Tycoons, Scorchers, and Outlaws The Class War that Shaped American Auto Racing [Hardcover]

Tycoons, Scorchers, and Outlaws charts how auto racing was shaped by class tensions between the millionaires who invented it, the public who resented their seizure of the public roads, and the working class drivers who viewed the sport as a vocation, not a leisured pursuit.Introduction 1. Millionaires' Toys 2. Scorcher Rule 3. Seizing the Open Road 4. Man or Machine? 5. Outlaws

A persuasively argued history of American auto racing from drivers as 'operatives' for wealthy owners to the sport becoming more broadly democratic. A fascinating class-based interpretation of a neglected topic in sports history. - Dr. John Springhall, Reader Emeritus at University of Ulster, UK, and author of The Genesis of Mass Culture: Show Business Live in America, 1840 to 1940 (2008)

Timothy Messer-Kruse is a professor in the School of Cultural and Critical Studies at Bowling Green State University, USA, where he also served as professor and chair of the Ethnic Studies Department. He is the author of numerous books including The Trial of the Haymarket Anarchists which won the best book prize from the journal Labor History in 2012.