Based on the book Red Dirt Tracks: The Forgotten Heroes of Early Stockcar Racing by Gail Cauble Gurley, Red Dirt Rising depicts the life and times of race car driver Jimmy Lewallen (Brad Yoder) and his friends during the birth of stock car racing and just before the inception of NASCAR. The film spans the 1930s and 40s, following Jimmy from poverty, where he’s running moonshine, to a family man on the cusp of success.

Jimmy and his friends, especially Bill Blair (Burgess Jenkins) inadvertently become the heroes of early stock car racing by way of making a faster getaway car for the moonshine business they are a part of. There are some fun early race scenes in this coming of age flick, while Jimmy’s early years are also fraught with financial struggles, and a domineering and angry father, until he meets his wife to be Carrie James (Ashlee Payne), and they start a family of their own. However, back from the war, it isn’t long before Jimmy struggles with being torn between family obligations that require him to not take dangerous risks and his love of racing, where all of his burdens disappear on the track.

When a good friend dies in a race, everyone is sobered by the notion that this could happen to them, which puts further strain on Jimmy’s marriage and requires him to make some tough decisions. This quiet little film about a slice of American history is more about friendship and commitment than victory and success. However, the missed opportunity is suggested in the end when Jimmy makes some choices that will impact his life forever.

The Dove Take

Red Dirt Rising is a captivating dramatization of the value of family and friendship cloaked in a narrative about the birth of NASCAR, and the young men who made it possible.