The 14 Best Movies About NASCAR, Ranked By Race Fans
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NASCAR racing is one of the biggest sports in the United States today, but despite being around since the 1940s, there haven't been a ton of movies about it. That's unusual, given the plethora of baseball, football, and basketball films out there. Although it hasn't been mined nearly as much by Hollywood as other sports have, there are some moves about NASCAR drivers for fans to enjoy, with some of the earliest examples dating back to the 1960s.
This list takes a look at the very best Hollywood has to offer regarding NASCAR representation in film, spanning multiple subgenres and tones. Thrillers, comedies, romances, and even animated films have hit the racetrack over the years, so there's plenty of variety for all tastes. Start your engines and cast your votes below for which racing-centric movies fire on all cylinders.
- 123 VOTES
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Premise: Greased Lightning is a semi-biographical film based on the life of Wendell Scott (Richard Pryor), the first Black NASCAR driver, who was eventually inducted into the sport's Hall of Fame. The film begins in the 1930s when Scott proves his prowess in bike riding. About 15 years later, Scott returns from the Army and works for a bootlegger, driving fast and free to evade the police. He's eventually caught, but is given an offer to drive professionally to eliminate most of the charges against him. He spends the next several years improving his skills and winning races before he finally joins NASCAR to become a celebrity racer.
Best Racing Scene: The best race in Greased Lightning is the final one because it represents Scott's struggle to reach legitimacy. Disaster nearly strikes when he inadvertently pulls out of the pit before three lug nuts are attached to his wheel. He spends the next 20 laps gaining the lead while his wheel nearly tears off, but still manages to pull off the win, claiming his first NASCAR victory.
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Premise: In the 2006 sports-comedy Talladega Nights, Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) lucks his way off a pit crew to become the driver for Dennit Racing. Before long, he becomes one of NASCAR's most celebrated drivers, and he convinces Dennit to field a second car with his best friend, Cal Naughton Jr. (John C. Reilly), as the driver, forming the team they call “Shake and Bake.” When Ricky Bobby crashes, he loses his confidence and is fired. It takes a lot of work, but he returns to face off against his replacement, Jean Gerard (Sacha Baron Cohen). After Gerard wrecks every car but his and Ricky Bobby's, the two approach the finish line, only to wreck shortly before it and continue the race on foot.
Best Racing Scene: The film is filled with races, many of which are shown in montages. The greatest of the bunch is the final competition, but not because it depicts excellent driving. It's good because of how much it abandons the tropes (and rules) of NASCAR, even eschewing the simple assumption that one has to actually drive a car across the finish line. It's both intense and hilarious.
- 320 VOTES
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Premise: Cars brought Pixar animation to the world of NASCAR with a whimsical twist, as it's set in a world populated by anthropomorphized cars of all kinds. Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is a self-centered racer intent on winning the Dinoco 400, but the race ends in a three-way tie. On his way to the tiebreaker, he's “marooned” in the small desert town of Radiator Springs. While there, he comes to find himself by making friends with the locals. Eventually, Lightning makes it to the race and struggles at first. Ultimately, he lets his rival win to help out another car, proving he's grown and is no longer so arrogant and selfish as he once was.
Best Racing Scene: There are plenty of excellent racing scenes to choose from, but the best is clearly the final race. As Lightning sacrifices his victory to help out another car, the audience feels a strong sense of emotion over how he's grown as an individual. The race is intense and beautifully animated, evoking a sense of speed from beginning to end.
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- 417 VOTES
Logan Lucky
Premise: Logan Lucky is a somewhat different NASCAR film because it isn't so much about NASCAR as it is about stealing from NASCAR. The sports/heist/comedy hybrid begins as Jimmy Logan (Channing Tatum) is fired from the Charlotte Motor Speedway, leading him to cook up a plan to rob it with his family and friends. After putting his team together, the plan commences on Memorial Day weekend during the Coca-Cola 600. The heist succeeds, and they manage it in such a way that leaves no concrete evidence, so they get away with it, and everyone involved receives a large sum of money.
Best Racing Scene: NASCAR is more the vehicle to perform the robbery and not the film's primary focus. That said, intense racing scenes are mixed in throughout the heist, and the action is brilliantly filmed. That said, given the content, if you had to pick the best race, it would have to be the Coca-Cola 600.
