"The Unfair Advantage" - by Mark Donohue

[Capt.Crash'n'Burn]

OK, this is, strictly speaking, a book about a race car driver and the cars he drove, but in a broader sense, it's a book about the relationship between man and machine. For those of you who don't know who Mark Donohue was, he was a very talented race car driver AND an engineer who used his engineering knowledge, along with an intuitive seat-of-the-pants feel, to improve the cars he drove.
The book details Mark's driving career from the beginning, and his struggles to constantly improve the cars he drove. It also talks about his role in helping create IROC, the International Race Of Champions.

Anyways, It's a good read for racers, pilots and anyone else who wants to get to know their machines better.

 

[Lance F]

I second that review. I was into road course racing while Mark was active. I was at the first IROC race at Riverside, CA when he literally lapped the field of star drivers. His death due to a F1 crash was tragic and with today's medical knowledge probably unnecessary.

 

[flyersfan31]

He lived near us when I was a kid, so I was a really big fan. I remember being devastated when he crashed. What a driving genius.

 

[Lawreston]

Different brand of racing but when I was in high school the local car hero was Joe "The Jet" Jackson, whose home was about 20 miles away in Jefferson, Maine. His father ran Jackson's Garage and, it being adjacent to Damariscotta Lake, his kid, Joe, had early experience in souping up outboard motors to scream around the lake. Then he got into drag racing -- big time. The Sanford Airport was popular for drag-strip affairs. Drag racing competitors would come from many states away to compete against Jet. If I recall correctly, during his last race the tranny blew, the scatter shield failed, and it's said that Jet's body looked as though he'd been riddled with machine gun volleys.

http://www.joejetjackson.com/ and on Google: Joe "The Jet" Jackson will get a bunch of hits.

HR

 

[Capt.Crash'n'Burn]

Different brand of racing but when I was in high school the local car hero was Joe "The Jet" Jackson, whose home was about 20 miles away in Jefferson, Maine. His father ran Jackson's Garage and, it being adjacent to Damariscotta Lake, his kid, Joe, had early experience in souping up outboard motors to scream around the lake. Then he got into drag racing -- big time. The Sanford Airport was popular for drag-strip affairs. Drag racing competitors would come from many states away to compete against Jet. If I recall correctly, during his last race the tranny blew, the scatter shield failed, and it's said that Jet's body looked as though he'd been riddled with machine gun volleys.

http://www.joejetjackson.com/ and on Google: Joe "The Jet" Jackson will get a bunch of hits.

HR

I had never heard of "The Jet" Jackson. Sounds like he was a hell of a racer. As they say, "Only the good die young". At least he didn't suffer a slow death.

We had a local hero drag racer here too. His name was Blaine Johnson. He drove, and his older brother Alan tuned the car. They won 4 consecutive Top Alcohol Dragster World championships from 1990-93. In '94 they switched to Top Fuel. At the '96 U.S. Nationals, Blaine qualified #1 and as he crossed the finish line, on of his slicks blew, sending him into the wall, he died in the hospital a few hours later from internam brain injuries. At the time, I was in the Marines stationed in Bosnia, I read about the accident in the Stars & Stripes.
A few years later, after I got out of the Marines, I went to work for Alan Johnson making cylinder heads from raw billet and intake manifolds from mag castings. I made the last few top-ends that Shirley Muldowney ran on her dragster before she retired in 2003.

 

[SharpJZ]

I actually bought a copy at Barnes and Noble last month and gave it as a birthday present for my son. He's a frustrated racer by the way. LOL.

 

[j1b3h0]

Great read, if your a gearhead like me. I especially enjoyed the chapter on the development of the Porsche 917 for CanAm.