The Last Race

Let me start off by saying that I am a grassroots racing fan. Growing up, Saturday night was the night to go to the track with my dad and watch the asphalt gladiators do battle. I was fortunate enough to be able to race at my home track for a little while and will cherish those moments forever. Our track also went through owner changes, sitting dormant for a year and NASCAR affiliation coming and going. I saw this film advertised on Facebook, but unfortunately the trailer pretty much sums up the entire film. There are some real moments, such as the interview with the track owner towards the end of the film and the driver speaking of winning a race for his father after he had passed. The film does show what the track means to the racing community, especially being an area where so many tracks were prevalent during the birth of auto racing. That being said, this film is entirely too slow. The majority of the content is absolutely nothing. The opening scene set the tone for the film. I can appreciate the message that the film does loosely deliver, but it failed to deliver with any true excitement. There is some cool racing footage in the film, but most of it is just oddly misplaced here and there. Again, I can appreciate the people in the film and the message being made, but I feel it could've been portrayed in an entire different light.

This documentary on Riverhead Raceway, on Long Island, N.Y., brought back memories to me of going to Freeport Raceway on Long Island (one of 40 active stock car tracks at the time) as a kid with my family for a night of racing and excitement.

Alas, Riverhead is the only remaining track of its kind in the area and seemingly barely hanging on, with its aging but dedicated owners Barbara and Jim Cromarty, and land developers on all sides of the track impatiently waiting for them to sell so they can develop another strip mall or parking lot on the valuable land.

This is not your typical doc, with its emphasis on the atmospherics of the stock car venue and the often quirky drivers and characters who keep it running. The film often seems disjointed, as it skips from one scene to another seemingly randomly. Thus, it will most likely turn off some viewers who expect a more traditional and orderly movie.

Overall, I found this doc to illustrate a slice of Americana that's still active but that more often than not will fade from our history.

Look for raw language throughout with the film being only about 1 hr. and 15 mins. in length.

From start to finish . . . From the title to the closing credits . . . This was a negative depressing presentation. It dwelled on the "junk" classes that race at Riverhead . . . The dregs of racing . . . The despair of the Cromartys. Ugh.

It never mentioned or displayed the top class . . . The Modifieds . . . Which are very fast, very costly race cars driven by very accomplished wheelmen. The production made Riverhead look like a little hick track that is standing in the way of progress . . . I.e. Another damn Wal-Mart.

This is a well-produced piece of trash that does nothing but hurt the sport of racing.

I am not sorry that I watched but I damn well will not recommend it to anyone for fear of triggering a dismal look at motorsports . . . And life in general.

This was all too real. It was far too real. Perhaps the most depressing metaphor for what we all face as we age. It's as good as doc's can achieve, but as eye-opening a film about aging and "development" as one can view.

I really couldn't get behind the way this movie was filmed. Maybe there was a time quota they had to fill but a little less than half of this doc could have been cut out. A lot of abstract angles of the track and silent close ups on drivers that's would be nice additions if they weren't 4 minutes long a piece. That being said, I was still able to finish it and enjoyed what little bits of actual interviews there were.