A brand new NASCAR drama is on the way. It was just announced that actor Dennis Quaid will star in AMC‘s new NASCAR-themed show “Thunder Road,” which has been green lit by AMC. Set to start production this summer, “Thunder Road” follows the multi-generational saga of the fictional Whitlock family, according to Variety:
“A multi-generational saga of the Whitlock family, whose legacy in stock car racing is as deep as the family’s ties to the southern hill country roots that shaped them.”
Quaid will star as driver Duane Whitlock, a.k.a. “The Wrecking Ball,” and described as a “legend” who has a legacy of not only racing stock cars for NASCAR, but running moonshine in the hill country. I’m assuming it will be set in the mountains of Western North Carolina, because that is where NASCAR started with legends like Junior Johnson running moonshine to evade cops during prohibition, but it could be anywhere in that region, really, in other places like South Carolina, Georgia and East Tennessee.
He is described as:
“A NASCAR legend and a towering figure who built a racing empire from a legacy of moonshine runs and dirt tracks… and refuses to let it die. This is a story about a blue collar dynasty at the edge of extinction — and the old king fighting to hold onto his crown.”
“Thunder Road” is being produced in association with NASCAR, and it will be the first time the sport has been portrayed in a long-form drama series like this, though of course, there are several movies that spotlight NASCAR including Tom Cruise’s 1990 “Days of Thunder,” the parody film (and one of my personal favorites), “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.”
More recently, Amazon Prime Video aired the 4-part documentary series Earnhardt, which explored the life, career, and complex family dynamics of NASCAR icon Dale Earnhardt Sr., which was produced in part by his children, former driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. as well as Kelly Earnhardt. That show in particular got a ton of buzz, and it was fantastic, so it’s cool to see the sport continuing to rise in popularity and show people that it’s not just a bunch of rednecks driving around in circles… okay, maybe it is, but it’s a lot cooler than it sounds, I promise.
John Fusco is the writer and executive producer on the series alongside Taylor Elmore, who serves as showrunner, Cliff Roberts, who exec produced Netflix’s Eric Bana, and Mark L. Smith, who co-created Untamed and is behind The Revenant, Twisters and Netflix series American Primeval. Tim Clark and John Dahl will exec produce for NASCAR with Gladys Cheng as producer.
Thunder Road is being spearheaded by Dan McDermott, Chief Content Officer of AMC Networks and President of AMC Studios.
Of course, Quaid is a highly-accomplished actor and a great casting for this kind of show, and there are tons of legacy families in NASCAR, and the Earnhardt’s and Petty’s come to mind first, but that’s just scratching the surface.
In addition, NASCAR has an incredibly unique and rich history, a truly down-home, grassroots beginning that turned into something incredible, and I hope they bring all of that into this depiction because it’s really never been done before and I think the history of how it all started is one of the coolest parts about professional stock car racing. Other casting, a release date and everything else is still to be announced, but this sounds like it has the makings to be really neat and I’m excited to see where they take it.
I feel like anything NASCAR-related can easily become really cheesy and outlandish, but with Quaid and so many other highly-accomplished professionals involved, hopefully that won’t be the case… it’s just, Hollywood and NASCAR doesn’t always mix on the big screen, but I’m hopeful this is going to be really legit
And speaking of the Earnhardt series, if you haven’t seen it yet… you’re missing out. You can check out the trailer below, but the whole series is already streaming on Prime Video.