- 510 VOTES
Cars 3
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Premise: Cars 3 is the third title in the Cars franchise, which focuses on Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) as he's now a veteran racer. When newer, more technologically-advanced cars come onto the scene, he must prove he still has what it takes to dominate the racetrack. He gets help from his friends and a young technician named Cruz Ramirez (Cristela Alonzo) to prove his worth and hold off his forced retirement from the Piston Cup. Instead of completing the race, Lightning supports Cruz in taking his place so she can fulfill her own dream of becoming a racer. While he's not ready to give up his own status as a competitor just yet, he makes peace with the fact that he can't stay on top forever, and finds a new joy in helping others reach their potential.
Best Racing Scene: The best race in Cars 3 is the Los Angeles 500, in which Lightning nervously makes his way down the track before regaining his confidence as the first lap commences. He makes his way through the gauntlet of cars toward the lead position, zipping in and out of the way of other cars as the action intensifies. Lightning moves further toward the lead position as each lap counts off but is stymied when his rival gets inside his head. After shaking this off, Lightning zooms by and crashes hard, rolling and skidding to a stop. It's a pivotal scene, and viewers can feel like they're right there on the track with Lightning.
- 69 VOTES
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Premise: Stroker Ace features Burt Reynolds in the eponymous role. Ace is a three-time NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion, and he's an overconfident competitor with an all-or-nothing attitude. His actions result in the loss of his main sponsor, so he turns to Chicken PIit fast food but doesn't bother to read the deal, which requires him to dress in a chicken costume for personal appearances. Ace tries to get out of it, but continues racing for the sponsor, leading to a championship race that will settle whether or not Ace can get out of his contract. Unfortunately, his ego makes it difficult for him to lose willingly, but a chance announcement ending their partnership gives him all the fuel he needs to come in first.
Best Racing Scene: The best racing scene in the movie comes at the end when Ace plans to throw the race to get out of his contract. It's a tight race, and his inability to put his ego aside coincides with his sponsor dropping him. As Ace takes the lead, he flips his car across the finish line, technically winning the race at the same time while getting one over on his now-former sponsor.
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- 722 VOTES
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Premise: In Six Pack, Brewster Baker (Kenny Rogers) is a driver passing through a small Texas town when some opportunists nab parts off of his car. After running the thieves off the road into a river, Brewster rescues them to learn they are orphans stealing for the corrupt sheriff they call “Big John.” He jails Brewster, but the kids end up breaking him out of jail, so he takes the kids with him. Unbeknownst to Brewster, the kids steal parts from other cars to rebuild his, and he comes in fourth at the Dizie 100. He uses his winnings to pay back the people whose cars helped him win and continues racing. Brewster receives a new car for the Atlanta 500, in which he swerves off the track to stop the corrupt sheriff from taking the kids whom he and his wife adopt.
Best Racing Scene: The best race is the one that comes at the end of the film because it incorporates actual footage from the 1982 NASCAR Coca-Cola 500. Clips from the race are interspersed with clips focusing on Brewster, making it far more intense than something that was staged for the film.
- 87 VOTES
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Premise: Speedway is centered around Steve Grayson (Elvis Presley), a selfless NASCAR driver. Unfortuantely, his manager is a compulsive gambler who has been mishandling Steve's winnings, which puts him into deep trouble with the IRS. Most of Steve's property gets repossessed, hampering his ability to continue racing. IRS Agent Susan Jacks (Nancy Sinatra) is on hand to collect on Steve's future winnings, but they eventually fall in love, leading to a happy ending.
Best Racing Scene: Speedway is one of those Elvis movies that features a lot of songs, which isn't surprising, given his talents in that arena. Still, the music is incorporated into the film in such a way as to impact the plot, so it's a bit unusual. The film's best race scene would be the Charlotte 100, which incorporates actual racing footage with Elvis inserted throughout.
- 91 VOTES
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Premise: In Days of Thunder, Cole Trickle (Tom Cruise) is a young racer with open-wheel experience who longs to dominate at the Indianapolis 500. To do so, he finds his way to the employment of Tim Daland (Randy Quaid). This leads to an intensive training program to bring him up to speed, and Trickle goes on to win his first race, establishing a rivalry with Rowdy Burns (Michael Rooker), which later becomes a close friendship. A crash and some bad behavior lead to Trickle's ousting, and he later agrees to race for Rowdy at the Daytona 500 while he's out of commission. This leads to the film's final race at Daytona, where Trickle proves his mettle and wins the race. The film is also notable for featuring appearances from real-life NASCAR drivers, including Richard Petty and Harry Gant.
Best Racing Scene: There's no shortage of intense racing footage in Days of Thunder, but the best scene doesn't involve a massive crash (there are plenty of those as well). The best race comes at the end during the Daytona 500. Several moments make it appear as if Trickle will lose, but instead of pulling off his signature move at the end, he pulls a fast one (pun, absolutely intended) and takes the lead, winning the race.
