''Speedway Junky'' is a 1999 American

crime drama film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as drama or gangster film, but al ...

written and directed by Nickolas Perry and starring

Jesse Bradford Jesse Bradford Watrouse (born May 28, 1979), known professionally as Jesse Bradford, is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor at age five and received two Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film nomina ...

, Jordan Brower,

Jonathan Taylor Thomas Jonathan Taylor Thomas (; born September 8, 1981) is an American actor and director. He is known for portraying Randy Taylor on ''Home Improvement'' and voicing young Simba in Disney's 1994 animated feature film ''The Lion King'' and Pinocchio ...

and

Daryl Hannah Daryl Hannah (born December 3, 1960) is an American actress and environmental activist. She made her film debut in Brian De Palma's supernatural horror film ''The Fury (1978 film), The Fury'' (1978). She has starred in various films across the ...

Plot

The film stars

as Johnny, a young man with dreams of becoming a

stock car racer Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses. It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It originated in the souther ...

. After he loses all of his money and possessions in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, he drifts into the world of

hustling Hustling is the deceptive act of disguising one's skill in a sport or game with the intent of luring someone of probably lesser skill into gambling (or gambling for higher than current stakes) with the hustler, as a form of both a confidence tri ...

, in the hope of making enough money to travel to Charlotte, North Carolina to join the car racing industry. He meets Eric ( Jordan Brower), a

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

hustler, who finds himself falling for Johnny.

also stars as Steve, a

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

hustler, and

plays Veronica, a former

showgirl A showgirl is a female performer in a theatrical revue who wears an exotic and revealing costume and in some shows may appear topless. Showgirls are usually dancers, sometimes performing as chorus girls, burlesque dancers or fan dancers, and ...

and

prostitute Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-pe ...

who has served as a surrogate mother figure for Eric since his own mother died. Other than Veronica, the only thing Eric has to remind him of his mother is a silver dollar she gave him that he carries for good luck. Eric falls deeply in love with Johnny, and is saddened that his love will remain unrequited. Eric finds out that Johnny is a virgin and really wants to have sex with a woman, so Eric asks Veronica to have sex with Johnny. Under the guidance of Eric and with tips from Steve, Johnny slowly becomes a good hustler. Steve then asks Johnny to join him in entertaining some gay clients for a potentially large payment. Johnny refuses because it is Eric's birthday, much to the annoyance of Steve, who really needs the money from the clients who will only pay if both Steve and Johnny arrive. When Eric remains sombre, Johnny questions him, they argue, and Eric finally confesses his love for Johnny. Johnny tells Eric that he really cares for Eric too because Eric has been the best friend that he has ever had, and asks Eric to move with him to Charlotte. Delighted to find out that Johnny really cares for him, Eric agrees. J.T., a sociopathic

drug dealer A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestio ...

, tosses Johnny a package while running from the police. It contains

crack cocaine Crack cocaine, commonly known simply as crack, and also known as rock, is a free base form of the stimulant cocaine that can be Smoking, smoked. Crack offers a short, intense Euphoria (emotion), high to smokers. The ''Manual of Adolescent Sub ...

and cash. Steve finds it in their place and steals it. When J.T. shows up looking for it, it's missing. J.T. holds Johnny hostage while Eric looks for Steve. Steve refuses to return the cash and the drugs, so Eric heads to Veronica's place. There he steals the gun belonging to her police officer boyfriend and heads home. J.T. is playing

William Tell William Tell (, ; ; ; ) is a legendary folk hero of Switzerland. He is known for shooting an apple off his son's head. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albrecht Gessler, ...

with Johnny, shooting a can of

tomato soup Tomato soup is a soup with tomatoes as the primary ingredient. It can be served hot or cold, and may be made in a variety of ways. It may be smooth in texture, and there are also recipes that include chunks of tomato, cream, chicken or vegetabl ...

off his head. Eric comes in and thinks Johnny's been shot. He gets into a gun battle with J.T., killing him. Johnny and Eric flee but Eric realizes he's been shot. Eric dies in Johnny's arms, giving Johnny his lucky silver dollar. At the bus station, Johnny puts the dollar in a

slot machine A slot machine, fruit machine (British English), poker machine or pokie (Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. A slot machine's standard layout features a screen disp ...

and hits a jackpot. He buys a bus ticket and leaves town. A year later, Veronica is working as a cocktail waitress. She glances up at a television and sees Johnny. He's a member of a pit crew, having taken a step toward realizing his dream.

Cast

as Johnny * Jordan Brower as Eric *

as Steve *

as Veronica *

Tiffani Thiessen Tiffani Amber Thiessen (born January 23, 1974) is an American actress. Her roles as List of Saved by the Bell characters#Kelly Kapowski, Kelly Kapowski on NBC's ''Saved by the Bell'' (1989–1993) and its Saved by the Bell#Spin-offs, spin-off me ...

as Wilma Price *

Patsy Kensit Patricia Jude Francis Kensit (born 4 March 1968) is an English actress and singer. Beginning her career as a child actor, Kensit gained attention when she acted in a string of commercials for Birds Eye frozen peas. She went on to appear in films ...

as Donna * Justin Urich as Scooby *

Adrienne Frantz Adrienne Danielle Frantz (born June 7, 1978) is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She appeared as Amber Moore in ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (1997–2005, 2010–2012) and ''The Young and the Restless'' (2006–2010, 2013). Career ...

as Kelley * Patrick Renna as Bud * Erik Alexander Gavica as Jason "J.T." Torres * Timothy McNeil as Russel *

Warren G Warren Griffin III (born November 10, 1970) is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and DJ who helped popularize West Coast hip hop during the 1990s.Steve Huey"Warren G: Biography" ''AllMusic.com'', Netaktion LLC, visited May 8, 2020. ...

as Brentley Shaw *

Milo Ventimiglia Milo Anthony Ventimiglia ( ; born July 8, 1977) is an American actor. Making his screen acting debut on '' The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' in 1995, he portrayed the lead role on the short-lived series '' Opposite Sex'' in 2000 before landing his br ...

as Travis * Richard Balin as Ticket Man * Jaime Bergman as Bombshell #1

Production

''Speedway Junky'' was filmed in 1998 and screened at indie festivals. However, it did not get a theatrical release until 2001 due to struggles with finding a distributor.Hensley, Dennis
"Speedway to Stardom"
"The Advocate", 5 June 2001

References

External links

* * {{Rotten Tomatoes, speedway_junky 1999 films 1999 LGBTQ-related films American LGBTQ-related films American auto racing films American crime drama films Films about male prostitution in the United States Films produced by Randall Emmett Films set in the Las Vegas Valley Films about male bisexuality 1990s English-language films Films directed by Nickolas Perry 1990s American films 1999 crime drama films LGBTQ-related crime drama films English-language crime drama films