Known as the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing," the Indy 500 humbly began in 1911. Labeled as the first speedway, this two-and-a-half-mile oval is now home to many of today's top races, including the Brickyard 400, the Verizon IndyCar Series, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, the SportsCar Vintage Racing Association, the Red Bull Air Race World Championship, and its most famous race, the Indianapolis 500. In The Indianapolis 500: Inside the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, speedway tour guide and racing aficionado James Craig Reinhardt shares what makes the legendary racetrack special. He reveals the speedway's unbelievable history, fast-flying action, notorious moments, and its secrets, including facts about the beginning of the brickyard, why the drivers kiss the finish line, how milk became the drink of choice, and much more. The perfect gift for the veteran or rookie, The Indianapolis 500 is a must-have for all race fans.

Mickey Thompson offers a now-impossible (Thompson and his wife were murdered in 1988) first-person telling of the legendary racer and motorsport impresario’s high-speed life, from his earliest days through the height of his competition exploits on drag strips, at Bonneville, the Indy 500, Baja, and more—complemented by some 100 rare images culled from family archives, the NHRA museum, and the collections of friends and fellow racers. Four decades after his tragic death, Mickey Thompson’s name and accomplishments remain legendary among motorsports and automotive enthusiasts. Thompson did it all on four wheels: land-speed racing, drag racing, off-road, NASCAR, Indianapolis…anything involving speed. Armed with a restless mind and a keen business sense, Thompson moved from success to success. In the early 1970s, motorsports writer (and former drag racer) Tom Madigan and Thompson embarked on a project to write the latter’s autobiography. After two years, extensive interviews, and a near-finished manuscript the whole enterprise fell apart for a number of reasons. Type-written sheets, neatly stacked, were boxed, stored, and mostly forgotten. Mickey Thompson: The Lost Story of the Original Speed King in His Own Words is that never-published work—an amazing biographical artifact from what many consider the golden age of automotive racing.

Is it truth or fiction? Memoir or essay? Narrative or associative? To a writer like Michael Martone, questions like these are high praise. Martone’s studied disregard of form and his unruffled embrace of the prospect that nothing--no story, no life--is ever quite finished have yielded some of today’s most splendidly unconventional writing. Add to that an utter weakness for pop Americana and what Louise Erdrich has called a “deep affection for the ordinary,” and you have one of the few writers who could pull off something like Racing in Place. Up the steps of the Washington Monument, down the home stretch at the Indy Speedway, and across the parking lot of the Moon Winx Lodge in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Martone chases, and is chased by, memories--and memories of memories. He writes about his grandfather’s job as a meter reader, those seventies-era hotels with atrium lobbies and open glass elevators, and the legendary temper of basketball coach Bob Knight. Martone, as Peter Turchi has said, looks “under stones the rest of us leave unturned.” So, what is he really up to when he dwells on the make of Malcolm X’s eyeglasses or the runner-up names for Snow White’s seven dwarfs? In “My Mother Invents a Tradition,” Martone tells how his mom, as the dean of girls at a brand-new high school in Fort Wayne, Indiana, “constructed a nostalgic past out of nothing.” Sitting at their dining room table, she came up with everything from the school colors (orange and brown) to the yearbook title (Bear Tracks). Look, and then look again, Martone is saying. “You never know. I never know.”

Dan Lovett was an important part of Eyewitness News history. Al Primo, founder of the original Eyewitness News at WABC-TV in 1968 in New York Dan has always had a great passion for sports, and his knowledge comes crystal clear in this book. Plus, anybody with hair that good has to have something going just below it. Ron Franklin, former lead college football broadcaster on ESPN A mans man in the true sense of the word. He has the unmatched ability to put your mind into his story. A legendary storyteller; plus, he is a great friend and gentleman. Dan Pastorini, former Houston Oilers quarterback I tossed him out of my garage in gasoline alley at Indy, but felt bad about it because he was from my hometown. Dan came around and showed me he wanted to learn about racing. He is a great broadcaster and cares about my sport. A. J. Foyt, first four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 I knew when I first hired him he would be a great broadcaster on the radio. He could talk about the farm report and make it the most important story of the day. Curt Brown, member of the Missouri Broadcasters Hall of Fame Dan knows how to tell the story in this book. If you like sports, youll Lovett. Sam Huff, hall of fame linebacker of the Giants and Redskins

