Magnolias, Sweet Tea, and Exhaust: One Woman’s Journey to Understanding the Phenomenon of NASCAR

By Carole Townsend

In Magnolias, Sweet Tea, and Exhaust, Carole Townsend goes to ground with NASCAR, following the races at Southern tracks from one to the next, learning about the sport and the culture of NASCAR as she goes. Townsend meets and interviews top drivers as well as some of NASCAR’s rising stars, legends, team owners, pit crews, and fans. In a display of immersion journalism at its best, Townsend takes a ride in one of the cars on a track at race speed, tours the multimillion dollar garages in North Carolina, learns from mechanics, mingles with fans, and participates in the much-coveted infield camping party at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Gaining behind-the-scenes access at races, she experiences up close the dedication, competition, and precision of NASCAR teams during qualifying trials and races.

Some of the interviews and viewpoints included in the book are 2013 NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Rex White (the 1960 NASCAR Grand National Champion), David Ragan (winner of the 2013 Talladega May race) and his pit crew chief Jay Guy, top contender Clint Bowyer, and driver Johanna Long, the 20-year-old Nationwide Series phenomenon. Team owner Michael Waltrip and 16-year-old rising star Mason Massey also talk with Townsend about the sport’s popularity, its changing face, and today’s challenges. Townsend also covers NASCAR and its good old boy” roots in bootlegging, as well as Southern food and hospitality as represented by that great traditiontailgating (a sport in itself). She also discusses the fascinating evolution of NASCAR racing rules and the growing popularity of NASCAR abroad.

This is a perfect book for the avid NASCAR fan as well as the more casual fan looking to learn more about this growing phenomenon!

Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, is proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sportsbooks about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team.

In addition to books on popular team sports, we also publish books for a wide variety of athletes and sports enthusiasts, including books on running, cycling, horseback riding, swimming, tennis, martial arts, golf, camping, hiking, aviation, boating, and so much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sports Publishing
• Release date: Jul 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781613216927

Carole Townsend

Carole Townsend is a columnist for the Gwinnett Daily Post, the second largest newspaper in Georgia and a freelance writer whose articles have appeared in Ladies Home Journal and Teen Magazine. She has been described in her writing style as a cross between Lewis Grizzard and Erma Bombeck. She has established a reputation as one of the up-and-coming writers in the humor genre and has earned a national following.Southern Fried White Trash is her first book. Written in her unique humorous style that has earned her a readership around the nation for her eclectic wit, the book is a collection of humorous but real life stories that have happened at weddings, funerals, and holidays and other family gatherings. Townsend writes in a style that sees the humor in situations and lets the reader know that it is OK to laugh at life’s absurdities. Townsend and Southern Fried White Trash have been featured in the Los Angeles Times, CNN, and numerous television and radio appearances across the country.She is busy writing her next book, Red Lipstick and Clean Underwear, that is a “painfully humorous survival guide to successfully navigating life as a woman.” Red Lipstick and Clean Underwear takes a humorous but incisive look at “how women were taught to view and prepare for life as young girls, vs. the reality of being a woman and handling all that we do, every day, day in and day out. As adults, we are expected to handle, juggle, balance, earn, mother and be caregivers.” It will be released in June of 2012.Townsend is a graduate of Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN, with a degree in psychology, and holds a Masters Degree in Journalism. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, she Directed Marketing for The Baer Group, LLC and Western Digital Corp., both in Atlanta, and a major international software manufacturer.She resides in Lawrenceville, Georgia with her husband, four children and two rescue dogs.