DVD Drives Down NASCAR’s Memory Lane
by Christian TotoNASCAR has become so much more than just an adrenalized racing sport. It’s a cultural touchstone, what the right rallies around whenever the next Michael Moore movie or Al Franken tome arrives on the scene.
It’s ours. So it’s fascinating to watch a too brief but still intriguing documentary about NASCAR’s roots.
“NASCAR: The Ride of Their Lives,” now available on DVD, tells the history of NASCAR from its earliest days on the sandy beaches of Daytona to its current place as the king of spectator sports.
Fueled by rebellion, sand and moonshine, NASCAR began modestly but quickly grabbed hold of the southern culture. And it only spread from there.
The film, produced by CMT Films and NASCAR Media Group, doesn’t whitewash the sport … or its drivers. Some, like NASCAR icon Richard Petty, are shown to be devious at times on the race track, but also uncommonly kind to their fans. And the turbulent ‘60s, and its racial flare-ups, dovetailed with the racism existing along the NASCAR circuit of that era.
Could the film have dug deeper? You bet. But there’s so much ground to cover here it’s hard not to want more of just about every chapter in NASCAR’s history.
The first and second generation drivers were often burly men, powerful figures who used their might to steer their cars to victory. Some older drivers bemoan the modern innovations that let whippet thin heroes like Jeff Gordon conquer all comers, but it’s hard to argue with the safety improvements that revolutionized the sport.
“Ride” might have appealed strictly to car enthusiasts, but the sport boasts a number of outsized drivers to draw in all viewers. Earnhardt. Petty. Allison. Each played a pivotal role in NASCAR’s evolution, though it was Earnhardt who helped bring the sport into the corporate world.
“Ride” doesn’t shy away from the sport’s danger, particular regarding the death of Dale Earnhardt at the age of 49. The sequences recalling his fatal accident, and son Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s watery-eyed recollections of that tragedy, stand as the documentary‘s beating heart.
When it comes to NASCAR, it’s often a family affair. The sport teems with dynasties, driving skills and ambitions passed down eagerly from father to son.
Narrated with class and distinction by Kevin Costner, “Ride” is a uniquely American story, one both sides of the ideological aisle can embrace if given the chance.
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19 Comments
So glad you've called our attention to this. I'm in the heart of NASCAR country today and can't wait to buy this documentary and share it with relish. NASCAR, like Country Music, started as a regional phenomenon of Americana but eventually morphed into a world class movement. If anyone thinks the Obama/Pelosi/Reid axis of socialist stupidity will completely take down our country, they simply don't know the power of the NASCAR. Rev your engines, gentlemen, and take hope.
Forget this one, especially if you're a NASCAR fan. The most facinating part of the story – the evolution from moonshine runners to legitimate racers was nearly glossed over in their rush to weep and moan over the deaths of Dale Earnhardt and Tim Richmond. So many top names were blatantly ignored, including one of the most winning drivers in the history of the sport: AJ Foyt. Rent, DO NOT buy.
Webutante, I think that you have inadvertently stumbled onto everything that is wrong with today's NASCAR. "A world class movement"?! As soon as it became a cultural touchstone rather than a bunch of individuals trying to make and drive faster cars than the next guy, it became subject to the same PC crap prevalent in the rest of the culture that ensures all who participate get a trophy. NASCAR has had no relevance to its roots since the advent of the restricter plate. Like "new country" music, it has become just another advertising gimmick playing on nostalgia to get us rubes to buy bad beer.
PK Ammo … agree with your assessment to a point. There's tons of good, juicy info they could have dug deeper into … but the format here tried to cover too much material. I think it's still worthwhile as a whole, but perhaps a multi-part TV doc would have been a better format. It works best as a snapshot of NASCAR in toto. Ironic that the film races over so much, so quickly.
Actually Webutante, Country Music did NOT start as Americana. Country Music has its roots in Celtic music, and is centuries than Americana.
"centuries OLDER than Americana"
And i would also like to add that NASCAR is not, I repeat not a world class movement. Soccer? Yes. NASCAR? No.
There's no such thing as "new" Country Music. Country Music has been evolving since its inception. In old Ireland, Scotland, and England.
Country Music has evolved over the years. Today's Country Music has little in common with Country Music of the 1980s, and Country Music of the 1980s has little in common with Country Music of the 1960s, or the 1940s, etc.
Every generation has complained about the new generation's music, but as time goes by that music is accepted as part of the genre. "The Nashville Sound" is Country. "Outlaw Country" is Country. Et cetera. But neither style was accepted as "Country" when it was launched.
Music has ALWAYS been commercial, for at least as long as performers have charged admission to see their shows. As recording technology advanced, new exposure opportunities arose. So there's nothing new there either.
You're indignant over something that doesn't exist.
"It’s a cultural touchstone, what the right rallies around whenever the next Michael Moore movie or Al Franken tome arrives on the scene."____And then they wonder how the Republicans became a minority party "all of the sudden." Your enemies are talking policy (Moore) and strategy (Franken) – foolishly, perhaps, but policy and strategy none the less – and your response is "let's go watch advertising billboards on wheels make 500 left-hand turns."____PK__"The most facinating part of the story – the evolution from moonshine runners to legitimate racers was nearly glossed over in their rush to weep and moan over the deaths of Dale Earnhardt and Tim Richmond."____Your not going to get an honest assesment OF Nascar FROM Nascar until this "cultural touchstone" business is gone. This is a sport with it's roots in the police-evasion needs of the old-timey equivalent of drug runners, but they don't wanna talk about ANYTHING other than their family-friendly "conservative" market image. The racing is now just a lure for the ancillary marketing (and socio-political agendas) of the bosses.
