Welcome!

For months, friends who have written books told me stories about how great it felt the day they finally saw a copy of their first published work. It was like the birth of a child, they said—payback for all the hard labor that preceded it.

They were right. I was thrilled to open the package from the publisher a few days ago. I’m crazy about the cover of “One Helluva Ride,” for one. And I can brag on it because I had nothing to do with the design. It’s a picture of stock cars hurtling toward the fourth turn at Martinsville Speedway, and implicit in that is a tribute to NASCAR’s past and the close-quarters racing that got the sport where it is today.

Even more, I love the silhouette of fans going wild in the foreground. We don’t see them exactly—just their backs—as we peer down at the track over their shoulders from the worst seats in the stands. Still, they’re having a great time, pumping their fists in the sky.

Finally, at the bottom it reads, “Foreward by seven-time NASCAR champion Richard Petty.” It was a huge honor that the King contributed to the book, and he writes about the sport in broad, welcoming strokes, inviting readers in.

But the excitement I felt over first seeing it was almost immediately followed by dread.

From the outset, I decided that if I was going to try to write a book about NASCAR, it should be a book that was told from the heart, through my eyes, and one that no one else could have written. I was going to paint this picture from an extremely personal point of view, unlike traditional newspaper writing (the only form of writing I’ve done). And if people didn’t like it, so be it.

But now that “One Helluva Ride” is in print, I’m in a bit of a panic, fearing I went too far.

“Exposed” is how a friend put it in an email after reading an advance copy. “You must have felt really, really exposed…”

Well, he’s right. And it’s a queasy feeling.

The book may resonant with some and strike others as inane.

I know it’s hard for anyone to find time to read these days, so I’ve posted lengthy excerpts on the book’s website (www.onehelluvaridebook.com) so you can decide if it’s worth buying. There’s also an email address there, so you can tell me what you think if you DO read it.

One thing I love about NASCAR fans is their bluntness. It’s usually easy to tell how they feel about something!

Hope you enjoy it,

Liz