(Part 2) Best automotive racing books according to redditors

The book on the entire 1979 season is well worth the read too. It’s called He Crashed Me So I Crashed Him Back

As most people have already mentioned, these are replicas from the NASCAR Vault Book.

There are also similar pieces of replica memorabilia in the NASCAR Family Album

I own the Family Album book btw.

Do you remember the name? I love Jackie and would love to read it.

Was it:

• Racing Stewart - The Birth of a Grand Prix Team
  
  Or
  
  
• Stewart Formula 1 Racing Team
  
  Thanks!

I thought it was a good idea to learn how to ride a motorcycle by riding from US to Panama and back. What can I say, I am not the brightest bulb out there. I cracked two ribs, clocked 4K miles across 7 countries, and endangered my life in ways I couldn't have imagined. I even wrote a book about the ordeal. I put it here
It's a sordid tale :)

Anyone considering performance modifications should read this book before they do anything other than simple, proven bolt-ons from a reputable specialized tuning shop. Even THEN the knowledge in that boom will help you know what to do FIRST.

that's why i kinda love this sport, from a geeky perspective! if the technical angle of the sport takes your fancy, you can never stop learning about it as it's always progressing.

• a good web resource is here:
  http://www.f1technical.net/
  
  
• and the piola books are wonderful, even just to look at without taking in the technical side of things:
  http://www.amazon.com/Formula-1-Technical-Analysis-2008-2009/dp/8879114662/ref=pd_sim_b_3
  
  
• this book is a bible, however: http://www.amazon.com/Formula-Technology-Peter-G-Wright/dp/0768002346
  very in depth (i won't even pretend to understand most of it), but absolutely fascinating.
  
  EDIT: crappy formatted fixed somewhat

Hey dude, you need to pick up the following books:

http://www.tonyfoale.com/book.htm

http://www.amazon.com/The-Racing-Motorcycle-Technical-Constructors/dp/0951292927

http://www.amazon.com/The-Racing-Motorcycle-Technical-Constructors/dp/0951292935

These are the bibles to understanding the engineering behind motorcycle design. The second volume Racing Motorcycle book covers the fabrication methods to building frames, exhausts, front ends, etc. It even tells you how you can build a 2 stroke expansion chamber using a powerwasher!

I remember borrowing a copy of the Renault Formula One Motor Racing Book from the library as a kid. Great book, even despite it being almost ten years out of date by the time I read it. Anyways, I mention the book because I remember it mentioned how race lengths had steadily decreased over the years.

According to it, pressure from TV broadcasters was the primary driving force behind it, which makes sense even today. Theoretically, you get a show that's more exciting while having more time for other programming. Look at all the plaudits that series like Global and FIA World Rallycross are getting these days.

Plus, you avoid the mess that endurance racing broadcasts can have: watch three hours here on this channel, another hour on this other channel that you probably don't have, and the rest of the race on our app, because we want to show people playing cards instead.

I guess I must be getting older, because I also remember being quite annoyed that races were getting shorter back when I read the book, while nowadays I think current race lengths are quite alright.

I did some research and you are mostly correct, but the Focus to Rally car is a bit of a stretch. I mean, I don't think people write 40 page books illustrating how to turn a Ford into a Rally car.

Oh shit, they do. Ok, you win.

> I want to see if the mustang will go faster if all 4 tires are spinning at the same time, with the right tires and coilovers.

It won't. Spinning tires due to too much power is slower than not overwhelming the tires. It looks better, sure, but the spinning tire has less grip than the tire that's not broken its traction (mild slip > grip > spinning or lockup). Thus it will be slower. This is for grippy surfaces like asphalt and concrete, and it's a matter of physics.

The right balance of sliding and not can be beneficial for extremely tight turns or loose surfaces, but canyon carving isn't done on loose surfaces. That's rally, rallycross, and the like.

Before you try to take on a project like this, I strongly recommend performance driving classes and reading books on performance driving theory. Speed Secrets is a good book that's well known. Think Fast goes a bit more into building and setting up the car.

Building the car will be a lot of money and time. If your goal is just to have fun, great, build something unique and different! But if your goal is to see what's faster, start with the knowledge that's already out there. Get yourself a good background, both theoretical and practical, and then figure out what to build based on what's already known.

Ultimate Encyclopedia of Formula One Illustrated is a truly great overall view of the sport from the beginning to now. it covers the major changes in engines, chassis, winners and loser, from the very first race until now.

It's about the sport and doesn't contain any biases other than being slightly English, but so is F1. It was so good in the 90s when I got it, I assume it is even better today.

It does a good job of sectioning things like "The Rise, fall, and return to power of Formula 1 engines", and "The Ground Effect Era" and what have you.

I picked up NASCAR: A Fast History at a yard sale. I used to read it out loud to my kid when he was an infant.

There may be an ebook version somewhere, but for your consideration

Pretty much everything I know I learned from these two books, I recommend them highly:

• Competition Driving by Alain Prost http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0905138805?pc_redir=1397942173&robot_redir=1
  
  
• Tune to Win by Carroll Smith http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00E3GMC08/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1398350253&sr=8-2&pi=SY200_QL40

If you're interested in ride/handling or chassis design:

Race Car Vehicle Dynamics

The Science of Vehicle Dynamics

Fundamentals of Vehicle Dynamics

Chassis Design: Principles and Analysis

As a beginner, you're going to benefit way more from getting your form and technique in line before you start tweaking things with the kart. Change one thing at a time until you get a handle on things.

