‘Racing Safely, Living Dangerously’
By Bill Simpson
With Bones Bourcier

It’s time for everyone to read again. I just completed reading one of the most amazing books I have ever had in my hands. ‘Racing Safely, Living Dangerously’ is the autobiography of Bill Simpson. The book is billed as “The Hard Life And Fast Times of a Motorsports Mogul”. It very easily could have been called two hundred thirty one pages full of stories that will blow your mind!

Back at Riverhead Raceway I mentioned my travels with Bones. All day long I had discussed my favorite scribe with whoever would listen. That night I discussed Bones’ accomplishments with Tony Ferrante, Sr. He told me, ‘that Richie book is great but the Simpson book is better! That guy is some (expletive deleted)!’ I value the Ferrante family patriarch’s opinion quite highly. I had to get my hands on a copy.

I hadn’t even known that Bones had been involved with that book. Lew Boyd from coastal181.com sent me a copy out on Monday. When that box arrived I was like a kid at Christmas. This was another easy read, except this time I read most of the book with my jaw open. This was wild.

Simpson chronicles his life from his troubled childhood through his troubled adult life to his troubled middle age and so forth. There’s really no trouble with all of the trouble because wherever Simpson encountered trouble there is another great story. And most will want to read every one of them and relish the sordid details, as have I.

Bill Simpson with the Beatles, Bill Simpson the safety pioneer, Bill Simpson in handcuffs, Bill Simpson the racer, Bill Simpson crashing through a restaurant with his boat, Bill Simpson sets himself on fire and wins a court case, Bill Simpson tests his first drag chute and goes to jail via the woods, Bill Simpson the winner, Bill Simpson detained in Cuba, Bill Simpson with Astronaut Pete Conrad, Bill Simpson burns down a bordello, Bill Simpson qualifies for the Indy 500 and Bill Simpson the ornery (expletive deleted) that has strived to continue to provide the finest safety products for all of racing. And the stories go on and on. Tony was right! Bill Simpson is some (expletive deleted)!

Contributors to this book read like a who’s who of auto racing. Bobby Allison, A.J. Foyt, Parnelli Jones, Tom “Mongoose” McEwen, Rick Mears, Roger Penske, Don “Snake” Prudhomme, Johnny Rutherford, Bill Vukovich, Jr. and Rusty Wallace all took part in the making of this book. Racing journalists Robin Miller and Dick Berggren also provided additional commentary.

This is an absolute must read for any real racer. If anyone is a fan of old time racing, they should order this immediately. Once someone picks this book up, it will be hard for them to put it down. ‘Racing Safely, Living Dangerously’ is available through Lew Boyd’s coastal181.com. This as well as many other fine racing books may be purchased through the site that provides ‘Reading for Racers’or those interested can call Coastal 181 toll-free at 877-907-8181 during normal business hours. Those who read ‘Racing Safely, Living Dangerously’ will thank me once they have.