Michael Waltrip

In the Blink of an Eye
By Michael Waltrip and Ellis Henican
Publisher: Hyperion Books
Published In: New York City, NY, USA
Date: 2011
Pgs: 223

Summary:
Chasing the dream. Rising through the ranks. Stagnating. Getting the dream job. Achieving the ultimate dream. Your brother, a former champion in your sport, is calling the race. Your boss’s sun is running 2nd behind you and pushing you toward victory. Your boss, a legend in the sport, is running third coming out of Turn 4 of the Daytona 500, the Super Bowl of NASCAR. He can see his dream before him. Two of his cars are about to run 1-2 in the Daytona 500. You are about to break a long losing streak in your first race with your new team, a team that Dale Earnhardt Sr. handpicked you to drive for. Your dream is here. And having to face a nightmare with the entire world watching. Meet Michael Waltrip, Mikey as his older brother Darrell loves to call him.

Genre:
nonfiction, biography, NASCAR, auto racing, tragedy

Why this book:
I love Mikey. And that day was horrible for all of us who love NASCAR. I snagged this books in of all place a Dollar Store off of one of those piles of books, one step short of the shredder.

This Story is About:
life, death, love, winning, losing, and faith

Favorite Character:
Mikey comes across as extremely relatable. This is a good portrait of the man who fans have seen through his many interviews and behind the scenes moments under the fisheye lens of network and cable television.

Least Favorite Character:
N/A

Character I Most Identified With:
Has to be Michael.

The Feel:
Knowing what’s coming does give the tale a poignancy that the text wouldn’t otherwise be infused with. That scene brings it all back. The way I felt when I heard that Dale Earnhardt had died. I always wondered about how Michael had trudged through that day. They decided not to tell him while he was in Victory Lane after winning the Daytona 500. He didn’t begin to suspect something awful until Kenny Schrader came to visit him and tell him that it was bad. Waltrip still had all those hat dances and sponsorship obligations and didn’t find out how bad it really was until afterward when he and his wife returned to his motorhome in the infield at Daytona. Mikey’s telling of that scene broke my heart a bit. It was very well written...well communicated.

Favorite Scene:
When Kyle Petty tells Michael, who was living in his guest room at the time, that he threw Michael’s stinky sneakers that were sitting in the middle of his floor into the creek out back.
The race, if you know the story of Mike and Dale and Jr then you know which race. I expected to hate this book when I finally got around to reading it, but I love the insight and the heartfeltness of this story. I know heartfeltness isn’t a word...it should be.

Settings:
Owensboro, Kentucky; Daytona; race tracks galore; Richard Petty’s porch; DEI’s Garage Mahal

Pacing:
The story is well told and paced very well.

Plot Holes/Out of Character:
N/A

Last Page Sound:
I’m not sniffling. I’m not. Well done.

Author Assessment:
As I said, very well written.

Editorial Assessment:
The editing on this piece was well done. Michael wanders just enough in the text to give the book something similar to his voice.

Disposition of Book:
Keeper.

Why isn’t there a screenplay?
The story has been told in a couple documentaries and a movie from other’s perspectives. Probably doesn’t need to be another re-telling.

Casting call:
I’m not sure that there are any actors tall enough to play Michael Waltrip.

Would recommend to:
genre fans, NASCAR fans, Michael Waltrip fans, Cadi… (mais)

I read this to observe the 10th anniversary of Dale Earnhardt's death. While the title might suggest that it is mostly about Dale Earnhardt, it really does tell the basic story of Michael Waltrip's life and career, though with quite a bit of a focus on Dale's role in his life -- and especially that fateful 2001 Daytona 500. I enjoy Waltrip's self-deprecating and often offbeat humor, and his trademark down-to-earth manner. I felt he overstated some (obvious) things. I liked it for sentimental reasons. It really wasn't a "great" book by literary standards. But as a NASCAR fan, I found it a really good book to read. A little bitty cynic in me wondered if he wasn't exploiting the 10th anniversary of Dale's death by releasing it now. But I can easily believe that it's taken him this long to really come to terms with what happened that day, and talk about it.… (mais)