My Top Five

my top

FIVE

By Bob Mays

WE TASKED NATIONAL SPRINT CAR HALL OF FAME AUTHOR AND HISTORIAN BOB MAYS WITH GOING THROUGH HIS CONSIDERABLE COLLECTION OF AUTO RACING LITERATURE AND DETERMINING HIS ULTIMATE TOP FIVE RACING BOOKS. AFTER COMBING HIS SHELVES, MAYS OFFERED UP HIS FANTASTIC FIVE THAT REALLY HIGHLIGHT THE HISTORY OF THE SPORT. “THE AMERICAN DIRT TRACK RACER” AUTHOR: JOE SCALZO PUBLISHER: MOTORBOOKS ILLUSTRATED FIRST PRINTING: 2001

Joe Scalzo is pretty liberal with adjectives and doesn’t put his subjects on pedestals and the results are stories that run the gamut of the human experience and a joy to read. The book starts with Tony Bettenhausen and the year 1951 and ends with Jan Opperman and the year 1971. It’s obvious these two decades are Scalzo’s favorites. He digs in to not only the drivers and owners, but the mechanics, promoters and hangers-on of all persuasions. Joe loves nicknames and once one is introduced, the guy’s given name is rarely mentioned again. So be warned, if you start in the middle of the book, you may never figure out who many of the characters really are. Also, be forewarned, this is the one R rated tome on this list; Scalzo uses direct quotes, never substituting less offensive language.

“FABULOUS FIFTIES” AUTHOR: DICK WALLEN PUBLISHER: DICK WALLEN PRODUCTIONS FIRST PRINTING: 1993

Wallen is listed as the author but really he is the editor of this voluminous tome covering champ car racing in the 1950s. Since most of the circuit was dirt then, it qualifies as a dirt track book even though much space is devoted to each year’s Indy 500. It is allinclusive with detailed reports on each race and stats enough for any geek of that persuasion. Most of the book is penned by Bob Schilling, with Wallen, Larry Nuber, George Peters, Carol Sims, Dave Argabright, Eddie Sachs and Jim Chini also making contributions. Phil Harms provided the stats. Wallen conducts the orchestra and creates an opus of epic proportions.

“THE DUSTY HEROES” AUTHOR: JOHN SAWYER PUBLISHER: CARL HUNGNESS PUBLISHING FIRST PRINTING: 1977

Sawyer was a staple of Open Wheel Magazine for nearly all of its two decade run and “The Dusty Heroes” is his best known work. He suffered from adjective over-load in his writings for Open Wheel and this has a similar affliction but that is about the only criticism I have with his work. His description of the dirt track life comes from the heart; he ate, slept drank and worked with these guys and that familiarity comes through. The chapter on the recently deceased James McElreath is the highlight.

“KINGS OF THE HILLS” AUTHOR: BUZZ ROSE PUBLISHER: ROSE RACING PUBLICATIONS FIRST PRINTING: 2006

Just about any of Buzz’s books could go in this slot, but I chose this one because there seemed to be a plethora of colorful characters in the AAA and USAC Midwestern division in the 1950s. Troy Ruttman, Duane Carter, Pat O’Connor, Bob Sweikert, Mike Nazaruk and Ed Elisian were men of much said color. Rose thoroughly researched the era where the high banks of Winchester, Salem and Dayton were as big

“DIRT TRACK LEGENDS VOL. II” AUTHOR: LEE O’BRIEN PUBLISHER: LEE O’BRIEN FIRST PRINTING: 1986

O’Brien, who passed away in 2020, grew up within sight of the Iowa State Fair and attended most of the races run there from the late-1940s to its demise in 2016. His first book “Dirt Track Legends, Volume I” covered events from 1907 to 1949 and was nice little early history of the track but did nothing to prepare us for Volume II. It is a major detailed history of the men and events of the Iowa State Fair track from 1950 through 1985. Bobby Grim, Pete Folse and Doug Wolfgang are the major players but no one is overlooked in this history from the heart.

Best of the rest: :One Tough Circuit” by Bill Hill, “Full Tilt!” by John Mahoney, “Langhorne! No Man’s Land” by L. Spencer Riggs, “Life’s Tough On The Circuit” by Bob Trostle w/Larry Weeks and “Old School 1971-1977” by Mike Arthur.