Once Around the Track

St. Dale #2

by Sharyn McCrumb

This hilarious, fast-paced novel follows an all-female NASCAR team, sponsored by Vagenya, a new product that claims to be "like Viagra, but for women," and their male driver, Badger Jenkins, a sexy bad boy who takes them all for a wild ride.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Romance, Novels, Adult Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Sports

309 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

​
    Sharyn McCrumb, an award-winning Southern writer, is best known for her Appalachian “Ballad” novels, including the New York Times best sellers The Ballad of Tom Dooley, The Ballad of Frankie Silver, and The Songcatcher. Ghost Riders, which won the Wilma Dykeman Award for Literature from the East Tennessee Historical Society and the national Audie Award for Best Recorded Books. The Unquiet Grave, a well-researched novel about West Virginia's Greenbrier Ghost, will be published in September by Atria, a division of Simon &Schuster.        
       Sharyn McCrumb, named a Virginia Woman of History by the Library of Virginia and a Woman of the Arts by the national Daughters of the American Revolution,  was awarded the Mary Hobson Prize for Arts & Letters in 2014. Her books have been named New York Times and Los Angeles Times Notable Books. In addition to presenting programs at universities, libraries, and other organizations throughout the US, Sharyn McCrumb has taught a writers workshop in Paris, and served as writer-in-residence at King University in Tennessee, and at the Chautauqua Institute in western New York.

Reviews

[Bill Plott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first discovered McCrumb as a mystery writer (Elizabeth MacPherson series) and always enjoyed those stories. Over the years I have found delightful books in two totally different settings. "Bimbos of the Death Star" and "Bimbos and Zombies" are both set at a science fiction convention. Having been to several conventions myself, i found her insights into that subculture delightful. The there came "St. Dale" about a pilgrimage of NASCAR fans to sites pertinent to the life of the late driver. It is also a good read. The current book is another NASCAR excursion, featuring an all-woman pit crew for a driver named Badger Jenkins. Badger is a throwback to the redneck driver who just loves to race. Unfortunately he is in a world where racing has become secondary to corporate success of the teams. This is wonderful group of characters and an extraordinary look at what goes on behind the scenes in racing. McCrumb's research is remarkable and she includes an afterward detailing it. Oh, I almost forgot -- McCrumb writes with a great deal of humor.

[Christi · Rating 2 out of 5]

my thoughts at page 86:
There are just way too many characters that require an indepth chapter of introduction in this book. I'm finding it very plodding and overly methodical.
I don't need so much bland background on these women to later be in a position to better understand them.
Perhaps once this racing team is assembled and they start actually working together it will pick up speed?

my thoughts after finishing this book:
well two things I've learned from this book
1) the race car driver may look tough/sexy/heroic but "he's not a jerk" (seriously this is mentioned by every single female character at least 3 times)
2) the chief engineer went to Virginia Tech, hence the play on the sponsor's name Vargenya Tech - again mentioned everytime the plot takes place in that part of the race car shop

[Barb · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the selection for my book group for this month, and even though I am not going to attend, I used this as a "discipline" exercise...OMG...this was not a fun read...it was not even an interesting survey of the racing world. There was no plot, the people had no personalities, there was no conflict, no love angle (well, a SMALL one, if you stuck with it to the end!) I actually found myself hoping the guy would crash!!!!!!!!!!!

[emma ⋆˚✿˖° · Rating 2 out of 5]

a bit of a stinker (i’m scrolling through goodreads liking one star reviews from 2008 like OMG YES EXACTLY)

soo the indy 500 is coming up (tomorrow!) and i wanted to go for year 2 of reading motorsports themed novels and i found this. the premise looked to be either so bad its good or unexpectedly genuinely good so i was all for it. it had strong potential to be either. but unfortunately it was just bad.

i don’t really see the point to this story or why i should care about any of it actually. it was cool to see characters (especially women) in different behind-the-scenes roles in racing, but every chapter accomplished the exact. same. thing: hot driver has a one off side quest with one of the women, she realizes he’s actually a nice guy and not an asshole. next chapter: hot driver has a one off side quest with one of the women, she realizes he’s actually a nice guy and not an asshole. repeat for 300 pages. occasionally we actually get to do some racing.

also about 60% in, we have a random and bafflingly mean-spirited display of body shaming of an unnamed woman fan that was meeting Mr Hot Driver that was completely unnecessary. it went on for about 4 pages too, all to accomplish that Mr Hot Driver is such a good person and a saint for treating this bigger woman as a fucking human being. ridiculous writing

i’m moving onto formula 1 romances now. sharyn mccrumb you are now one of my ops

[Carol Stanley-Snow · Rating 5 out of 5]

First. I've been to one Nascar race, just to have the experience. Second. I will not go to another. Not saying its a bad thing...just not my thing.

So, when i read the synopsis, i wasn't quite sure i'd enjoy this read....i was wrong!

Sharyn McCrumb has brought these characters to life and you don't even realize your learning something about Nascar....like it or not!

I found myself 'seeing and feeling' these folks. A fine story about life....

Please read.

[suellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

McCrumb is a wonderful storyteller - car racing (race carring?) is not where I met her, but I trust her ability to draw me in.

And now I know about restrictor plates, and quite a bit more about NASCAR. And her storytelling abilities kept me going through this thin novel.

I wish she would go back to her Appalachian mysteries or the faux-sci-fi.

[Tammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well I finally finished this book. Let me begin by saying I adore Sharyn McCrumb's writing. This NASCAR jaunt is just not for me though. I simply could not get into it...as you can see by the fact it took me so long to finish it! I'll be happy to go back to her regular books.

[Arlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting peek inside Nascar teams, with lots of interesting characters, many of whom are introduced and then dropped, but I liked it.

[Delores · Rating 2 out of 5]

Easy read but not what I would call a page turner.

[Elizabeth Mosley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read McCrumb's "The Ballad of Frankie Silver" years ago and really enjoyed it, so I was looking forward to this book. What a disappointment. This book is about a group of women investors who decide to sponsor an all-women NASCAR team. The only problem is there aren't any available women drivers, so they hire sexy Badger Jenkins to be their driver. Because I don't know anything about NASCAR racing, I did learn some things (which is why I give this book 2 stars and not 1), but wow, it's just terrible. McCrumb spends page after nauseating page describing how sexy Jenkins is. We get it. He's good-looking. He's a dumb nice guy who can drive, but who is also incredibly sexist, saying things like, she's real nice, too bad she isn't hotter. Good lord. The women in the book are just as bad, with their constant evaluations and criticisms of other women's physical appearances. The whole book is just disappointing sexist tripe.

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like many other reviewers here, I love Sharyn McCrumb’s work and I picked this book up because I have run out of anything else of hers to read. Just having moved to Charlotte NC I felt it was finally the time to tackle NASCAR. I learned quite a bit about it from this book and that was nice, but I ended up skimming most of this disappointing book. Very thin on plot and from the middle on it got annoyingly repetitive about Badger’s personality and his effect on women and theirs on him. If I want more S McCrumb “fixes” then I’l just go back and reread her ballad novels or the Elizabeth MacPherson books. Or if you are into NC novels with great writing and good sense of place then try Margaret Marin’s Deborah Knott series.

[Martha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I learned a lot about NASCAR and stock car racing. Perhaps too much. Certainly more than I really wanted to. Beyond the general premise of the plot (group of rich women decide to field an all-woman NASCAR team but have to use a male driver), most of the book is spent talking about NASCAR rules, how racing cars work, and (repetitiously) the physique and character of Badger Jenkins, the aforementioned male driver. The first part of the book went into quite a bit of detail about the characters and backgrounds of the members of the female pit team, but I'm not sure why, since later on most of them did not figure very prominently in the plot. I found myself skimming, but I did finish it.

[Sharon Falduto]

A group of rich dilettantes decides to host an (almost) all-female NASCAR team. The books tells the stories of several members of the team; a pit crew member who is a fan of the driver, Badger Jenkins; the team publicist who is considering writing an expose on NASCAR, and the driver himself, a man whom no one can quite pin down. Heavy on technical information about NASCAR but not dull. Ward Burton (the driver) was one of the author's chief advisers on the book.

[Debbie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I forced myself to read the entire thing, but that made me know I don’t want to read any more books by his author. It was pretty boring all the way through. I’m not a nascar fan so maybe that’s part of the reason it was boring to me. I read two other books between reading this one.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

You have to love Sharyn McCrumb if only for the occasional gem of a phrase. "The town was so small it was only on the map two days a week." I am NOT a NASCAR fan but to read McCrumb, I'll learn. Good characters, well plotted, new (to me) information.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yes, I picked it up because of the NASCAR angle. But it was dumb, dumb, dumb. The story never gets going. It is page after page of character development and poor development at that. It had so much potential & it fell flat.

All-in-all: Don't bother.

[AngelaGay Kinkead · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little disappointed. It was OK, but . . .
I had read one or two of McCrumb's "Ballad" series and I really liked them. Would go back, but not to this series. It landed on my shelf and I read it for a change of pace. Off to the Little Free Library it goes!

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked this book....well told tale but cannot fine the next books....and library says they don't have them either.

[Dara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than expected...a fast read

[Melanee Barash]

I am a fan of Sharyn McCrumb, but not of this particular novel. Although I did enjoy the concept of an all-female NASCAR team, the story fell flat for me. Oh well, you can't "win" them all!!

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my usual. Picked it up at a library book sale while traveling. About NASCAR and I liked it!

[Sandra Mistretta · Rating 1 out of 5]

The appeal of this book which is one of a small series, is that it is about NASCAR. I have no interest in it so the book is slow for me, but it is interesting to read about the process of a stock car driver, his car, and the teams of people behind the scenes who don't even go to the track. I had to look up what a fire suit is - the fire proof suit that a race car driver wears.

In this story a group of wealthy women investors want to start an all female cup team to race in NASCAR. The highly visible pit crew would be all women, but they had to hire a male driver to suit NASCAR rules. The rest of the team in the background would consist of men engineers etc., because there aren't many women who know that industry.

Tuggle was hired as the first female crew manager. She was paid extra to hire the rest of her crew. The big money doesn't come from winning, but from the advertising and promotional gift sales. The women's group advertiser was for a female vaginal product which would be an embarrassment to the male driver.

[Toni Osborne · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Once Around the Track“ is an interesting fiction based around the NASCAR auto racing circuit and the people that bring each race to life.

This is a sweet story, somewhat funny at times and quite appealing. It begins with a group of female investors financed by “Vagenya” ( v i agra for women) who put together an all female Nascar team. The only male is the “wheel man”, a charming and unassuming man with the ability to compete at a high level, his good looks are a definite asset to the sponsor. The women’s job is to keep both the car and the driver competitive and in one piece. The reader spends one year in their life while they are racing around the country in a quest for the all mighty chequered flag…..

I loved this story for its originality and its collection of colourful characters, a group that teamed up for various reasons. The plot moves at a slow but steady pace and is peppered with a detailed description of the politics and the inner workings of how management and the pit crew function. All seems very realistic, thanks to the author’s extensive research and the help of NASCAR driver, Ward Burton. Whether you are a fan or not of NASCAR, its an interesting look into a close knit world. I found this novel very entertaining and a change of pace

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book far better than I did. After all, Sharyn McCrumb is a favorite author -- and the person whose novels inspired me to investigate forensic anthropology (now my major as adult college student).

Sadly, "Once Around the Track" was something of a disappointment. It lacked McCrumb's usual humor and style, present in nearly all of her books, and lacked the suspense of all the others I've read. Perhaps it's just that I am not a NASCAR fan, but I never really connected with any of the characters or subplots.

Where McCrumb was *spot-on,* though, was her examination of fandom -- regardless of the milieu. From the people who simply enjoy to the work of their favorite to the creepily obsessed, she looked at the type of people who engage in fannish behaviors. As someone involved in actor's fandom (and who walked away from active involvement because of some of the rather creepy/stalkerish folk there with whom I did not wish to be associated), I have seen this behavior in action.

