He Crashed Me So I Crashed Him Back: The True Story of the Year the King, Jaws, Earnhardt, and the Rest of NASCAR's Feudin', Fightin', Good Ol' Boys Put Stock Car Racing on the Map Book

February 18, 1979. The Daytona 500. It didn't look like anybody would catch Cale Yarborough or Donnie Allison, not even the great Richard Petty. Then, on the final backstretch, the bumping started. Yarborough cut low, trying to pass Allison. Allison dug in and pushed Yarborough into the infield dirt. What happened next, live on national television, changed everything for NASCAR- a spectacular collision and one of the wildest finishes in sports history.

He Crashed Me So I Crashed Him Back is the story of one of the roughest and rowdiest seasons in racing, before NASCAR was a big-money spectacle. At the center of all the fistfights, rivalries, and frenzied finishes were men who strapped on their helmets and risked their lives to drive fast: Darrell Waltrip; the Allison brothers, who found themselves on the front pages of major newspapers after brawling with Yarborough at Daytona; and the King, Richard Petty, who overcame health problems, a forty-five race losing streak, and behind-the-scenes family drama to win the season series. And, of course, there was a twenty-seven-year-old rookie named Dale Earnhardt making some noise...

Drawing on original research and interviews with drivers, crew chiefs, fans, and owners, acclaimed Sports Illustrated journalist Mark Bechtel paints a stirring chronicle that brings into vivid focus the most important year in NASCAR history. Rollicking and full of larger-than-life characters, He Crashed Me So I Crashed Him Back is the remarkable tale of the birth of modern stock car racing.

The Washington Post - Charlotte Hays

Bechtel paints an excellent portrait of these colorful racers and their Scotch-Irish culture…