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505 automobile questions your friends can't answer
142 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
About the author
William Neely
16 booksWilliam Neely, a prolific racing writer who chronicled the lives of Richard Petty and A.J. Foyt, and was most famous for the 1974 classic Stand on It, a Novel by Stroker Ace, which told the fictional story of driver/wild man Stroker Ace and was later made into a movie starring Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson. Neely loosely based the book on his experiences in the 1960s, when he headed up public relations for Goodyear at the height of the racing “tire wars” with Firestone.
During this time, Neely got to know many of the icons of the sport, as open-wheel racing was evolving and NASCAR first gained prominence in America. Through Goodyear, Neely also became close friends with another icon of racing in that era, Carroll Shelby, and the two maintained a nearly 50-year friendship.
Neely was AutoWeek’s travel editor in the late 1980s and early 1990s. His work also appeared in Playboy, Car and Driver, Esquire and Sports Illustrated. He also penned a chili cookbook, as well as Tire Wars, a look at Goodyear’s racing program in the 1960s. Neely’s relationships and story-telling ability won him the respect of his peers in journalism, a business notorious for competition. Neely also worked in public relations for Rolex and Exxon. In total, he authored 19 books.
Neely later turned to acting and appeared in "Night Flier" in 1997, a movie based on a Stephen King novel where Neely’s character had his head chopped off. He moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, about a decade ago to try to secure more acting roles with a local studio. He also made an unsuccessful bid for Congress.
In his later years, he enjoyed driving around Wilmington in a black 2002 Corvette, and lounging in a yacht he owned that previously belonged to Hollywood actress Greta Garbo. As his longtime friend Jeannette McLean said, he was “living the life of a retired person who loved life.”
-source: autoweek.com
During this time, Neely got to know many of the icons of the sport, as open-wheel racing was evolving and NASCAR first gained prominence in America. Through Goodyear, Neely also became close friends with another icon of racing in that era, Carroll Shelby, and the two maintained a nearly 50-year friendship.
Neely was AutoWeek’s travel editor in the late 1980s and early 1990s. His work also appeared in Playboy, Car and Driver, Esquire and Sports Illustrated. He also penned a chili cookbook, as well as Tire Wars, a look at Goodyear’s racing program in the 1960s. Neely’s relationships and story-telling ability won him the respect of his peers in journalism, a business notorious for competition. Neely also worked in public relations for Rolex and Exxon. In total, he authored 19 books.
Neely later turned to acting and appeared in "Night Flier" in 1997, a movie based on a Stephen King novel where Neely’s character had his head chopped off. He moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, about a decade ago to try to secure more acting roles with a local studio. He also made an unsuccessful bid for Congress.
In his later years, he enjoyed driving around Wilmington in a black 2002 Corvette, and lounging in a yacht he owned that previously belonged to Hollywood actress Greta Garbo. As his longtime friend Jeannette McLean said, he was “living the life of a retired person who loved life.”
-source: autoweek.com
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