Racing to the Finish: My Story

by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ryan McGee (With)

Overview

Racecar driver Earnhardt was at the top of his game—until a minor crash resulted in a concussion that would eventually end his 18-year career. In his only authorized book, Dale shares the inside track on his life and work, reflects on NASCAR, the loss of his dad, and his future as a broadcaster, businessperson, and family man.

It was a seemingly minor crash at Michigan International Speedway in June 2016 that ended the day early for NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr. What he didn’t know was that it would also end his driving for the year. He’d dealt with concussions before, but no two are the same. Recovery can be brutal, and lengthy.

When Dale retired from professional stock car racing in 2017, he walked away from his career as a healthy man. But for years, he had worried that the worsening effects of multiple racing-related concussions would end not only his time on the track but his ability to live a full and happy life.

Torn between a race-at-all-costs culture and the fear that something was terribly wrong, Earnhardt tried to pretend that everything was fine, but the private notes about his escalating symptoms that he kept on his phone reveal a vicious cycle: suffering injuries on Sunday, struggling through the week, then recovering in time to race again the following weekend. In this candid reflection, Earnhardt opens up for the first time about:

• The physical and emotional struggles he faced as he fought to close out his career on his own terms
• His frustration with the slow recovery from multiple racing-related concussions
• His admiration for the woman who stood by him through it all
• His determination to share his own experience so that others don’t have to suffer in silence

Steering his way to the final checkered flag of his storied career proved to be the most challenging race and most rewarding finish of his life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780785221609
Publisher:	Nelson, Thomas, Inc.
Publication date:	10/16/2018
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is an American professional stock car racing driver, champion team owner, businessman, television analyst for NBC Sports Group, and inductee into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. He won a record 15-straight NASCAR Most Popular Driver awards from 2003 to 2017, consecutive NASCAR Busch Series Championships in 1998 and 1999, and the prestigious Daytona 500 in 2004 and 2014. He is the author of the New York Times bestselling Racing to the Finish and Driver #8, as well as the children's books Buster's Trip to Victory Lane and Buster Gets Back on Track. Dale lives in Mooresville, North Carolina, with his wife, Amy, and their two daughters, Isla and Nicole.

Ryan McGee, an ESPN senior writer, is a five-time National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and four-time Sports Emmy winner. In 2007 he wrote the script for the documentary Dale, about Earnhardt’s father, narrated by Paul Newman. He lives in Charlotte with his wife, Erica, and their daughter, Tara.

Table of Contents

Foreword Dr. Michael "Micky" Collins vii

A Lift, a Secret, and a Promise xi

1 Hammerhead 1

2 Into the Fog 15

3 Back on Track 35

4 The Cloud Returns 53

5 The Lost Season 75

6 Hard Truths 89

7 Battleground of the Mind 103

8 To Race or not to Race 123

9 The Return … and That Other R-Word 139

10 Send Her Around One More Time 161

Don't be a Hammerhead 171

Acknowledgments 177

Bonus Chapter: A Conversation with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Dr. Micky Collins 181

About the Authors 204

Editorial Reviews

11/05/2018
Retired professional stock car driver Earnhardt candidly opens up about the end of his racing career and warns other athletes about the dangers of traumatic brain injuries. Earnhardt uses his charisma and a conversational tone—“heck man” and “ain’t” are sprinkled throughout­­—to delve into heavy discussions of sports-related harm. Introduced by Earnhardt’s concussion specialist, the book illustrates the huge pressure athletes are placed under to sacrifice their health for career success, a burden acutely described through the lens of Earnhardt’s experience hiding his condition from those closest to him. He recounts intense crashes that will have racing fans on the edges of their seats, and he also shares personal notes about his symptoms and struggles that he’d written on his iPhone: “Hit oil and slammed wall. Instant headache. Felt lazy and 1 beer drunk rest of day. Could fumble some speech and mind was forgetful. Don’t consider this one as serious as some.” Data-driven medical information and comparisons of concussion injuries in other professional sports leagues are also provided to stress the seriousness of the problem. Although religion is never at the forefront of the book, Earnhardt relies on his faith often during his struggles with concussions, a fact that comes through in his personal entries. For fans of racing or professional athletics in general, Earnhardt’s worrying tale will be a wake-up call for reform and better health policies. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly