View Dare to Dream
“Dare to Dream: The Alan Kulwicki Story”
DDI Films
DVD
Review by Gregg Leary
Category:NASCAR -> Sprint Cup
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 racecars we follow Brad Weber, portraying Kulwicki as he prepares to board a flight in Knoxville…bound for Bristol, Tennessee…on April 1st, 1993. Alan meets a young boy, clad in a “Mighty Mouse” shirt, playing with a die cast model of the #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…who 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…to the Rookie of the Year Title. Quincy’s, however, drops their 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.
Alan went to Daytona in 1991 without a sponsor. Humpy Wheeler arranged a one race deal with U.S. Army sponsorship to honor the Desert Storm soldiers at the Daytona 500. Alan ran out of his own pocket the next two races. At Atlanta he secured sponsorship from HOOTER’S…and put them on the pole. At the end of the next season, Kulwicki would win the Winston Cup Championship at that very track in what is arguably the most exciting championship finale in racing history.
“Dare to Dream” is an uneven film to say the least. Brad Weber, who grew up in Wisconsin, looks and talks much like Alan Kulwicki and nailed some of Alan’s mannerisms. At times he churns up some real emotion…other times things get ugly. In a restaurant meeting with sponsor, Terry Jeffords, Weber seems to be reading his lines off the tabletop or the menu. A scrambled egg joke doesn’t work because the set up for the joke doesn’t happen until the END of the movie. It’s a shame this scene was not redone, but I guess it does add to the charm and low budget feel of the production. Look for a cameo by Nextel Cup driver Travis Kvapil as a part-time crew member for Alan. You’ll smile at the shock absorber joke Kyle Petty plays on Alan. (You’ll also laugh at the actor who plays Kyle Petty. He looks like a cross between Weird Al Yankovic and Yanni, but plays his part well.) The Special Features are worth a look. The Kulwicki/Rusty Wallace Zerex commercial bloopers are a hoot. Kyle Petty’s tribute to Alan at the Hall of Fame banquet is excellent. Kyle compared Alan to his dad, Richard Petty as “the most focused individual” in racing and “as great a human being as anyone would ever meet.”
Although “Dare to Dream” receives only 3 out of 5 lug nuts, I highly recommend you add it to your racing library of DVDs. For less than $20 you can learn the story of the man who took Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” to heart and made it the theme song of his life.