The 43-year-old father of two boys walked away from a corporate job to become a "professional T-ball coach and Lego-meister," he says. And somewhere along the way he's also become a children's book author.

Although he says the thought of writing children's literature had "never crossed my mind," it was the hours he spent reading to his sons that gave him the idea. He decided to incorporate his sons' love of their particular toys such as Hot Wheels into stories.

He also found the perfect venue, Hicklebee's Children's Bookstore in Willow Glen.

Bookstore co-owner Valerie Lewis agreed to hold a booksigning for Elliott and his book Racer Buddies, Opening Day at Daytona on June 12.

Lewis says Elliott's enthusiasm for his book about stock-car racing was contagious and she wanted to support a local author whose work she believed in.

"A lot of people bring us self-published books because of the technology available," Lewis says. "But it's not always the quality we're looking for."

Lewis says the illustrator William Harper captures the sense of racing in his depictions of the speedway. And the cartoon caricatures and personalities of the race cars are highly appealing to children, she says.

While Lewis says other books exist in the racing and motor vehicles genre, Elliott has a unique partnership with the National Association for Stock Car Racing that allows him to use their logo and market his book with their products.

"It'll be fun to see where it goes," Lewis says.

Adding to the booksigning excitement, Elliott brought his own vintage race car, a 1970 Chevron B16, and parked it in front of Hicklebee's. The car's doors open from the top like gull wings, and Elliott says approximately 100 children and several fathers sat in the race car.

"The kids' eyes went so wide," Elliott says.

Elliott was inspired to write the book to match his sons' interests. And as an amateur race-car aficionado, Elliott raced open wheel—cars without fenders—three years ago, to help NASCAR fans teach their children about the sport.

He called NASCAR's publishing department and got its permission to write six children's books about NASCAR.

"From their standpoint, they liked that it was family-oriented and had track information," Elliott says.

The books teach children lessons about teamwork, while giving accurate racing information. There is also a glossary of racing terms. Elliot says his sons, 5-year-old Adam and 3-year-old Wesley, are already giving him tips for his next book.

"They pulled me aside and said, 'We need a bad-guy car,'" Elliott says.

The books have turned into a family affair with his wife, Lisa, helping edit and lay out the pages. The couple has also formed their own publishing company, PowerBand Press.

As parents who are introducing their children to the idea of racing at a young age, Elliott says he and Lisa have "already resigned ourselves" to the fact that their sons may want to race when they are older. Elliott is already planning to allow his boys to try go-carts and open-wheel racing once they complete a safety course at the Jim Russell Racing School in Sonoma.

"My standpoint is it's worse to have them not knowing what they're doing on a highway versus going to racing school," he says. "Being on the track is the safest place you can be."

The book is available at Hicklebee's, 1378 Lincoln Ave., and online at Amazon.com and can also be ordered from Barnes & Noble.