, Charlotte, and Atlanta. Miller takes us inside the garages, pits, staging areas, and behind the wheel itself to convey what it feels like to compete at 200 miles per hour.

G. Wayne Miller has been a staff writer at The Providence Journal since 1981, where he has won numerous journalism awards, including an American Society of Newspaper Editors prize for feature writing. He is the author of four previous works of nonfiction. He lives in Pascoag, Rhode Island, with his wife and three children.