Karting techniques:
http://www.amazon.com/Bob-Bondurant-Race-Kart-Driving/dp/0760310769

http://www.amazon.com/The-Karting-Manual-Beginners-Competitive/dp/0857330861/

http://www.amazon.com/Kart-Driving-Techniques-Jim-Hall/dp/0936834471/

Not karting specific:
http://www.amazon.com/Going-Faster-Mastering-Race-Driving/dp/0837602262/

Read this together with him!

https://www.amazon.com/Supercar-Book-Boys-Complete-Machines-ebook/dp/B00J1XVS44

I think bicycle language may differ from most automotive/motorcycel engineering language in this regard, but rake directly affects trail, though not vice-versa. "Steerer-angle", from the vertical, or caster, is what I was referring to as rake. I see that in bicycles people refer to the trail offset as 'rake'. My apologies.

Both John Bradley's and Tony Foale's books have great introductions to the basic trigonometry of steering 2-wheeled vehicle.

Well, you already know about design, but you could specialize in industrial design, or take another course in ergonomics and such. I have no idea what the job market demands are for car-design, but in a creative place, fresh ideas from other perspectives are usually welcome, so maybe being an architect isn't such a bad position to be in.

Now, you can like cars from varying points of view, you may like to tinker with them, to look at them, or maybe just drive them. If you like the driving part, I'd recommend you go several track days, or try to go to a high performance driving school, just keep in mind they can be expensive. If not, try to save up for a place with serious go karts (try and find some that go to 60mph, but you'll find ones going up to 100 or 120 mph) and learn how to really drive. A good go-kart is cheap fun and acceleration/cornering wise is pretty much on par with a decent, winged, single seater, this means it will corner and brake harder than any supercar car and accelerate on par with most of them.

A couple of books that might help you on the subject of high performance driving would be Thisand this one.

Regarding car shows, the most entertaining one is called Top Gear. It's British and it's more a entertainment show that happens to have cars, but most of us gearheads enjoy it.

I don't know much but if you have any questions ask away :)

That doesn't mean it's "slow". That depends on how straight or wide the entry and exit are. In a hypothetical scenario, you can save more time by getting optimal angle on the next curve rather than saving a small amount of time on this one.

See: https://www.amazon.com/Competition-Driving-Alain-Prost/dp/0905138805

My personal favorite.

First things first, what type of karts does this track have by you, the more detail the better (rentals, competition karts, chassis name, engine model/mfg.)

1. You learn from doing, watching, trial and error, reading books and manuals. The engine side depends on what engine you go with (2 cycle /4 cycle).Great book on the most popular 2-cycle engine, Yamaha KT-100 | The Karting Manual, haven't read this one yet, but looks promising from the reviews | Memo Gidley's Karting: Everything you need to know, I personally liked this book as it was good and being simple to understand
   
2. eBay isn't a bad place to start, craigslist is hit or miss as I have seen people trying to sell like new Shifter kart that was actually a 15 year old kart with a motor that hasn't been in competition in 20 years on it, another place to start is find club forums, ekartingnews.com has a good forum that many of the top national members communicate through. Also, DO NOT BUY A BRAND NEW KART when you're starting unless you're comfortable spending $10K. There are amazing deals on used karts that are in great shape, just have to keep your eyes peeled, fight a club or go to a regional race in your area at the end of the season, most people in the higher tiers of this sport will practically give stuff away to make room for new.
   
3. Best place to start is at a local club, this is where you will get the most experience and information from, traveling to regional series is not advisable without a few years of club experience under your belt.
   
4. Most likely not, almost all racing clubs/orgs. require a snell rated/SA certified full face helmet. Entry level HJC, K1, Arai, or Bell motorcycle helmets can be bought for $1-200 and work great for getting started, remember this is your head you're talking about. Here are links for mid-high end helmets specifically for karting if you really want to spare no expense (honestly, just buy a entry level helmet) Bell karting specific helmets Arai SK-6
   
5. I can take a look to see what shops are around your area, the track you found might know of some places. Otherwise online is becoming more and more popular if you're okay with it, just have to plan ahead. Here are a couple midwest places that have good customer service and online shops, the owners of these places are great people and I have known them for a while. Franklin Karts in Wisconsin by Badger Kart Club | Comet Kart Sales in Indiana at NCMP track | Newer place in Wisconsin | Guy has been around karting for forever and is great to work with.
   
6. Some drivers have sponsors beyond family members (g-parents etc... or family businesses), unfortunately karting isn't a big enough platform for companies, many local restaurants and bars will tend to help the younger crowd out. But in saying this, it never hurts to try and is a great skill to possess in your life, the ability to sell yourself, its an invaluable skill I've honed since I was 8 years old through karting.
   
7. This question depends on what you like and what is available in your area. The major categories are sprint karting (european style), road racing, dirt oval. for more info on the major types go to the WKA Website to leanr more or ekartingnews for great tips on getting started.
   Nicholson Speedway in Chestertown, MD
   
   Sandyhook Speedway in Sandyhook, MD
   
   These are the only two sprint tracks that I found in MD, Since you live in an area that makes it easier to travel to other states I would look at those as well.
   
   Here is a list of master tracks through out the country, these tracks are recognised by the WKA for having solid clubs to support the tracks and follow the WKA rule book fairly closely.
   

Formula One Yearbook? https://www.amazon.com/Formula-One-Year-Book-Publishing/dp/0789437546