Rolling Thunder Stock Car Racing: White Lightning

The pedal meets the metal in Rolling Thunder Stock Car Racing—the thrilling series from Kent Wright and Don Keith that traces the history of stock car racing from the dusty dirt tracks of East Tennessee to the multi-million-dollar, high-tech venues of today. "You know how it feels ... the power of the motors vibrating in your chest, stunning your ears, your heart pumping in your throat, the grit of spent tire rubber in your mouth. You know how it feels from the grandstand? Just imagine how it feels to the ole boy behind the wheel of one of those monsters. Just imagine!" It's the mid-1950s, and Elvis is King. Jodell Bob Lee has been raised up in his grandfather's moonshine business. But the boy dreams of something much bigger than clawing out a living on a dirt farm and outrunning federal revenuers. He dreams of racing stock cars. It only takes a few races before Jodell is hooked, and before long he and his mechanic cousin, Joe Baker, and best friend, Bubba Baxter, are facing the like of Junior Johnson, Ned Jarrett, and Lee Petty. His motto: always finish first, no matter what. The explosion of stock car racing as the number one spectator sport in America roars to life in White Lightning, the pedal-to-the-metal story of Jodell Lee's triumphant rise to fame and fortune.