Everything Wrong (Almost)

Rating: 4/10 (25 October 2003)

I think the only thing they got right in this movie is the the cars go fast. Other than that, they were completely off-track (pun intended).
1) Russ Wheeler says in a pre-race interview: "If Cole comes near me, I'm gonna put him in the wall." In reality, you're out of the race, with a nice hefty fine. Maybe permanently parked.
2) Cars on the lead lap were lining up on the inside. In reality, lead-lap cars line up on the outside, and cars that are a lap or more down line up on the inside (unless there are ten or less laps left, then it's single file).
3) The amount of on-track banging that the movie has. After a car has been beaten up as badly as some of those were, there is no way they could keep up that pace, especially at Daytona. (Unless it's a DEI car at the plate tracks, then NASCAR allows them to cheat so the sheep who blindly follow Jr. can have their three or four wins per season.)
4) The passing at Daytona is completely unrealistic, as there is no way that a single car can pass a line of cars. Can't be done. No way. Not with the aero-packages and the restrictor plates. (Unless, of course, it's a DEI car. See reason three above.)
5) There was a caution with two laps to go, and miraculously they were able to get the race going with one lap left. Not possible. They have to open the pits for at least one lap. If there were three laps left, it might be possible if they stopped the race immediately.
6) Cars are not built in a barn. Maybe in NASCAR's infancy, but by the 70's, things had changed tremendously, and if a NASCAR car was built that way, it would maybe finish the race. But could not contend for the win. It would be a thirtieth place car at best.
The story was pretty bad, too. If you watched "Top Gun" (another stinker, if you actually sit down and TRY to watch it), you've seen "Days of Thunder". Just with a different vehicle under Tom Cruise's butt. Even the racing scenes were boring.
Avoid this movie like the plague. Because if you don't, you'll fee like you have the plague after you're done watching it. It's so bad, on a rating of Zero to Five stars, it owes one.