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SPEEDtv.com Reviewed: “Dare to Dream: The Alan Kulwicki Story”
Every movie doesn’t have to be “Citizen Kane.” Every RACING movie needn’t be “Grand Prix.” “Dare to Dream” doesn’t come close to either of these cinema classics. However, it is a must see …
Every movie doesn’t have to be “Citizen Kane.” Every RACING movie needn’t be “Grand Prix.” “Dare to Dream” doesn’t come close to either of these cinema classics. However, it is a must see … kind of like your son’s Little League games or your daughter’s gymnastics competitions. The acting may not be Oscar quality, but like in your child’s class play, you give the actors the respect they deserve and let them tell the story … and what an amazing story it is.
The movie begins with an Alan Kulwicki quote … ”If you don’t believe, you don’t belong.” After a quick montage of some of Alan’s race cars, we follow Brad Weber, portraying Kulwicki, as he prepares to board a flight in Knoxville … bound for Bristol, Tennessee … on April 1, 1993. Alan meets a young boy, clad in a “Mighty Mouse” shirt, playing with a die cast model of the No. 7 Hooter’s Thunderbird. The boy claims to know all the NASCAR drivers and their cars, but fails to recognize Alan who is wearing a Hooter’s jacket with his name on it. Suspend your disbelief! Alan autographs the boy’s car and boards the ill-fated plane.
We flash back to Slinger Speedway in Wisconsin. We meet “Deek,” one of Alan’s pit crew who tells Alan he would be a much better crew chief than driver … then quits. (Bryan Madson as Deke, has the strongest, most consistent performance in the film.) Through freeze frames, quick cuts and sound effects, we learn that Alan has been involved in an accident where another driver was killed. Alan received death threats as a result … and does the right thing … he attends the driver’s funeral and “faces the music.” Here Alan remembers funerals from his past -- his mother’s and brother’s.
With little family left to tie him to Wisconsin, Alan sells everything he owns for $20,000. He borrows a pickup truck, puts two engines and tools into his trailer and heads south to make it in NASCAR. He has no car, no sponsor, no crew and no place to stay. He calls Eddie Gossage, the PR director at Charlotte Motor Speedway -- from the speedway parking lot. Gossage arranges a place for Alan to stay. Alan finally arranges sponsorship from “ Quincy’s,” a steakhouse chain that provides Kulwicki with a shoestring budget. It’s enough to run one car nicknamed “Sirloin” for the entire season and the Rookie of the Year title. Quincy’s, however, drops its sponsorship.
“Zerex” comes on board in 1987 for a four-year run as primary sponsor. Paul Andrews joins the team as Crew Chief in 1988 and Kulwicki gets his first win at Phoenix that year. Junior Johnson calls Alan to join his superteam in 1990. It was “an offer he couldn’t refuse.” But Alan DID refuse. He wanted to do things “My Way” with his own team. At the end of 1990, Zerex bailed as a sponsor.
