Life With Luke: And Other Exciting Racing Adventures
Jimmy Sills with Dave Argabright; Foreword by Jeff Gordon; American Scene Press, Noblesville, IN, 2019
Review | Life with Luke tells the story of Jimmy Sills’ journey as a successful open-wheel race car driver who grew up near Sacramento, California, and worked his way onto the national motorsports scene. Racing sprint cars and midgets at dirt and paved bull rings and monster miles, across the United States, Australia and New Zealand, Sills carved out a hall-of-fame career with his driving ability and affable personality.
Victory, happiness, tragedy and loss. Auto racing has a way of bringing some of life’s most extreme emotions to the surface, and Sills is candid with sharing his rollercoaster ride. From barn fights, to winning three USAC Silver Crown championships, Life With Luke drops you into the world of big-time sprint car racing during the 1970s, ‘80s, and ‘90s. Reflecting his personality, the friendly, conversational prose makes reading the Sills story especially enjoyable.
“Approximately 90 percent of all fights involve a woman in some way, and this was no exception. JB finally stepped over the line with something he said, and it was on. He and I were rolling around in the sawdust and cow shit, just like you see in western movie or TV show.”
Like the western movie genre, Sills was among the sprint car ‘outlaws’ of the time, traveling the country, from coast to coast. Driving for at least 67 different car owners that saw him win in both USAC and World of Outlaw competition. It’s a racing trail that winds all the way to Australia, where the versatile driver shared multiple adventures with Gary Patterson and once with a teenaged Jeff Gordon, who was just getting started in his driving career.
“Who would have ever dreamed that an offhand alias would stay with me for the rest of my life? Life with Luke has been pretty good.”
Of course, there’s a chapter where Sills tells the story of how he invented his alias: Luke Warmwater, from Hot Springs, Arkansas. It starts with how he announced his “retirement” and within three months he was back behind the wheel—as Warmwater—winning races. It’s an evocative account where the driver remembers how he began to reassess his priorities in life.
“Who would have ever dreamed that an offhand alias would stay with me for the rest of my life? Life with Luke has been pretty good.”
Illustrating the book are 50 rarely seen black and white and color photos, some of which are from the Sills family scrapbooks. Captioned with insightful notes, the photos offer a glimpse into Sills’ early family years, and throughout his life.
Life With Luke is a memoir, but it is more than that. It is a highly accessible study of a vibrant form of motorsport from the point of view of one of its most colorful and candid drivers. It’s a great read for a race fan, or anyone who wants to learn more about grassroots motorsports from the inside. –s. k.
You can order the book directly from the publisher by going to the website.