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.
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About the Author:
Tony St. Clair is one of the country’s leading experts on vintage race car instruments. He has written feature articles for hot rod publications such as Ol Skool Rodz and writes a popular vintage racing blog, Deadly Curves. He is also an alumnus of the Kenyon Playwrights Conference and has had several original plays produced around the country, including Trim, John and Tony’s Christmas Carol, Killing Time, Brain Girl, and Voices in the Air. He lives in Chicago.
Advance Praise:
“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
“How 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
“Chronicling the rise and fall of a forgotten female athlete, Daredevil at the Wheel is the ideal read for lovers of history and sports. Tony St. Clair’s crisp prose brings to life the one-of-a-kind personalities and high-speed thrills of early auto racing.” —Sarah James, international bestselling author of Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen
“This well-researched book about 1920s ‘daredevil’ Joan LaCosta restores this early trailblazer of auto racing to her rightful place in history and paints a vivid and thrilling picture of the early days of motorsport.” —Anne Morrissy, author of Street Fight: The Chicago Taxi Wars of the 1920s
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