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- 102 VOTES
Premise: Herbie: Fully Loaded isn't your typical NASCAR film because it's a Herbie movie that centers around the eponymous, sentient Volkswagen Beetle that was first featured in The Love Bug. Here, Herbie is found by Maggie Peyton (Lindsay Lohan), the youngest in a family of racers, who is planning on interning at ESPN. As she repairs the junked car, Herbie manipulates events to compel her to race, but she ultimately loses him when she fails to win a race for pink slips. Undeterred from following her new career path, Maggie saves Herbie from a destruction derby. The Peyton family helps rebuild Herbie into a NASCAR racer, and they're off to the track, where they engage in some wild driving to go for the win.
Best Racing Scene: Because Herbie is sentient, this film isn't your average NASCAR movie. There's also the fact that a VW Beetle is not a NASCAR stock car, but this film is entertaining for what it is: a kids' movie about Herbie and his human driver.The final NASCAR race takes the cake for its feel-good outcome with Maggie coming out victorious. It's a great way to end a movie but also an elaborate race scene involving some wild driving and hilarious hijinks.
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- 110 VOTES
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Premise: Red Line 7000 is as much about the drivers' love lives as it is about their skills on the racetrack. The film focuses on several drivers employed by Pat Kazarian (Norman Alden), including established racer Mike (James Caan), young newbie Ned (John Robert Crawford), and womanizer Dan (Skip Ward). Each competes against the other to try and take top spots, but their romantic rivalries have a tendency to get in the way.
Best Racing Scene: One of the best scenes in the movie isn't a racing scene per se; rather, it's a scene involving a Ford Galaxie in which Junior Johnson runs laps. It's a brief scene, but it demonstrates Johnson's skills and features a remarkable car, of which the film has many (there's also a notable feature of a 1965 Shelby GT-350, which is a treat for classic car enthusiasts).
- 120 VOTES
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Premise: 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story is a biographical film about the life of stock-car legend Dale Earnhardt, as played by Barry Pepper. It begins with his childhood, where he learned a lot about cars from his father, a local champ in the racing world. After dropping out of high school, Earnhardt spent the next decade trying to make his dream a reality, and the film shows how he finally broke into NASCAR in the 1970s to become the legend he remains today. The film concludes with Earnhardt's son, Dale Jr., following in his father's footsteps to keep the family business going.
Best Racing Scene: As you can imagine, there are a ton of races in this film, and many of them feature actual footage of Earnhardt driving (supplemented by shots tailored for this project).That said, the film is less about racing and more about the man, focusing on his life and the significant events that drove him to become the best. The greatest sequence comes at the end of the film at the Daytona 500, which has pulse-pounding direction and visuals that few other driving movies can match.
- 130 VOTES
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Premise: The Last American Hero is based on the story of Junior Johnson, a NASCAR driver played in the film by Jeff Bridges. Early on, Junior works as a moonshiner, but he's arrested and handed a year in prison. He's an excellent driver, though and he enters a demolition derby and does well enough to make his way into a stock-car undercard race. His first race doesn't go well, as his engine falls apart just as he's pulling forward. Undeterred, he decides to become a professional racer, and he spends his evenings moonshining to raise money as he puts his all into becoming the next best NASCAR driver.
Best Racing Scene: The film features several intense racing scenes while telling Johnson's story as he rises through the ranks. The best racing scene comes at the end of the film, which sees Johnson carefully manage the track, lap after lap as he moves closer to the finish line. He eventually finds himself next to his rival as he makes his way to the finish line.
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- 143 VOTES
Red Dirt Rising
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Premise: The 2011 film Red Dirt Rising tells the story of Jimmie Lewallen (Brad Yoder) and the birth of NASCAR from the bootlegging runners of the 1930s and '40s. The film begins with Lewallen struggling to overcome his poverty-stricken life. To do so, he becomes a bootlegger, and he and his friend Bill Blair (Burgess Jenkins) work hard to race away from authorities. This gave birth to stock-car racing, which ultimately became NASCAR. Much of the film dramatizes the real-life events that helped build NASCAR while maintaining the historical accuracy of how it evolved from bootlegging into the massive sport it is today.
Best Racing Scene: The film is more about the creation of NASCAR than it is any specific race, but it does include many. Some of the most thrilling races come early on, depicting Lewallen and company trying to outrun the law. As the film progresses, the racing scenes involve specially equipped cars the drivers manage, which helps to establish some of the practices that ultimately went into the formation of NASCAR.