You do realize that AJ Foyt was not one of the most winning drivers in NASCAR, don't you? Please tell me you made a bad joke there.
NASCAR is hugely cutlurally relevant, and the 'moonshine' thing was a justifiable response to onerous government control… we are, and always have been a 'car society'.
I've always felt that there was great box office potential for a picture about moonshine hauling. If I were to pitch it, I would pitch it as Bonnie and Clyde meets The Right Stuff. If I can get Matthew McConahay(?) to wear a crew cut and get that Jackie Treehorn/Brad Wesley guy to play the Federal Man, the rest produces itself. Maybe Sam Elliot guarding the still with a shotgun – that sort of vibe. The only trap I think you have to avoid is not re-making the Burt Reynolds Gator movies.
One of my favorite essays is Tom Wolfe's "The Last American Hero" which is about stock racing, the Scotch-Irish culture in Appalachia, and especially, Junior Johnson. Is Junior Johnson mentioned in this DVD???
I don't think NASCAR has been bashful about it's roots at all. The early racers were a mix of moonshine runners, bored pilots back from the war, and good old boys looking for a thrill. What NASCAR's founder Bill France (a racer himself) did was organize the races into a touring series. He also took steps to make sure the drivers got paid for the show, it was common for the event organizers at the time to sneak off with the winnings before the race was over.
I've been a NASCAR fan a long time, it takes a bit of reading to get into the history of the sport, but the gritty details are there to see. Their first champion, a man by the name of Lloyd Seay, was shot and killed by his cousin a few hours after winning the championship over money owed for sugar. The winner of the first "strictly stock" event at North Wilkesboro was disqualified for illegal springs, this car was a moonshine runner.
The sport's been about making money from day one, from the sponsors on the cars, to the sponsors of the races, to the check at the end of the race. I look at what's happening now to the small local tracks being sold and torn down because the land they sit on is worth more than the track itself. It paints a sad picture of the future. If they can't make money doing it, they aren't going to race.
Yes, Music of Nashville, you are correct about the Scotch Irish origins of country music. I co-hostessed our son's groom's dinner in Stanley, Scotland last April featuring a Ceilidh band and dancing which really took us all back to folkway our roots. Again, this particular Scotch/Irish independent/ fighting strain from the motherland may be what saves us from the ominous direction which we're now heading in this country.
It is both funny and ironic that the current administration actually lobbied for "NASCAR' dads to vote hugely, insanely against their own personal interests for 'The One'- and yet if there is an activity the left despises more than racing it's stock car racing… auto racing has an, ahem, 'carbon footprint', y'know. Watch for the hissing hostility to morph into
outright bans.
There's always pedal cars…
My first two NASCAR races were the last beach race and the first race at the new track at Daytona and I've been a great fan ever since. NASCAR is the ONLY 'sport' I watch.
I would buy a DVD set of NASCAR by the year with recaps of anecdotes and race clips when available. I think maybe now I could watch Fireball Roberts, my early hero, crash and burn, again.
The Yankeefied 'capture the spirit' attempts at depicting NASCAR never seems to work. DEtails are what's interesting to me as a true fan.
'Thunder Road' with Robert Mitchum about 1951 made career changes (from running shine) easier for a lot of good drivers. Winning races also meant a regular 'night job', if you wanted it, too. Many drivers used both professions to further 'shine' up their resume'.
"Bluegrass music" is American, (Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys". "Country" means *any* country's songs of common truth.
That's my take, your's may vary.
When I was a kid, I'd have to climb up on the roof of our garage to listen to NASCAR races broadcast on WBT 1110 AM out of Charlotte. Reception in daytime was less than poor, at best. But it was fascinated by the names and description of the race. I had no concept of what any of them looked like, but followed as much as I could.
I joined the Army in 1975 and stopped following sports of all kinds, as I couldn't keep up being overseas. ESPN wasn't around yet, and if you missed something, you missed it. No replays every hour on the hour. The next thing I knew, Richard Petty was switching from Plymouth to Pontiac…PONTIAC?!? Car allegiance was supreme in those days. To root for a driver from Chevy and own a Ford was sacrilege. Vice versa too. God forbid that a driver would switch cars.
Then they got much tighter on car construction and restrictor plates and ultimately profile templates. I had always thought the SC in NASCAR stood for stock car. I guess I was wrong. Now I'm just another old fart that longs for the days of "run what you bring." I'm glad people still enjoy it, but like the NFL, MLB and all the rest, there's too much money for it to ever be enjoyable to me anymore.
Now. If you want to see some good old time racing, go to your nearest dirt or small track on a Saturday night. It still exists and it's affordable too.
It surprises me how many NASCAR fans haven't been to a local track, it really is good affordable entertainment. The old street tire junkers are some of the best to watch, 3 sometimes 4 wide in the corners and bouncing off eachother the entire race. Good times.
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