title: Taking Stock: Life in NASCAR's Fast Lane
author: Monte Dutton
description: "Reading <i>Taking Stock</i> was like watching a power-slide on a dirt trackstyle and action in one bold move. As much as I loved the insider stories about Jeff, Dale, and the royal Pettys, and the true motor-mouth, Darrell Waltrip, it was the tales of racers and tracks I'd never heard of that will keep me dipping back during NASCAR rain delays."<br /><br />"These stories will help you understand the passions that fueled our sport's drive from the short-track bullrings of the South to become one of America's biggest spectator sports. It's a bumpy ride, so buckle up and hang on."
zlib_text: BUZZ AROUND THE TRACK
  They Said It
  “What does Brianna think she’s doing, telling me how to handle my
  brothers? She just reminded me why I’d never want my wife involved in
  my team.”
  —Chad Matheson
  “Chad hasn’t budged on his views about mixing business and marriage.
  It would be dangerous for me to fantasize otherwise.”
  —Brianna Hudson
  “Readers looking for gossip about the kidnapped Grosso baby, or about
  Brent Sanford’s expulsion from NASCAR for allegedly sabotaging
  another competitor’s race car, won’t find it in my book.”
  —Tara Dalton
  “If the Grossos are NASCAR royalty, then I’m the pretender to the
  throne. My team doesn’t have their kind of money…but I want that
  championship.”
  —Garrett Clark
  
  ABBY GAINES
  Like some of her favorite NASCAR drivers, Abby Gaines’s first love was open-wheel dirt track
  racing. But the lure of NASCAR—the speed, the power, the awesome scale—proved irresistible, just as
  it did for those drivers. Now Abby is thrilled to be combining her love of NASCAR with her lov