Pete Hill--A Legend on Two Wheels: World's Fastest Knucklehead

Book excerpt: Thousands of drag race fans remember Pete Hill--the humble and very successful racer from Greenville, South Carolina. Without a big sponsor and riding a blown, fuel-burning Knucklehead, Pete Hill not only beat the other Harleys but he also beat the Kawasakis. And all with an obsolete V-Twin design that went out of production in 1948. Written by his one-person pit crew, his wife Jackie Hill, this book follows Pete's career from his first Knucklehead-powered four-wheel dragster to his ascension to motorcycle Top Fuel. Jackie tells the story like it was. The joy of winning and the hard lumps that came before the wins. The long nights on the road, the struggle to find pushrods that don't bend (make your own), and risk of learning how to mix Nitromethane. Pete Hill was and is the real deal who had no big sponsors. Pete built his own bikes and won with an outdated engine design: the Knucklehead. Jackie walks the reader through each setback and each win. She puts you right in the middle of the action. Reading Jackie's book is like going back in time with a pit pass for hundreds of drag races.