Racing to the Finish: My Story

by Jr. Dale Earnhardt

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
81	6	335,024	(4.5)	1
Biography & Autobiography. Medical. Sports & Recreations. Nonfiction. HTML: 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. .… (more)

all members

▾Members

Recently added by

Hayley1701, Melbe2448, AbbeyOrtu, DawnDepp, Woodlandarchive, Nikki33, Oldjawbone13, bcuperus, ArielleNorris, LibraryJamesMac

▾Tags

▾LibraryThing Recommendations

▾Lists

None

▾Will you like it?

▾Conversations (About links)

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 1 mention

▾Member reviews

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 6 (next | show all)

Really really good personal account of experiencing multiple concussions and the symptoms and anxiety that comes from experiencing trauma. Dale is very mindful in using his experience now and the mistakes he made to encourage others who have brain trauma to get help sooner rather than later and that healing is possible. (

)

korahl | Dec 16, 2019 |

Because this book is written by Dale Earnhardt Jr, people will assume it is about racing. Don't put it down knowing that it is not. This is a very personal diatribe by Dale about the terrible personal issues he was having with concussions suffered as a racecar driver.
Dale has such a history in NASCAR, along with his whole family. I believe this was so important to him to let people know that there is so much that can be done to help anyone with head injuries, including concusssions. I am glad that I continued to read this. (

)

JReynolds1959 | Sep 6, 2019 |

Dale Jr. concussions are the focus of this book. This book is an honest hard looking at one mans issues with dealing with concussions and they affected his life and what ultimately took him out of racing. It is not a woe is me story. (

)

foof2you | May 25, 2019 |

I love NASCAR and while he was driving, Junior was my favorite driver, so naturally I gravitated towards this book. I kept my expectations in check before I read it, not really expecting a work of Shakespeare or Jules Verne, but this book really surprised me. It was informative, honest, well-written, and really had a "page-turner" feel to it. It also explains a lot of things that fans like me wondered about him during certain times late in his career. I would highly recommend it for people who like autobiographies, or even partial autobiographies, of athletes or others in positions of high visibility, as it is much better written than anyone would expect. (

)

utbw42 | Feb 1, 2019 |

I found that this book while it has a lot of personal information it has even more information about concussions. It is a well written book. Even if you don't like auto racing this is book you can read and enjoy. (

)

nlb1050 | Nov 11, 2018 |

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 6 (next | show all)

▾Published reviews

no reviews | add a review

▾Other authors

» Add other authors

▾Series and work relationships

▾Awards and Honors

view history

▾Common Knowledge

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.

For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.

Canonical title

Racing to the Finish: My Story

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

People/Characters

Important places

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

First words

Quotations

Last words

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Original language

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

▾Book descriptions

Biography & Autobiography. Medical. Sports & Recreations. Nonfiction. HTML:

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.

▾Library descriptions

No library descriptions found.

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

Haiku summary