The conception, creation, recording, and significance of the Beatles’ “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever” John Lennon wrote “Strawberry Fields Forever” in Almería, Spain, in fall 1966, and in November, in response to that song, Paul McCartney wrote “Penny Lane” at his home in London. A culmination of what was one of the most life-altering and chaotic years in the Beatles’ career, these two songs composed the 1967 double A-side 45 rpm record that has often been called the greatest single in the history of popular music and was, according to Beatles producer George Martin, “the best record we ever made.” In Let Me Take You Down: Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever, Jonathan Cott recounts the conception and creation of these songs; describes the tumultuous events and experiences that led the Beatles to call it quits as a touring band and redefine themselves solely as recording artists; and details the complex, seventy-hour recording process that produced seven minutes of indelible music. In writing about these songs, he also focuses on them as inspired artistic expressions of two unique ways of experiencing and being in the world, as Lennon takes us down to Strawberry Fields and McCartney takes us back to Penny Lane. In order to gain new vistas and multiple perspectives on these multifaceted songs, Cott also engages in conversation with five remarkable people: media artist Laurie Anderson; guitarist Bill Frisell; actor Richard Gere; Jungian analyst Margaret Klenck; and urban planner, writer, and musician Jonathan F. P. Rose. The result is a wide-ranging, illuminating exploration of the musical, literary, psychological, cultural, and spiritual aspects of two of the most acclaimed songs in rock and roll history.

Eddie Sachs gets out of his 1947 Ford. It shows lots of wear and tear. Sachs spots a trailer half way down the track and starts walking toward it. Four men are painting the grandstands in Turn Four with gray paint. Two extra fifty ­ five gallon barrels of gray paint have been placed by the cross-over walkway. Eddie asks directions to General Manager's office.

For the casual armchair fan to the fan who dreams of a front row seat at the games, The 100 Sporting Events You Must See Live provides invaluable information about tickets and travel as well as the parties and the pageantry for the top games across the sporting landscape. A detailed travel guide from Robert Tuchman, founder and president of the global leader in sports and entertainment promotion, TSE Sports & Entertainment, the book is replete with insider knowledge and expert advice. We are a list-obsessed people and sports-obsessed to boot, so this is a book that quenches our insatiable appetites for both. From the obvious to the obscure, Tuchman's list of must-see events is as thorough as it is controversial. What events made the top 100 and where did they rank? The book is sure to fire up sports fans everywhere. But more than a mere list, for each event the reader learns a detailed history of their favorite contests and all the background information to make a successful pilgrimage. Featuring also a list of honorable mentions that just missed the cut and a list of the top sports cities with arguments for what makes each city the perfect sports mecca, The 100 Sporting Events You Must See Live is a must for every sports fan's library.

Winner of the 2014 Dean Batchelor Award, Motor Press Guild "Book of the Year" Short-listed for 2015 PEN / ESPN Literary Award for Sports Writing Before noon on May 30th, 1964, the Indy 500 was stopped for the first time in history by an accident. Seven cars had crashed in a fiery wreck, killing two drivers, and threatening the very future of the 500. Black Noon chronicles one of the darkest and most important days in auto-racing history. As rookie Dave MacDonald came out of the fourth turn and onto the front stretch at the end of the second lap, he found his rear-engine car lifted by the turbulence kicked up from two cars he was attempting to pass. With limited steering input, MacDonald lost control of his car and careened off the inside wall of the track, exploding into a huge fireball and sliding back into oncoming traffic. Closing fast was affable fan favorite Eddie Sachs. "The Clown Prince of Racing" hit MacDonald's sliding car broadside, setting off a second explosion that killed Sachs instantly. MacDonald, pulled from the wreckage, died two hours later. After the track was cleared and the race restarted, it was legend A. J. Foyt who raced to a decisive, if hollow, victory. Torn between elation and horror, Foyt, along with others, championed stricter safety regulations, including mandatory pit stops, limiting the amount a fuel a car could carry, and minimum-weight standards. In this tight, fast-paced narrative, Art Garner brings to life the bygone era when drivers lived hard, raced hard, and at times died hard. Drawing from interviews, Garner expertly reconstructs the fateful events and decisions leading up to the sport's blackest day, and the incriminating aftermath that forever altered the sport. Black Noon remembers the race that changed everything and the men that paved the way for the Golden Age of Indy car racing.

Test your knowledge while educating yourself on the greatest automobile race in the world. For one hundred years, the greatest spectacle in racing plays out each May in Indianapolis. The entire scope of the Indianapolis 500 is presented in this fun test: drivers, track information, teams, race information, cars, rules, records, and so on. Grade your knowledge on the Indy 500 scale. The answers are provided in the back of the book.