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Reel Racing: ‘Red Line 7000’ Brought NASCAR to 1960s Silver Screen

How do you know you’re watching a NASCAR movie that would never be made today?

When only a few minutes into it, a stock car violently bounces off a wall, careens down the track and bursts into flames.

Then, the stuntman lucky enough to briefly portray said character, climbs from its burning husk — on fire himself — and falls to the ground as a safety crew rushes to douse the flames.

But it’s too late. The driver — not the stuntman — is dead.

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Welcome to Red Line 7000, a movie released in 1965 by Paramount Pictures and starring future The Godfather actor James Caan.

Now if you’re like myself, you likely hadn’t heard of this film before 2024 or before clicking on this column.

It wasn’t until Arrow Video, a boutique home video company that releases niche and genre films, announced a special Blu-Ray release of it earlier this year that it entered my orbit.

The movie’s title refers to the RPM limits of what the engine of a mid-1960s stock car — at least in this movie’s universe — could withstand before catastrophe strikes.

It’s that limit which the fictional driver Jim Loomis exceeded, causing his engine to blow and sending him to his death.

If there’s one thing Red Line got right, it was that NASCAR of the mid-20th century was an inherently violent and dangerous sport. One that claimed the lives of drivers on a somewhat regular basis.

The movie is filled with highlight reels of actual race action and accidents from the 1964 NASCAR season.

The filmmakers, led by director Howard Hawks, took that real life footage — shot at Daytona International Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Darlington Raceway and Riverside International Raceway (all footage shot in color, unlike what you would find on NASCAR Classics) — and crafted their fictional races around it. Basically the opposite of what would be done 25 years later on Days of Thunder.

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Now, not all the accidents are realistic.

The most egregious of them almost passes the eye test. The way it’s filmed resembles, at least in film quality, most of the highlights strewn throughout the movie’s one-hour-and-50-minute runtime.

However, this crash is comical. `

In a theater in 1965, you’d never be able to pick out the ramp installed on the track to make this rocket launch possible.

But in 2024, after getting over the shock of the stunt itself, having rewind handy reveals the scene’s secret.

You may have recognized Howard Hawks’ name.

Are you a fan of John Wayne in Rio Bravo and Red River?

Those were Hawks-directed movies.

How about Cary Grant in His Girl Friday and Bringing Up Baby?

That was him too.

If you’re like me and you’re more of a Humphrey Bogart fan, he was also at the helm of The Big Sleep and To Have and Have Not.

A former fighter pilot in World War I and a racer himself, Hawks also made four movies in the ’30s and ’40s about pilots in war and the women who love them.

And … that’s really what Red Line is.

You come for the vintage NASCAR action, but most of movie’s time is devoted to paper-thin rivalries between the movie’s three main drivers and the three women they take turns being in relationships with.

There are more pairings in Red Line than in one season of Gossip Girl (not that I would know anything about that).

Characters have two scenes together, and in the next, they’re declaring their love for each other. None of the relationships feel anywhere close to real.

To pad the movie, a song number — one sung nowhere close in tune — stops the film cold. But hey, it was the ’60s. Teenage beach party movies were all the rage. Too bad no beaches were in sight.

There is an interesting theme to the story that is present in Red Line.

There’s always another driver waiting in the wings.

After Jim Loomis dies, the funeral is barely over before young hopefuls swoop in, pitching themselves to take his place. It’s reflected in the female characters, who pick up drivers as soon as they appear.

Two of them have dated multiple racers who died racing. Only one learned her lesson.

The theme is reflected in another movie I watched recently: the 1950 theatre drama All About Eve, starring Bette Davis. In that movie, it’s not an understudy driver waiting to pounce, but an actor’s understudy instead.

Coincidentally, Red Line shares a connection with All About Eve via cinematographer Milton Krasner, who shot the movies 15 years apart.

But that’s where the similarities end.

If you want to see some authentic — and not so authentic — NASCAR action from the 1960s in big screen technicolor, Red Line 7000 is where it’s at.

Unless you’re a Howard Hawks or James Caan completist, that’s the best reason to check it out.

Stray Thoughts

— I feel bad for Fred Lorenzen. In the movie, it’s Lorenzen’s No. 28 car that Caan’s character, Mike, drives throughout it. The movie shows highlights of races Lorenzen actually won in 1964. But in a movie that features multiple real drivers getting name checked and Richard Petty getting an obligatory cameo, Lorenzen’s name never gets a mention, even though his exploits are the real star of the movie.

— If you’re a Star Trek fan, you’ll get a kick out of George Takei’s minor role as a member of Caan’s team. You’ll really get a kick out of Takei grooving to some 1960s dance music .

About the author

Daniel McFadin is a 10-year veteran of the NASCAR media corp. He wrote for NBC Sports from 2015 to October 2020. He currently works full time for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and is lead reporter and an editor for Frontstretch. He is also host of the NASCAR podcast "Dropping the Hammer with Daniel McFadin" presented by Democrat-Gazette.

You can email him at danielmcfadin@gmail.com.

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3 Comments
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JKO75

I watched it on AMC years ago.

TiminPayson

Saw it at Mann France Ave Drive In
Edina Minn Summer of 65’

DoninAjax

There’s always Oscar caliber Elvis in Speedway! Or Burt Reynolds.