By: DJ DeSpain

The books I generally read are of the mystery/thriller genres, but every once in awhile I will read a non-fiction book if it attracts my attention. Because of my interest in NASCAR, sometimes I will pick a book that relates to the sport. The subject may be about the early history of NASCAR, like “Driving with the Devil” by Neal Thompson, or it might cover the how-does-it-work questions answered within Diandra L. Leslie-Pelecky’s book “The Physics of NASCAR.”

My latest read was “The Weekend Starts on Wednesday: True Stories of Remarkable NASCAR Fans.” The book’s author, Andrew Giangola, is currently the business communication director of NASCAR. Being in his position as a public relations person, Mr. Giangola has many opportunities to hear and gather unusual, and sometimes touching, stories about NASCAR fans, either at the track or in their homes.

While I am sure he had a difficult task in choosing his stories, he was able to gather more than 40 of them to present in his book. Stories such as:

• The RN/nursing professor with a fear of heights who posed with a NASCAR flag at the summit of Mt. Everest.
• A former army scout wounded in Iraq able to come home for Christmas thanks to the unsolicited generosity of a race team owner.
• An astronaut who got his racing news while piloting a space shuttle 250 miles above the Earth.
• The family who overcame their grief over the loss of their son by following a race car driver who reminded them of their son.

Some of the stories are funny and well-known, like the Talladega Tire Man, whose simple idea of how to carry a race tire made him instantly famous. Other stories are still topical and current today, like the stories about celebrity fans Tom Cruise or Kevin Costner, who follow NASCAR races around the circuit. Or the story of Jack Hege, the fan who has attended every Daytona 500, including this year’s race. The author even threw in a couple of stories about himself as a fan. Just be wary about lending him a black Sharpie!

I thoroughly enjoyed the book because as I was reading, I was often reminded of my own fan experiences over the years, either at a track or watching races on TV, and thinking back on what made me a fan. Memories such as:

• Driving from Atlanta to Daytona on a Friday night after work, pitching a telephone repair tent in the Daytona parking lot at 3 AM to sleep, watching the race, and then driving back home after the race, all because of a last-minute free ticket.
• Seeing Tony Stewart get out of his rental car to come to the fence to sign autographs as he waited out a traffic jam trying to get out of the infield after a race at Martinsville.
• Watching on TV the 2001 Daytona 500, seeing the fatal wreck of Dale Earnhardt Sr., and having several friends call me up afterwards to offer condolences, knowing I was a big fan of Dale.

The book is sure to have one or more stories that will mean something to any NASCAR fan like they did for me. Perhaps readers may discover they have personally met or seen one of the fans portrayed in the book. I know I intend to seek out a few of them myself just to say “Hey! I read about you. Great story! Thanks for being a fan!”

Please join us on our Facebook page at facebook.rubbingsracing.com and share with us your favorite fan story.

The book “The Weekend Starts on Wednesday” is available at Amazon.com. Click here for a link to the sales page.

Be sure to listen to Over The Wall: Episode 37 – Andrew Giangola as Chris Smith and DJ DeSpain talk to the author about the book. Also, hear how you can win a copy of the book autographed by the author.