Really, I would not recommend this book for anyone except NASCAR fans. A disappointment.

[Lance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a relatively new NASCAR fan, I looked at this book as a social statement when I downloaded it onto my Kindle with a NASCAR theme. I was completely wrong as this gave great insight into many aspects of the sport that new and casual fans don't otherwise see, such as the careful marketing and profiling of the drivers, the intricate tasks of each pit crew members and how each team is marketed.

The characters are well developed and believable. Everyone from the "evil" personal manager to Taran (the engineer hopelessly in love with the driver) to Tuggle (the crusty but kind-hearted crew chief) to Badger himself, who seems naive and kind, but also is savvy enough to not only handle the car at 180 mph but also to handle his adoring female fans and pit crew. At times, you forget that this female pit crew is supposed to be a novelty item and you really feel that you are following the adventures of a well-experienced NASCAR team. The only negative that I can take from it is that the ending was quite predictable, but the rest of the book overcomes this flaw. Ms. McCrumb has a new reader and I can't wait for her next NASCAR story.

[Mickie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much information and not enough story.

St. Dale was a much better read. There was more plot.

My husband used to be a photographer for NASCAR and is still involved with the racing world. Therefore, I need to know stuff about racin'. This novel does provide lots of information on how a NASCAR team evolves and works, but Ms. McCrumb used too many words somehow.

I knew it was a bad sign when I quit highlighting memorable phrases or quotes the further I read in the book. All the quotes I liked were in the first 55 pages. Just enough to hook me. Then they disappeared.

Here is what I highlighted in the Large Print edition:
Marengo ...was so small it was only on the map 2 days a week. (pg 12)

Badger is an old-style Cup driver. Southern, fearless, and likable. (pg. 29)

"...skinn boys in firesuits looked like warrior angels. (pg 55)

I actually enjoyed the "Author's Note" better than the book itself.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, very interesting read. I was never a NASCAR fan before.....maybe now I'll take a little more interest in the races....I surprised my husband when we were out of town recently and he wanted to watch a NASCAR race (Richmond) and I quickly found the channel and took an interest. He can't figure out what I'm up to now. I asked him quite a few quetions about the drivers, who he liked and didn't like and why.

This was a good story, well told and believeable, it wasn't easy going for the all female NASCAR team. Loved Badger. I'm a fan of Sharyn McCrumb so was glad I'm enjoying these NASCAR books because I didn't think I'd like them......but happy I was wrong...I was judging a sport I knew absolutely nothing about. As always I enjoyed Sharyn's vivid phrases and descriptions: "she looked like a boiled rabbit." does that say it all or what.

[George Reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Badger Jenkins is a shy, unassuming NASCAR driver with chiseled cheekbones and a rabid fanbase. He's recruited to drive for the first otherwise-all-female team. For several months, we follow Badger and several of the women who work in the crew or behind the scenes, as the team coalesces and the season progresses.

This is an entertaining and well-written look at NASCAR racing from the perspective of insiders. We learn a great deal about the sport and what it takes to run a NASCAR team. We also get to see Badger from several viewpoints, ranging from the tongue-tied hero worshipper to the gruff crew chief. Most of the time, he's an irresponsible country boy who just wants to fish on his lake, but when he dons his fire suit, he becomes dangerous, almost irresistible, and wholly focused.

Recommended.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, I've read almost everything that Sharon McCrumb has written. I read Bimbos of the Death Sun ages ago, and I've loved her Appalachian mysteries.

But honestly, I have felt like her books have kind of... lost their magic over the last few years.

But I think she gets it back with this book. It's about an all-female NASCAR pit crew. Now, to be honest, I could really care less about NASCAR. But I loved the characters in this book, loved the dialogue, love just about everything here. Way to go, Sharon.

You made me hate NASCAR just a little bit less. :)

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I truly miss the books, scenery, and characters of her older books, but this new Nascar motif is growing on me. The characters are sharp, the story line suspenseful, and the details for racing, and fire suites, right down to the inside the car was amazing. And i loved that there was a turtle and the main character actually fixed the shell with fiberglass!