If you’ve tried to get your wife, girlfriend, or anyone else to go to the dirt track with you but they have resisted because of the noise and the dust, there is now another way in which you can help them experience the sights and sounds of the sport you love without the need for old shoes or protective glasses. A movie set to premiere on May 19th offers up a powerful message of the need for each of us to forgive, and it does so against a backdrop of the highly intense and emotion-filled sport of Dirt Late Model racing.
Champion tells the story of two men who have their lives pulled together in an unexpected way after an unfortunate incident on a dirt track. Intertwined throughout the film is the Christian-based message of the importance of forgiveness and the redemptive power of God’s love and caring.
Sean Weathers is a driver who seems to have everything going his way until a mistake made while racing against his biggest rival changes his life forever. Jack Reed is a successful businessman who has come to realize that the things he ignored on his way to the top of the financial world were more important than all that he has achieved in his career.
The two men find their very different lives colliding and each is put on the path of reconciliation in a movie that offers a couple of unexpected plot twists along the way.
Dirt racing fans will note some familiar settings as the Dixie Speedway and the Rome Speedway in Georgia were used extensively in the filming of the movie. Also, there is a significant presence for Capital Race Cars with plenty of in-focus screen time for that chassis builder.
While it is easy for ardent fans of the sport to pick apart things like the use of two-way communication between drivers and crew members during a race and the fact that many of the racing scenes are shot during daylight hours, the film is, for the most part, true to the nature of the sport.
Champion is an inspiring film that provides something for the movie goer who craves action as well as the viewer who enjoys feeling deep emotions with the characters. At the same time, the Christ-centered message of forgiveness is delivered in an unmistakable and thoughtful way.
*Note: Although protective glasses and old shoes may not be a necessity for the movie, one character does come to realize the importance of not wearing his best shoes to the race track.
