Fuel and Guts: The Birth of Top Fuel Racing: The Birth of Top Fuel Drag Racing - Hardcover

Tom Madigan

9780760326978: Fuel and Guts: The Birth of Top Fuel Racing: The Birth of Top Fuel Drag Racing

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0760326975 ISBN 13: 9780760326978

Publisher: Motorbooks International, 2007

Told by those who lived it, this is the story of how Top Fuel drag racing started, when nitro methane and methanol were first mixed and made cars go from 0 to 100 mph in 0.8 seconds! From the beginning, Tom Maddigan was an insider on this scene and has interviewed drivers, promoters, car builders, drag strip owners for the first account of this high-octane, speed wins world where racing cars travelled at speeds of over 330 mph! The interviews are taken straight from Maddigans tape recorder and faithfully transcribed and reproduced here - the real, verbatim feelings, passions, ideas, frustrations, and determination of a now vanished breed of racer. Covering racers like Tony Nancy, Mickey Thopmpson, Tommy Ivo, Tom McEwen, Don Garlits, Shirley Muldowney, engine builders Ed Pink, chassis builder Kent Fuller, and more all open the door to this world of winners to readers.

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Review:

Exciting Stories, exciting writing. Read a paragraph, any paragraph, before buying. there are stories here you won't see anywhere else, and I personally find Joe's style entertaining --Vintage Racecar--If you want an insider's view with detailed, first-person accounts from the independent-thinking, innovative wizards who turned drag racing into an extreme sport, reading this book is pure heaven. You can almost smell the nitro. --Road & Track--There's been a wealth of excellent books on drag racing in recent years, but this superb new work is a welcome addition. Madigan competetd aginst the sport's pioneers and has been covering drag racing since the'50s , so is perfectly placed for this overview, from early amatuer racers to the big-time pro scene. It's his memories that make this book so readable - you can just imagine Mickey Thompson's temper on being informed that a driver had been drinking before a race. Best of all, this 240-page book highlights the diverse characters from drag-racing's history, complemented by Madigan's interviews with TV star/racer Art Chrisman, Tommy Ivo, Ed Iskenderian and Don prudhomme. There's also a wealth of spectacular historic photographs to go with these colourfull anecdotes. Great Value. --Classic and Sports Car

Tom Madigan lets the original Top Fuel drivers, promoters and innovators tell their stories about the beginning of Top Fuel drag racing in his latest book, Fuel and Guts: The Birth of Top Fuel Drag Racing. This is the story of how Top Fuel drag racing started in California, told by those who lived it. As a contributor to Popular Hot Rodding as well as a competitor, driving his own Top Fuel burning dragster, Madigan was an insider and close personal friend to those involved. Now he uses that status to offer background to twenty nine first-hand accounts of those who influenced the early years of the sport, like Tony Nancy, Tommy Ivo, Bob Muravez, Tom McEwen, Don Prudhomme, Ed Pink and Kent Fuller (see the complete list below). He also pays tribute to the women of racing like Veda Orr, Peggy Hart, Judy Thompson Creach, Barbara Parks and Linda Vaughn. Tom Madigan was there from the start and tells their tales and allows readers to hear directly from those who helped mold the sport in their own words. Featuring 242 rare color and black-and-white photos from the personal archives of Madigan's close friends, Fuel & Guts tells the intimate stories that take you back in time and shows how it all started. The Practical Joker Car owner Roland Leong was constantly playing jokes on his teammates and other competitors. He loved to irritate chassis builder Kent Fuller by leaving the letter "t" out �of Fuller's first name on Leong's Hawaiian Top Fuel Dragster. Roland Leong's prank still lives on today. When Fuel and Guts was in the final editing stage, the editor noticed that there was a "t" missing in the Kent Fuller Chassis logo from the photo on page 181. "Certainly Leong's car would have the correct spelling of the chassis builder," the editor thought, so he changed Kent Fuller's name to match the dragster's photo. Somewhere Roland Leong is having a good laugh as his prank lives on. The misspelling was not the error of the author, Tom Madigan, and will be corrected in the second printing. My Thoughts; This new book is a 'must have' for anyone interested in the history of Drag Racing and will keep you mesmerized for hours as you re-live the best days of our sport. Hundreds of great photos, some never seen in public before help to form the picture in your mind as if you were right there. The stories relayed by the author are both interesting and informative and come from the greats of the formative years of Top Fuel. 'Put this one on the TOP of your list' --Nitrogeezers dot com

There's been a wealth of excellent books on drag racing in recent years, but this superb new work is a welcome addition. Madigan competetd aginst the sport's pioneers and has been covering drag racing since the'50s , so is perfectly placed for this overview, from early amatuer racers to the big-time pro scene. It's his memories that make this book so readable - you can just imagine Mickey Thompson's temper on being informed that a driver had been drinking before a race. Best of all, this 240-page book highlights the diverse characters from drag-racing's history, complemented by Madigan's interviews with TV star/racer Art Chrisman, Tommy Ivo, Ed Iskenderian and Don prudhomme. There's also a wealth of spectacular historic photographs to go with these colourfull anecdotes. Great Value. --Classic and Sports Car

About the Author:

Tom Madigan has been part of California car culture since the 1950s. He not only competed against drag racing's pioneers, he has been writing about them since the 1960s as a contributor for Popular Hot Rodding, Car Craft, Road & Track and Vintage Motorsport. He also was the long time editor of Off –Road. In 2005 Madigan won the prestigious Dean Batchelor Award for his book Edelbrock: Made in USA. He has also authored Boss: The Bill Stroppe Story, and The Loner: the Story of a Drag Racer. Tom and his wife, Darlene, reside in Sonora, California.Tom Madigan has been part of California car culture since the 1950s. He not only competed against drag racing's pioneers, he has been writing about them since the 1960s as a contributor for Popular Hot Rodding, Car Craft, Road & Track and Vintage Motorsport. He also was the long time editor of Off --Road. In 2005 Madigan won the prestigious Dean Batchelor Award for his book Edelbrock: Made in USA. He has also authored Boss: The Bill Stroppe Story, and The Loner: the Story of a Drag Racer. Tom and his wife, Darlene, reside in Sonora, California.

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