Q: As we’ve hit the dog days of the offseason, it’s the perfect time for a movie marathon. What are your go-to racing movies to get us through the cold winter months and, in your opinion, which recent one is the best?
Michael in Central Indiana
MP: This is where I need to admit I’ve been fearful of watching “Gran Turismo” because it looks so generically bad: Shouty team boss guy. Young driver who needs to find his confidence. Cartoonish crash scenes (barring the terrible ’Ring crash Jann experienced). But I do need to watch it.
Other than my passion for hate-watching “Driven,” I don’t have much to offer that’s original in terms of cinematic pieces. “Le Mans” and “Grand Prix” are the go-to gems. I did add a few items to my Watchlist on Prime that should range from terrible to amusing. One is “Born2Race,” a documentary-style movie about Al and Bobby Unser that, based on the trailer, is horrifically bad, which means I’ll love it.
During the pandemic, I came across something called “Gearheads: Win At All Costs.” It’s as if someone watched “Driven,” challenged themselves to make something worse than the worst racing movie of all time, and possibly succeeded, with the mess set in the world of short track racing.
I’m a much bigger consumer of racing annual reviews and documentaries. The documentary “Hurley,” about Hurley Haywood, is well worth watching. “Super Speedway” is another that’s always awesome.
Q: My 23-year-old son (an avid IndyCar fan that I’ve brainwashed since his toddler years) and I will be attending the Rolex 24 At Daytona for the first time. We live in Indy, and have been to many IndyCar races across the country, and attended the IMSA event at IMS this year.
We’ve never been to Daytona International Speedway, and have never been to a 24-hour race. So we’re looking for tips on what to do, how to plan, what not to do, sleeping/eating strategies, etc. We’ve agreed that it’s going to be awesome, but we’re prepared for a few moments of “what did we get ourselves into?” We rented a small condo about five miles away for shower and sleeping purposes only, but we’re tempted to sleep a bit in the car at the track and maximize the experience.
We’re open to any and all advice! Thanks in advance!
Jeff Keen
MP: First recommendation is to check the track’s website for what you are and aren’t allowed to bring in with food and drink. Based on that, I’d plan on treating the events as a “touring race,” which means having a nice rolling setup for you and your son, if possible, that has whatever you can have in a cooler, plus folding chairs, umbrellas, rain gear, and sunscreen.
Although DIS has giant grandstands that are quite comfy, this isn’t an event where you park yourself in a seat all day and all night long. Go up there, for sure — especially for the start on Saturday — but plan on using the tunnels to go into the infield and tour from turn to turn and stand and watch where standing is all you can do, and set up your camping chairs and chill and watch at the places where that’s possible. I’ve slept in my rental car every time I’ve been there, except for last year when I was sick and needed to get proper sleep in a bed, so go with how you’re feeling on which option to take.
If you or your son like to take photos, there are a bunch of places to do that as well. Just buy a little stepstool to chuck into your rolling wagon, or bungy it onto your backpack, to help shoot over the fences as many fans do.
Last piece of advice: Challenging yourself to stay up for the entire race is great if you two don’t have to go to work on Monday or Tuesday. But if you do, skip that challenge because it takes a week to 10 days to feel human again.
Q: In response to Ed, from Westfield in last week’s Mailbag, via a short story:
My brother attended the Indy 500 every year from 1975-1997. It was the only auto race of any kind he ever attended. I tried unsuccessfully many times to talk him into Road America (closer to his home) for the CART folks and IMSA. No dice.
Fast-forward to 2022. He’s retired, kids are grown and gone and he’s bored. I talk him into IndyCar at Road America. We get there early enough Sunday morning to walk through the paddock. I make sure he notices all the driver and team names on the banners fluttering in each paddock. After a while he stops and says, “Now these guys aren’t here, right”? Me “what do you mean?” “Well, Castroneves, Herta, Scott Dixon, they’re not here today, are they?”
I was flummoxed. I tried to explain that yes indeed, they are here and in fact if we hang around long enough we might bump into them showing up for work.
Instead, we head down to the bleachers in T5 to watch the driver introductions on the giant screen. Me: “See, there’s Castroneves, there’s Dixie,” etc. I think — not 100% sure — I have him convinced.
Now for the Ed from Westfield section: I talk him into IMSA in August again at RA. After a full weekend of exciting multi-class racing, I ask for his thoughts. “Well, the cars are boring. I like IndyCars much more.”
Bear in mind this is a very successful, college-educated guy. He’ll never be convinced that if it ain’t an IndyCar it’s just a car. The good news is he’s now a road course fan and went with me again in ’23 and is going again in ’24 — of course, only for IndyCar.
Keith Conroy
MP: Great story, Keith. Glad he got to see both, even if he likes IMSA less than IndyCar.