About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherGlobe Pequot Press, T.H.E.

ISBN-101493087460

ISBN-139781493087464

eBay Product ID (ePID)25070470804

Product Key Features

Book TitleDaredevil at the Wheel : the Climb and Crash of Joan Lacosta

Number of Pages272 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication Year2025

TopicWomen, General

GenreSports & Recreation, Biography & Autobiography

AuthorTony St. Clair

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Length9 in

Item Width6 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

LCCN2024-047075

ReviewsHow someone as accomplished in the sport of auto racing as Joan LaCosta precipitated her own downfall and effectively ended her high-flying public life makes for a fascinating tale in the hands of Tony St. Clair. --Bill Poehler, author of The First Lady of Dirt: The Triumphs and Tragedy of Racing Pioneer Cheryl Glass, The spellbinding story of Joan LaCosta, one of America's first speed queens on wheels, splendidly researched and told with tremendous verve and empathy for an extraordinary woman. I loved it. --Miranda Seymour, author of The Bugatti Queen: In Search of a Motor-Racing Legend

Dewey Edition23

Dewey Decimal796.72092

Synopsis"An essential contribution to women's sports history and car racing collections." -- Booklist , Starred Review On Fourth of July weekend in 1924, Marion Martins flies past some of the best race car drivers of her time and takes home two trophies from the famous North Shore racetrack in Chicago. In 1926, on the beaches of Daytona, Florida, Joan LaCosta breaks a world speed record at 145 miles per hour. But Martins and LaCosta never face one another on the close-knit circuit of early American auto racing. That's because they are just two of the identities adopted by the elusive woman born Marion Carver. By the late 1920s, this enigmatic woman became a household name in auto racing-- several household names in fact--though she'd be best known as Joan LaCosta. Adopting and discarding personas almost as often as she changes tires, LaCosta defies death, shuns social norms, and keeps her competition in the rearview mirror. While driving as fast as she can away from a complicated past, she survives violent wrecks, race collisions, and onboard fires in front of sell-out crowds. But fame, danger, and failed relationships take their toll. In 1929, as the Great Depression looms, LaCosta, broke and broken, commits to one last daring stunt: the attempted robbery of a Chicago high-society matron in the city's most glamorous high rise. Coverage of the dramatic trial sells out papers from coast to coast, and after fame turns to infamy, LaCosta sheds her identity one last time and disappears from public view., The thrilling story of Joan LaCosta's wild life behind the wheel and escape into anonymity was untold, until now, and sits at a compelling intersection of auto racing history, gender equity in sports, and true crime, all set against the backdrop of the Roaring Twenties., On Fourth of July weekend in 1924, Marion Martins flies past some of the best race car drivers of her time and takes home two trophies from the famous North Shore Race Track in Chicago. In 1926, on the beaches of Daytona, Florida, Joan LaCosta breaks a world speed record at 145 mph. But Martins and LaCosta never face one another on the close-knit circuit of early American auto racing. That's because they are just two of the identities adopted by the elusive woman born Marion Carver. By the end of the 1920s, this enigmatic woman became a household name in auto racing-- several household names in fact--though she'd be best known as Joan LaCosta. Adopting and discarding personas almost as often as she changes tires, LaCosta defies death, shuns social norms, and keeps her competition in the rearview mirror. While driving as fast as she can away from a complicated past, she survives violent wrecks, race collisions, and onboard fires in front of sell-out crowds. But fame, danger, and failed relationships take their tolls. In 1929, as the Great Depression looms, LaCosta is broke and broken, and commits to one last daring stunt: the attempted robbery of a Chicago high-society matron in the city's most glamorous high rise. Coverage of the dramatic trial sells out papers from coast to coast, and after fame turns to infamy, LaCosta sheds her identity one last time and disappears from public view.

LC Classification NumberGV1032.L327S73 2025