The Racing Scene
The Racing Scene | |
---|---|
Directed by | Andy Sidaris |
Written by | William Edgar |
Produced by | James Garner, Barry Scholer |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Earl Rath |
Edited by | Jim Gross |
Music by | Astral Films (Canadian theatrical release) |
Release date | 1969 |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Racing Scene is a 1969 documentary film about actor James Garner and his auto racing team, directed by Andy Sidaris. It was the first film directed by Sidaris, whose background at that time had been in sports broadcasting.[1] The picture offers a glimpse of Garner's role and the teams and cars he sponsored during the middle of three years (1968-1970) his American International Racing team campaigned over a variety of racing series.[2]
Garner wasn't alone in pursuing auto racing as a diversion from movie and TV-making, being joined by such Hollywood figures as comedian
Description
In 1969 James Garner (born 1928) was a veteran Hollywood leading man of both film and television. At the peak of his popularity, he found his interest drifting from his acting career and into the sport of auto racing - in the day an extremely popular international scene in which he had played the starring role as a Formula One champion in the 1966 big screen hit Grand Prix.
Driving actual Formula cars in staged racing sequences for that picture gave him experience in high-adrenalin wheel-to-wheel racing. He caught the bug bad enough that by 1969 he had formed his own racing team and was financing a variety of different platforms in racing series in North America, including getting some limited competitive time of his own behind the wheel.
The Racing Scene is produced in documentary fashion, narrated by Garner, covering a slice of his 1969 racing life as owner of the American International Racing team he had created the year before.
He is first seen roaring across the Mexican outback in a heavily modified 650 horsepower Ford Bronco in the 1969 Baja 1000 offroad race, along with trusted co-driver and "hard-charger" Scooter Patrick. One of six similar Bronco team's he's sponsoring, they come in 4th in their class.
Next he is flying to England and on to
Then it's off to Florida, where Garner is seen as an owner amid the pit crew of an
Garner departs the team to make a film in Europe; while he is gone two of his drivers keep busy in various Formula A,
A re-energized Garner is en route over the Golden Gate Bridge to meet his own team at the
After shaking the most obvious bugs out in California Patterson flies east with Garner while the crew tows the car cross-country. Patrick breaks the news en route that the car will be so late in arriving that there will be little time for final adjustments. Compounding things once there, serious unexpected engine problems encountered during qualifying prevent it from even completing its required runs; after some four-figure emergency triage the car starts dead last in a pack of 20 entrants, the penalty for not having qualified. Through skillful and competitive driving by Patrick it moves up to 11th, but before he can place respectably the engine blows and he is out of the race.
Garner returns to California to acquire a replacement, and vents some steam off from his increasingly costly and still only marginally successful racing adventure tearing a
Just six days after Lime Rock the crew is back on the track for the St Jovite F5000 in Canada, north of Montreal at the
Saying he's OK with a rough road and its challenges, Garner walks off to take on whatever's next for his racing team, doubling-down with a final affirmation, "This is my road. The one I choose. The one I follow."
Postscript
Garner's American International Racing team continued entering events through 1970, campaigning (at least) a pair of Eagle-Chevrolets (driven by Davey Jordan and Rex Ramsey) in a total of 17 Formula 5000 races. Jordan entered five, placing as high as 2nd at the Riverside F5000, while Ramsey raced in 12, with a high of 3rd place at the Sears Point F5000.[2]
See also
References
- ^ Coffman 2012, p. 22-23.
- ^ a b c d American International Racing - Team History & Info - Motorsport Database, Motorsport Magazine
- ^ "Dick Smothers, James Garner Get Racing Lessons from Curtis Martin", Competition Press and Auto Week", April 14, 1968, p. 13
Sources
- Coffman, Jason (2012), "The Early Films of Andy Sidaris", Cashiers du Cinemart Issue 17, Impossibly Funky Productions, ISBN 978-1300351405
External links
- The Racing Scene at IMDb
- Trayco Engineering