IMDb RATING
6.4/10
2.3K
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A young hell raiser quits moonshine running to try to become the best NASCAR racer the South has ever seen.A young hell raiser quits moonshine running to try to become the best NASCAR racer the South has ever seen.A young hell raiser quits moonshine running to try to become the best NASCAR racer the South has ever seen.
- Awards
- 1 win total
William Smith
- Kyle Kingman
- (as William Smith II)
Ernie F. Orsatti
- Davie Baer
- (as Ernie Orsatti)
Jimmy Murphy
- Spud
- (as James Murphy)
Garland Atkins
- TV Reporter
- (uncredited)
John Samuel Brawley
- Joe Casper
- (uncredited)
Bob Cole
- Marshall Collins
- (uncredited)
Lewis Compton
- Track Announcer - Martinsville
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe movie depicts Junior's father as being arrested for producing moonshine. In reality, it was Junior himself that was arrested and sentenced. In 1956, federal tax agents found Johnson working at his father's moonshine still in Wilkes County; they arrested him. Many local residents believed the raid was done in revenge for the agent's inability to catch Johnson delivering moonshine on local highways; this is depicted in the movie when we see the local law enforcement busting up his father's still. Junior Johnson was convicted of moon-shining and was sent to prison in Chillicothe, Ohio. He served 11 months of a two-year sentence.
- GoofsWhen the movie starts, Junior is driving a Mustang with a police band radio but there is no antenna on the car that would work on police band frequencies.
- Quotes
Elroy Jackson Sr.: [about working in the saw mill] It didn't seem to worry most of the boys. They put in their time, looking ahead to payday. But not me. That paycheck wasn't money, it was a bill of sale. Three months of that, back to whiskey. It's been hard on your ma, but damn foolishness to one person is breath of life to another.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Precious Images (1986)
Featured review
Jeff Bridges stars in this fact-based movie as Junior Jackson, a former moonshine runner who goes straight from the back roads of the Carolinas to the muddy dirt tracks of NASCAR in an era when the sport was hardly known north of the Mason-Dixon line and the drivers liked their cars fast and their women even faster.
There was an old saying that NASCAR never did condone fighting amongst the drivers, but I can see where they got the saying that, "If you have to do it, though, make sure it's at the start-finish line." I did a little research on Jackson's career and the story here holds to the fact that he wasn't one of the "cleanest" drivers in NASCAR, but it does help to have that little bit of controversy among your driver(s) when it comes to putting butts in the grandstands. I was fortunate enough to visit the Legends of Racing Museum in Daytona a few weeks ago and met Jack Anderson, a former driver from that era, and I listened to some of the stories surrounding the times and it seems that everything holds true, which makes this a film portrayed very well in every sense of the word. If you're a fan of stock car driving at any level, this movie is for you! 8 out of 10 stars!
There was an old saying that NASCAR never did condone fighting amongst the drivers, but I can see where they got the saying that, "If you have to do it, though, make sure it's at the start-finish line." I did a little research on Jackson's career and the story here holds to the fact that he wasn't one of the "cleanest" drivers in NASCAR, but it does help to have that little bit of controversy among your driver(s) when it comes to putting butts in the grandstands. I was fortunate enough to visit the Legends of Racing Museum in Daytona a few weeks ago and met Jack Anderson, a former driver from that era, and I listened to some of the stories surrounding the times and it seems that everything holds true, which makes this a film portrayed very well in every sense of the word. If you're a fan of stock car driving at any level, this movie is for you! 8 out of 10 stars!
- moviedude1
- Dec 30, 2008
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Hard Driver
- Filming locations
- Hickory, North Carolina, USA(Hickory Motor Speedway)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 35 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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By what name was The Last American Hero (1973) officially released in India in English?
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