Customer Reviews (5)

Driver/Crew Chief details
I chose a group of books for researh for starting a race team, this was one...If you want detail, this has it, but let me warn... I feel there is too much time spent on the driver/crew chief talks duringwarm-up/qualifying/race.If you want to learn what goes on between the twothis book is for you.The nitty gritty detail of a year in racing is, inmy opinion, a bit lacking, but the detail of what goes on between thedriver and crew chief is terrific.Haney gets a bit lenghty in the middleraces of the season, he found a tape recorder, but rounds out the book backon the brief...while I enjoyed reading the details of weight jacking andspring adjustments, I found too much "car adjustment" detail andnot enough "a year in the life of..." details.

A feast for car racing nuts.
Paul arranged the year we'd all love to have: traveling with a top-line CART team and listening in to all their radio traffic on race weekends. He combines a talent for explaining technical issues with painstakingnote-taking (the part of the year we didn't have to worry about) andpresents it all with a fresh, self-effacing style.

The bulk of the bookis Paul's description of how engineers and drivers set up the PacWest cars.We can listen in as they drift in and out of the right setup, struggling tofind the right combination in this hugely competitive racing series.

Buyit if you're fascinated by the technical part of Champ Car racing. Stayaway if you're looking for brisk narrative about people or a tight dramaticstructure. This is hardcore racing.

If you're an auto racing fan, buy this book!
This is the book I've always wanted to read. I've been a fan of autoracing for many years, but no book has ever given a real "behind thescenes" look at what goes on in a top line race team. Haney's style isvery readable and gives a good honest potrayal of all the key members ofthe race team. None better!

Behind the scenes accounts of a Fed-Ex Championship Team
I have been involved in motorsports for over 10 years, on a pit crew and with a major supplier.It was always amazing to me that many crews members, drivers and sponsors really did not know what it was really like until they were heavily involved in the sport.That has changed with Paul's book.It is very informative for both the casual Indycar fan, and for those who are already in the sport.Many of us on the "inside" of the sport are not able to hear what the engineers/drivers/crew are saying during the course of a race weekend, and especially private testing days.Paul has taken the reader literally behind the "closed doors" of a major Indycar team. If you have ever wondered how a team gets a sponsor, or how they make the car go faster, or what the team does when they leave the track for the day, then Paul will tell you.It is told in a matter-of-fact and easy to follow way, that will keep you interested throughout.I recommend it for the race fan and team member alike!I can't wait for another book by Paul!

Highly favorable
About a year or more ago, I started to take a serious interest in what is now called the FedEx CART series for single-seat mid-engine car - the type formerly know as Indy Cars until there were legal complications withy using the phrase - and I bought a book called Indy Car Champion about the '96 season in which Jimmy Vasser won the highly prestigious PPG Cup for the championship-winning driver in that series and it made a favorable impression on me.It was, in short, a nice little book.But therein lie the problem: its brevity and its inablilty to treat the subject matter in any detail.A highly inexcusable thing to have happen, since author Ned Wicker is an acknoledged expert on CART and the force behind Indy Car Racing magazine.Inside Racing has more than made up for that. What Paul Haney has done is taken the reader into the workings of the highly successful PacWest Racing Group and gone further behind the lines, as it were, than Wicker did with Jimmy Vasser's Target-Ganassi team and it more than shows.There is not only a good race-by-race breakdown of the '97 season, but almost a minute-by-minute treatment of an area of racing that seldom does the average fan get a chance to see.Haney's photographs, while only black-and-white, are highly complimentary to the text and show him to be as skilled with a camera as with a notebook.It has to be one of the best racing books I've ever read and one I'd never hesitate to recommend, and not just to a CART fan, but to a fan of any form of motorsports.James Brooks N. Wilkesboro NC ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (4)

Indy Cars of the 1950's
Good B/W photo's, but little depth on the subject of the cars or drivers!

Needs a reprint...
The Ludvigsen Indy Car series is a wonderful collection of photos with interesting commentary covering Indy Cars of the 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s.Indy Cars of the 50's was the first volume published, and went for $19.95 retail; the other volumes went for $24.95.Why more?Because the other volumes were printed on glossy stock, making the pictures gorgeous and crystal clear.This first volume is printed on plain paper stock, so the pictures are fuzzy, and the paper isn't as opaque, allowing "see-through" of the picture on the opposite side of the page.I'd gladly pay the extra $5 for a reprint on the same high-quality stock as the other books in this series!

