"I don't like finishing second." Dale Earnhardt, Sr.

NASCAR Media Group has released The Ride of Their Lives, a lively documentary on the history of NASCAR narrated by Oscar-winner Kevin Costner. Featuring new interviews with racing icons such as Richard "The King" Petty, Bobby Allison, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jeff Gordon, along with spectacular archival NASCAR footage, The Ride of Their Lives is a good introduction for new or casual NASCAR fans (right here) to the history and traditions of America's most popular professional sport.

I've only written once before about NASCAR, and I'm certainly no expert on the sport (I usually catch the Daytona 500, and that's about it), so most of The Ride of Their Lives was new to me. I would imagine hard-core NASCAR fans have heard and seen all of this before in other documentaries, but The Ride of Their Lives is well-produced, with such fans probably anxious to tune in to anything that has NASCAR's logo on it. Focusing specifically on the driving greats and family dynasties that created generations of loyal racing fans (as well as on Bill France, Senior and Junior, who created and guided NASCAR into the corporate behemoth it is today), The Ride of Their Lives also touches briefly on larger issues such as race and illness (Tim Richmond's death from AIDS) in an attempt to broaden the documentary's glossy, sometimes glorifying tone.

Beginning with a terrific montage of vintage and new in-car race footage, segueing into The Door's Roadhouse Blues, The Ride of Their Lives certainly knows how to jack up the NASCAR history fan with exciting clips of legendary races, and interviews, both new for this documentary and archival, of the icons that made the sport such a huge money-spinner. Although The Ride of Their Lives aims to give a broad rundown of the 52-year history of NASCAR, emphasis is put on the career tracks of a few superstars who bridged the gaps of the major developments and evolutions of the sport. A brief overview of the origins of stock car racing is attempted (perhaps too brief, because I've always found the moonshine runner antecedents of NASCAR to be its most fascinating element), along with Bill France, Sr.'s incorporation of NASCAR and the construction of the Daytona International Speedway in 1959.

Lee Petty's career is profiled here, with a new interview of Richard Petty filling in with some well-chosen observations. Not being a devoted fan of the new drivers, as well as the new safety features and electronic communications gadgets and computers and everything else that has brought NASCAR racing to the highly technical exercise it is today, I'm always fascinated when I see "real" racing footage from these early days, when the drivers, wearing nothing more than a helmet and a "shirt and a pair of britches," hopped into those street cars and cranked that manual steering around the track for a couple of hours (something the always forthright Darrell Waltrip alludes to later in the documentary when he's commenting on how drivers are basically cocooned now in their cars). Although still a life and death sport (perhaps that's why it outdraws basketball, football and baseball combined?), the safety features that are now mandatory do somehow lessen the sense of danger racing had during those earlier days; whether or not that's an element that's healthy for spectators to admit dwelling on (is it simply morbid curiosity?) is another issue entirely. But there's no denying that those first decades of NASCAR have a romantic danger to them, a primitive, ballsy appeal of just driver, car and pavement (with the prize money the only thing keeping teams going) that just isn't there in today's sponsor-driven NASCAR.

Richard Petty and then Bobby Allison are next featured, with their celebrated rivalry discussed honestly by the drivers (Allison admits to the drivers playing up their rivalry for the fans, bumping into each other for laps to drive up interest). Petty is as always a pretty humble guy, considering his status in the history of driving (and that kind of Southern politeness, with old-school drivers spending hours after the grueling races signing autographs, is another sure-fire sign of why NASCAR built such a loyal, generational following - particularly when you compare this kind of behavior and awareness to some of the thugs who populate the other big three sports). And Allison's good-guy persona comes through clearly, as well - although he's not above getting in a dig or two at Petty. The Ride of Their Lives takes a moment here to discuss Wendell Scott's career; it's a story I wasn't familiar with, but it's a powerful one: NASCAR's only African-American driver of note during this period. I wish the doc had more time to explain Scott's context within the NASCAR culture, but with its limited running time, this isn't attempted.

