Crash! Crash! Crash!

We tend to be a bit leery of film (or book) titles that use exclamation marks. It feels like they are trying a little too hard to get our attention. And yet, all is forgiven if there is an exclamatory result. Crash! Crash! Crash! is a documentary with solid production values, a well-organized and written narration and—oh, yes—crashes, crashes, crashes.

There’s no shortage of DVDs with racing crashes, some of them very entertaining. But often, the tapes feature film from amateurs who just happened to be in the right spot at the right time, clipped together with little or no cohesive effort. Until recent times, Dick Wallen Productions was about the only solid and reliable producer of independent “documentaries” of racing, specifically open wheel, although we like Dale Snyder’s efforts, too.

Crash! Crash! Crash! would be especially good for the new fan or the stock car fan curious about the open wheel appeal. There’s more detail than the existing open cockpit racing fan needs, but it’s accurate and well-done. Interesting narration is solidified by having several real USAC racers provide detail, most notably and effectively, Dan Drinan, an exceptionally articulate racer who’s survived wrecks that should have killed him, and the legendary Jack Hewitt, yet another survivor who’s also adored by generations of fans.

The wrecks are grouped together with the narration into seamless segments. For example, the film explains (and shows) the difference between various types of wrecks, from the self-inflicted to the Tommy Tipover to the bicycle and more. Drivers not only explain their worst wrecks, it’s often with the actual wreck unfolding on the screen.

Although this is about sprints and midgets, it’s really nearly all focused on wingless USAC sprints and midgets in the Midwest, with a few Silver Crown (dirt champ) cars and winged sprints. Since professional film makers have been filming USAC for years, it means the quality of the film (and a welcome lack of jerkiness) is first-rate.

It’s short. It’s well-done. It’s worth an hour of any rainout, but watch with friends and family so you can ooh-and-aah together when the helmet comes off, or the car clears the fence and sends spectators fleeing, or you wonder how they survived a bounce that hard and high.

Type of Racing: Primarily wingless sprints and midgets

Tracks: Many different Midwestern tracks, especially dirt

Reel Racers: None

Real Racers: Speaking: Dan Drinan, Jack Hewitt, Brian Gerstner, Sondi Eaton, Robbie Rice, Johnny Parsons Jr., Corey Smith and Ricky Shelton

Year of Release: 2000

DVD Length: 51 minutes

Approx. On-Track: Nearly all

Color/B&W: Color

Watch for:

. . . Drinan offers insight that he gave up midgets when he realized that he had far more incidents and injuries in them because things happened too fast to deal with.

. . . “There’s no such thing as an easy crash.” Jack Hewitt. (And if anybody should know…)

. . . Rice talking about a wreck after a checkered flag when everything was so quiet “…I could hear the wind.”

. . . Obviously, these folks know racing. They show a few post-flip fights and remark on how important it is to leave on your helmet if you get into the fisticuffs.

. . . Hewitt again, “People say you were lucky to miss a bad wreck, but it is luck. We probably have our eyes closed just like the people in the stands.”