Awesome Bill from Dawsonville by Bill Elliott

If you know me AT ALL or have followed this blog for any length of time, you know racing is my sport. And the past few days as a Chase Elliott fan have been surreal.  I've already got my plane tickets for Talledega 2021, and that trip will include a stop in the now re-famous Dawsonville, GA!  Please, before you read this review, look up Chase's victory parade through the tiny town of 2700ish residents.  The GA Racing Hall of Fame, City Hall, and the Moonshine distillery are all in the same building, with the Dawsonville Pool Room and its siren just a ten minute walk away. 

Anyway.  My Dad's favorite driver was Chase's dad Bill.  We know our phones track everything we do, so Amazon recommended this memoir to me.  I am happy to donate another racing memoir to our collection.

First things first, this is from 2006.  Chase is a feisty little boy, not the 24 year old we know and love.  Bill takes the reader through his humble beginnings in, what on the surface is, sleepy Dawsonville.  The realities though are the running of 'shine through the woods in the middle of the night fast becoming a sport of its own.  He talks about his father and uncles' love of cars, his families roots in the town, his meh attitude toward school (which Chase inherited, see attached), and why he neither smokes nor drinks.  

Most people do not know Chase has two older half-sisters.  Bill admits his failures as a father to his two older girls (the oldest from his first marriage, the middle from a brief relationship).  It was much like Dale Sr.'s relationships with Kerry, Kelley, and Dale Jr.  It wasn't until youngest Taylor that he kinda got his act together as a parent.  Bill talks about wanting to be not just a father, but a DAD to Chase.  Certainly anyone watching Sunday's race knows that was true.  

I look forward to hearing that siren ring again in the 21 season and eating lunch at the Pool Room.  Til next year, Elliotts...

All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.