Onewolf426
Professional
NASCAR=Go fast, turn left. If they were to make a movie based on real NASCAR drivers, it would be so boring you would slit your wrists. Back in the days of Petty, etc, it was much more interesting and entertaining.
“You Can’t Fake The G’s”
- Thread starter Talyn
- Start date
Why was nascar more interesting with Richard Petty? Did he make fast right turns instead....
Keystone19250
SAINT
He’s the killer in a Ford not a Porsche.
Bassbob
Emissary
It was WAAAAAAAAYYYYY more interesting back in the days when all the NASCAR drivers were moonlighting from their regular jobs running moonshine.
I like Carl Edwards. F Kyle Busch.
Pitdogg2
Professional
Not to mention the fist fights and smack downs right there right now. Kyle Busch pulls that on Joey L. and everyone freaks the heck out.It was WAAAAAAAAYYYYY more interesting back in the days when all the NASCAR drivers were moonlighting from their regular jobs running moonshine.
I like Carl Edwards. F Kyle Busch.
jumpinjoe
Hellcat
agree!
jumpinjoe
Hellcat
If you had seen him in one of his very early roles, that of a 'greaser' back in the '60's in Oklahoma, you would have thought ... that guy will never make it as an actor! But look at him now!
jumpinjoe
Hellcat
Gaads, I hated this idiot! There's 'funny', and then there's 'silly'.
jumpinjoe
Hellcat
Granted the movie was a real hoot, but there was several true stories woven into the script as it went on.It's a wretched movie if you like NASCAR. There's not a scene in it that's not absolutely preposterous. But I will admit it IS a good story well told. (Just because Road Runner cartoons aren't real doesn't mean they're not entertaining.) I just saw it again a couple weeks ago.
jumpinjoe
Hellcat
Back in the day (sometime prior to the mid-80's) if you looked at all the regular drivers, they were all in their 30's, 40's and even a couple in their early 50's. Most were actually hard core old style (before NASCAR) outlaw racers and had worked their way into NASCAR as the money got better. Groups of those racers typically traveled up down the east coast a couple times a year, usually flat pulling their race cars, Hudson Hornets, Studebakers, little Ford/Mercury coups with the old flatheads, Oldsmobiles, Buicks, Lincoln, Cadillac, Plymouth, Chrysler, and even a real Nash from time to time, with a few even actually driving their cars to each race event. They would stop off in any little town where a "big money race" was happening. They raced in plowed corn fields, fair grounds, the running tracks around high school football fields, and a very few actual plowed and turned oval dirt tracks. Did I say 'hard core', you bet I did. Those were the days were you might see as many tire irons and/or lug wrenches being swung in the pits as any other wrench. And early on in NASCAR there were more than a few who raced their moonshine haulers. Probably the more famous was Jr. Johnson. Started out as a hired shoe for several different car owners to race on the big tracks (NASCAR) because he had a reputation of being one of the best in the back roads of Appalachia, but he never raced in his own liquor hauler. In later years he became one of the most successful owner/drivers, then team owners in the sport. Even the country singer Marty Robbins raced in some NASCAR events in the 60's, 70's, and early 80's. And Dave Marcus actually drove/raced wearing lace up wingtip oxfords and dress slacks. Very few fire suits back then.It was WAAAAAAAAYYYYY more interesting back in the days when all the NASCAR drivers were moonlighting from their regular jobs running moonshine.
I like Carl Edwards. F Kyle Busch.
Then came the 80's and everything started changing becoming modern. The last of the actual stock bodied cars, The beginning of spec built chassis, engine specs became far more rigid and standardized, fuel injection (not really FI as we know it, but experimenting with things like NO) was just beginning to be looked at even though NASCAR didn't officially approve and use it till about 2010+/-. Machine work on engine and suspension parts was becoming more and more the norm, but the thing that really began to change was the average age of the drivers and where they got their experience. Every year they got younger and younger and younger and in my opinion much less 'hard core'. They became more and more a group of sophisticated, highly skilled and trained as not only drivers who could understand the moments/movements of a car and make it go fast, but could also talk to the engineers in their language. Now the old school, hard core guys could also feel what their cars needed to go as fast as they were capable of, but we all know the speeds of cars back in the 60', 70's, and 80's didn't come anywhere they're running today. You don't see today's drivers lighting up a cigarette during a pit stop and smoking while driving a race car, or chewing tobacco, or even having the front of his white T-shirt smeared with grease. Now I won't paint with too wide a brush, there are a few today who can turn wrenches with the best of them and have driven their way to Cup by way of short track racing around the country. But the majority of them gained most of what they know and feel from simulators, engineering schooling, and practical experience in the lower three NASCAR ranks. Today we see three different car makers represented, not actually raced but represented. By plastic bodied cars, all out of the same molds, with decal lights and windows to look like either a Ford, Chevy, or Toyota. All engines as near the same as possible and still be based on the true engine. A transaxle rear end with control arms and toe links and a straight shifter 6 speed tranny in the rear.
Yeh, it's a whole different racing today than yesteryear. I miss the old stuff. The closest thing left today to the old days is probably the Whelen Modifieds, maybe a few Super and Pro late model racers. Older, hard core racers with engines built in their back yard shops, with hand built chassis, working and racing on shoestring budgets, who learned from the seat of their pants and who race for the love of the sport as much or more than the notoriety and fame/money. And every now and then you'll still see a lug wrench being used to express some driver's displeasure back in the pits. Ahhh, the good ol' days!
Let me add: I'm not claiming that today's kids are not talented drivers, just that their talent is from a whole other aspect than oldtime stock car racing. And there are some really talented drivers today with a whole different talent than just driving a real race car. Their technical skills far over ride their seat of the pants talent that most old timers relied on. But are they as hard core racers as the old timers, I don't think most are.
SimonRL
Hellcat
Same in the movie Taps.
I liked “Rush” OK. Not great by any means, but OK. Lots of period cars and other things. Sadly, having one of the cliched “downshift and floor it in anger” bits cost it several points in my book.
It always gets some love but I never cared for “Grand Prix”, though I suppose it was the best there was up to that point. As you say, the back story is a silly soap opera. While that may have been necessary to get the film made due to the thought “there had to be something for the ladies”, it takes up SO much of the film. Or maybe it only seems like it does.
In spite of also having its own unnecessary little soap opera, “Le Mans” is my clear favorite racing movie. At least the feeble love story is a small enough part to ignore. Simply the sounds of the racing are great. It was filmed at the PERFECT time to capture the best cars and atmosphere of that form of racing. Very fortunate for us in that regard.
One I haven’t seen mentioned is “Snake and Mongoose”. It’s not easy to find, and it’s certainly not the best movie, but seeing the cars and equipment made it worth watching for me. The old Mattel Dodge hauler trucks alone impressed me.