OBJECTIVE COMMENTS
ALTHOUGH KARL'S NEW BOOK DOESN'T POSSESS A WEALTH OF INFORMATION IN PROSE,IMAGERY IS ALWAYS HELPFUL TO A SERIOUS HISTORIAN OR RESTORER WHO HAS NEVER EXPERIENCED THESE VEHICLES 'FIRST HAND'.HE HAS TAKEN THE OLD ADAGE, "A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS!" TO NEW HEIGHTS.ANY NEW UNPUBLISHED PHOTOGRAPHS - THESE ARE PUBLISHED FOR THE FIRST TIME AS I UNDERSTAND IT - OF ANY SUBJECT OF INTEREST TO AN AUDIENCE BEARS SCRUTINY FOR DETAILS, POSSIBLY NEVER BEFORE UNCOVERED BY IMAGERY.THESE CARS ARE EXCEEDINGLY RARE AND QUITE UNIQUE IN THE WAY THEY ADDRESSED THE TASK OF GOING FAST AT THE SPEEDWAY AND OTHER OVAL TRACKS THEY PERFORMED ON.THE CRAFTSMANSHIP ON THESE MACHINES EXHIBITED FLAWLESS QUALITY IN THE ATTENTION TO DETAIL WITH WHICH THEY WERE EXECUTED.THEY WERE 'WORKS OF THE ART' IN MACHINED BILLET AND HAND-FORMED SHEET METAL.I HOPE FOR KARL'S SAKE, THERE IS ENOUGH INTEREST IN THE SUBJECT MATTER TO JUSTIFY THIS BOOKS UTILITY IN THIS NEW MELLENIUM.I ENCOURAGE ALL WITH AN INTEREST IN INDY ROADSTERS OF THIS ERA TO ENJOY KARL'S BOOK FOR WHAT IT IS AND NOT WHAT SOME THINK IT SHOULD BE!

Lacks content
Indy Cars of the 1950's is disappointing.Nice pictures, but the captions do not really capture the flavor of the period.Technical data is nil, consisting of two pages at the very front of the book.The bookunabashedly is tilted towards the products of Frank Kurtis, but contains noanecdotal information, technical discussions, or the like to flesh out theauthor's admiration.You can read the entire book in a 15 minute sitting. Quite disappointing - Joe Scalzo's book Indianapolis Roadsters 1952-64 ismuch better resource for this period of Indianapolis 500 history. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Vauge with beautiful photos
Very very abreviated history of Indy cars.Nice cars featured, but notthe best historical Indy book out there.This is a book for someone whothinks "those old race cars are kinda neat," not the hardcorehistoric racing car enthusiest (although they probably buy everything Indyrelated)Don't expect much from such a small book.

I was really impressed with your book.
I would really like to be able to talk to the author of this book.My dad is in the centerfold and on the following page. We would love to be able to give you more info on the car that is in your book.If you are interestedin finding out more please feel free to email me and i will get back assoon as i can.Again the book was great and we have purchased 4 alreadyfor us and people in our organization.Ginger ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Great book for any Indy Racing League fan.
This is a wonderful book for IRL race fans. It contains recaps of the entire 1996-97 race season including driver profiles, and complete race statistics. The photos contained in this book are great. I love every pageof it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Forget NASCAR - Bring on the Open Wheelers !
For those outside the loop of racing, NASCAR garners a great deal of attention.Lost in all the attention paid to that series is a great style of racing collectively known as "open wheel" or "Champ Car."The series has evolved over the years but one thing has always remained.The races are fast, exciting and very competitive.How exciting?Put 800+ horsepower in a 1,600lb car that stands at knee level and enjoy the fun!If you are a fan - new or old - this series from Autocourse is a must-have.Autocourse started doing yearbooks 40+ years ago for the Formula One Grand Prix series and they have grown to include Champ Cars.They offer a tremendous amount of detail about the teams, drivers, cars, technical advances, etc.They also showcase the support series and the up-and-coming drivers in them.Each race is covered in detail with all qualifying times and finishing spots as well as highlights of the event itself.Photography is 100% incredible.That's another point.I enjoy doing my own photography and sometimes it's easy to lose track of things, especially if you don't get the film developed for a while.This book offers tremendous resource materials for someone maintaining photo albums of the events themselves.Basically, if you have a question about this style of racing, you'll find it in this book. On another note, this edition specifically covers arguably one of the greatest Indy 500 finishes of all time.

Indy car fans, This is a must for your collection.
The Autocourse book series is the best coverage of indy car racing, without having to buy a ticket to the race.Each book has extensive team coverage, and the added technical aspects that each book includes is incredible.The 1995 book is the last issue, before the C.A.R.T./I.R.L split.This book includes what many consider the last great year of American based racing with all of its top drivers.This year was also the last before the Target race team dynasty started.Great information for any race fan ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Anatomy and Development of the Indy Race Car
This shows the evolution of the Indy Car (including CART Championship Cars) up to 1993.This is a good reference book.In 1996, CART boycotted the Indianapolis 500, but from 1979 to 1995, CART and the Indianapolis 500 used the same cars. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Design and Development of the Indy Car
This book shows the evolution of the Indy Car from the early days until the early 1980s.This is a good reference book but will be very hard to find since it is out-of-print.These race cars were state-of-the-art in 1982. ... Read more