A GUIDE TO AMERICAN SPORTS CAR RACING,

By William S. Stone '50. Garden City, N. Y.: Hanover House, 1960.208 pp. $4.50.

The present book has been written because its author wanted, a half-dozen years ago, to read, such a book and none existed.

Few recreational interests have developed in this country since World War II with such enthusiasm and intensity as sports car racing —both from the standpoint of active participation and avid spectatorship. There exist books on sports-car design, construction, and driving and books that treat sports car racing from varied approaches, but the present volume uniquely attempts, as its introduction states, to treat "the whole of the sport in America: cars, courses, clubs, driving, the works." It is, in short, precisely the kind of book the author wanted to find when he himself first became interested in the subject. It is a survey, "not a mining operation"; one meant to give basic but comprehensive coverage, and yet not exhaustive treatment, to all aspects of the field.

Bill Stone, whose own automotive involvement dates from the inevitably romantic and glamorous acquisition on his part of a venerable Model-T, begins his Guide with a section titled "What Goes on Here?" in which he touches upon such things as the history of racing, the organization, character, and management of races and racing activities, and certain of the techniques of driving. A second section of approximately equal length (and with the first constituting roughly half the book) is devoted to "The Cars" - their engines, brakes, suspension, body and frame, and type; and then, individually, detailed considerations of twentysix different cars, giving the "vital statistics" of each, as well as a few paragraphs of pertinent commentary and evaluation.

There follow next a brief "Portfolio of Racing Photos," which supplements the extensive illustration that is present in other parts of the book, and a chapter with forty pages of striking "profiles" (consisting of plans and factual data) of twenty-one of the nation's most important race courses.

The Guide effectively concludes with a classified bibliography of "Good Reading about Racing" and a fine glossary of nomenclature and terms used in the auto racing world.