Darrell Waltrip's story is next featured, coinciding with Bill France, Jr.'s ascension to running NASCAR in 1972. According to Waltrip, both he and France understood about the "big picture" potential that hadn't been tapped yet for NASCAR, including the full exploitation of national television coverage and sponsorship, bringing NASCAR firmly into the American corporate culture - an evolution perfectly captured by "everyman" driver Dale Earnhardt, Sr., the first driver to have his name, image and racing number licensed for marketing purposes. Contrasting here with the no-nonsense Earnhardt is the story of Tim Richmond, the flamboyant, hard-partying driver who in many ways was ahead of the curve when it came to exploiting the image of NASCAR drivers into a more Hollywood-esque cult of celebrity. I didn't really know Richmond's story (evidently, he was supposedly the unofficial basis for Tom Cruise's character in the awful Days of Thunder), but it, like Wendell Scott's, is compelling: an up-and-coming driver who gleefully thumbed his nose at the low-key, traditional NASCAR drivers, only to find himself succumbing to AIDS at the peak of his career. And although The Ride of Their Lives handles this sensitive subject quite well (as it does for Scott's story), after reading up on Richmond's story, I can't really say that The Ride of Their Lives is exactly fair when it comes to NASCAR's behavior towards the driver when it was discovered he had AIDS (not a surprising development when you consider The Ride of Their Lives, while still an entertaining documentary, is also a NASCAR-sponsored advertisement for the sport).

I also can't say I was too impressed with NASCAR's decision to show footage of Bobby Allison crying over the memory of his son Davey's death - a crass, vulgar moment totally unnecessary in getting across the tragedy of this event. But The Ride of Their Lives is more respectful when discussing Dale Earnhardt, Sr.'s death, and quite interesting when it wraps up, discussing the very different drivers, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr.. I would have liked a little bit more detail and insight into the entire Gordon phenomenon (the documentary says he came to the sport "pre-packaged" for corporate success), as well as perhaps a bit more background on Earnhardt, Jr.'s transition from son of a legend to name driver today, but perhaps that's too much to ask of a 93-minute documentary that tries to encompass the entire NASCAR history. As for the narration by Kevin Costner, it's delivered with simplicity and directness (hallmarks of that actor's accepted style), although at times, whomever wrote the lines sometimes slipped into overblown hyperbole and mythologizing, such as when the famous 1979 Daytona 500 in-field fight between Cale Yarborough and Bobby and Donnie Allison is described as an act of "rebellion and defiance." "Rebellion" and "defiance" against what, one might ask? But moments like that are few, and overall, the narration, much like the choice of clips and the overall production of The Ride of Their Lives, is polished and effective.

The DVD:

The Video:
The anamorphic, 1.78:1 widescreen image for The Ride of Their Lives is quite clean, although I did spot some compression issues (some aliasing) from time to time - overall, though, it wasn't too distracting. Colors are correctly valued, and the image is sharpish. The makers of the documentary did make the decision, though, to crop all of the old 1.33:1 footage for widescreen, so be aware that there is no pillar boxing here.

The Audio:
The Dolby Digital English 5.1 stereo mix for The Ride of Their Lives is quite good, with some decent separation effects during the roaring race footage, and clear-as-a-bell dialogue transfers. English close captions are available.

The Extras:
There are over 60 minutes of extended interviews (samples of which are utilized in the documentary) featuring many of the drivers. They're highly informative, and well produced.

Final Thoughts:
There are generational and cultural pulls to NASCAR that other pro sports simply don't possess - perhaps that's why its such a phenomenally popular sport. As well, the on-going American love affair with their cars, as well as the sense that death may occur at any moment for the drivers, certainly adds depth to the appeal of this uniquely American sport. The Ride of Their Lives may not be the most detailed evocation of the origins and evolutions of NASCAR, but it's an excellently produced primer to the sport for newcomers. The Ride of Their Lives is recommended for fans, while newcomers might benefit from a rental first.