The Daytona 500:  The Thrill and Thunder of The Great American Race by Nancy Roe Pimm will appeal to readers from a variety of backgrounds and interests.  Pimm deftly outlines the history of NASCAR by specifically focusing on the annual Daytona 500 race.  She accomplishes this by recounting stories of colorful characters, fierce rivalries, and Cinderella stories pulled directly from the archives of the race’s colorful past.  The accessibility to the sport of NASCAR, the Daytona 500, and to some of its important historical characters is perhaps the book’s greatest strength.  Pimm creates an effective non-fiction narrative that caters to those that are new to the sport, while at the same time, providing those that are already familiar with NASCAR and the Daytona 500 with pieces of interesting trivia.  Those that are new to the sport will have their understanding increased via careful explanations of racing vocabulary and a glossary of terms.  The author also effectively uses stock photographs to support the context and readability of the text.  The combination of pictures and simple, everyday language make the book an option for ELL readers.  The book provides a solid introduction to the sport of NASCAR and its history by focusing on one of the sport’s most famous and prestigious race: The Daytona 500.  While the text is geared toward the young adult male audience it does not actively exclude populations of other demographic groups.  The stories of ingenuity, innovation, and vitality contained in the pages seem endemic to the sport of NASCAR.  The book harnesses some of that energy and depicts the Daytona 500 as a truly unique experience deserving of the title “The Great American Race.”