Heart-pounding speed and the roar of the V-8s draw audiences to the racetrack, but it's the personalities behind the wheel who make it real. Here are the stories of today's gladiators who take to the asphalt to compete for the glory and the checkered flag: Jeff Gordon, who was the youngest-ever winner of the Daytona 500 at just 25 years old. Carl Edwards, famous for his back flip off the roof of his car on Victory Lane, Elliot Sadler, nicknamed "the Candyman" because he drives the M & M's Ford, Jimmie Johnson, who started racing 50cc motorcycles when he was only five years old, Dale Earnhardt Jr., third-generation star from one of stock car racing's most famous families, Michael Gold, a popular star on the Canadian circuit, both for his talent and his good looks, Robby Gordon, who competed in the 2006 Dakar Rally, the world's most grueling endurance race, in a modified Hummer H3, Ryan Newman, "the Rocketman," has one of the fastest qualifying cars on the circuit. And more. Book jacket.