Fan-atic: Jim Bryce

Nowadays, it seems like everybody and his brother is publishing books about NASCAR. More than a handful of year-end reviews hit the bookshelves each season, making it fairly easy for NASCAR fans to keep abreast of statistics.

Rest assured, it wasn't always that simple. Back in the old days, fans had to depend on souvenir programs, NASCAR Record Books and a few trade publications like Southern Motoracing, National Speed Sport News, and Stock Car Racing Magazine to keep them informed.

A recent inquiry to the NASCAR.COM Collectibles Q&A column regarding NASCAR Record Books prompted an email from Jim Bryce. Jim hails from near Winston Salem, N.C. and has assembled an impressive collection of NASCAR publications. Here, in his own words, is his story:

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"I first began collecting NASCAR books and magazines in about 1968. That's when I bought my first edition of Stock Car Racing Magazine at the local drug store. I was hooked immediately. I started attending races at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem and have been a fan ever since.

"I began reading everything I could find pertaining to NASCAR. Before I knew it, I was well on my way to having a collection of NASCAR books, newspapers and magazines.

"As I got more serious about it, I started filling in gaps in my collection, and even bought collections from other fans. I've found a lot of stuff I needed on eBay. I have a pretty big collection of Stock Car Racing, Circle Track, NASCAR Scene, NASCAR Illustrated, Racing Pictorial, Southern Motoracing, Speed Sport News, and many others.

"If I had to pick a favorite part of my collection, it would be my old NASCAR Record Books. NASCAR used to distribute them to NASCAR members and the press. They were done by NASCAR until the mid-1980s, when UMI started publishing them as a magazine-formatted year book for sale to the general public. However, NASCAR still releases a separate media guide for each division geared toward the press.

"A friend who used to race gave me my first Record Book back in 1972. I wrote to NASCAR and bought a few back issues they had, then started buying each new one that came out. I've bought quite a few off the internet. Right now, I have every NASCAR Record Book except the first one, which was released back in 1950.

"Other favorites in my collection is the Forty Years of Stock Car Racing books series by Greg Fielden. They tell the whole story of NASCAR through the years.

"One of the neatest publications I have would be a 1952 copy of Speed Age Magazine with an article about Lee Petty.

"It's fun to flip through these magazines once in awhile to see the drivers and cars of yesterday, and to see just how much the sport has changed."