''Stroker Ace'' is a 1983 American

action comedy The action comedy is a film genre that applies to action films where humor plays a much more central role. While early films feature stuntwork and humor, academic Cynthia King wrote that the genre only came into its own as a mainstay of the America ...

sport film directed by

Hal Needham Hal Brett Needham (March 6, 1931 – October 25, 2013) was an American Stunt performer, stuntman, film director, actor, writer, and NASCAR team owner. He is best known for his frequent collaborations with actor Burt Reynolds, usually in film ...

and starring

Burt Reynolds Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor most famous during the 1970s and 1980s. He became well known in television series such as ''Gunsmoke'' (1962–1965), '' Hawk'' (1966) and '' Dan Augus ...

as the eponymous Stroker Ace, a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

driver. Burt Reynolds turned down the role of astronaut Garrett Breedlove in ''

Terms of Endearment ''Terms of Endearment'' is a 1983 American family tragicomedy film directed, written, and produced by James L. Brooks, adapted from Larry McMurtry's 1975 novel. It stars Debra Winger, Shirley MacLaine, Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, Jeff D ...

'' to do this film. The role went to

Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. Nicholson is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of the 20th century, often playing rebels fighting against the social structure. Over his five-de ...

, who went on to win an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

. Reynolds said he made this decision because "I felt I owed Hal more than I owed Jim" but that it was a turning point in his career from which he never recovered. Although car-themed films starring Reynolds had all previously been successes – including four made with Needham – ''Stroker Ace'' flopped. "That's where I lost them," he later said of his fans.

Plot

Stroker Ace is a popular race car driver from

Waycross, Georgia Waycross is the county seat of and only incorporated city in Ware County in the U.S. state of Georgia. The population was 13,942 in the 2020 census. Waycross gets its name from the city's location at key railroad junctions; lines from six di ...

, and a three-time champion in the

NASCAR Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...

driving a #7

Ford Thunderbird The Ford Thunderbird is a personal luxury car manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company for model years 1955 to 2005, with a hiatus from 1998 to 2001. Ultimately gaining a broadly used colloquial nickname, the ''T-Bird'', Ford Introduce ...

. An all-or-nothing man, he wins if he does not crash. He is arrogant and pompous, with no regard for the business side of his racing team. He also has an on-track, season-long rivalry with ambitious young driver Aubrey James, who drives the #10 Four-Star Whiskey

Buick Regal The Buick Regal is a line of mid-size cars marketed by Buick since 1973. Serving as the premium mid-size/intermediate car of the Buick product range for nearly its entire production, the Regal initially served as the divisional counterpart of t ...

. When Stroker runs afoul of his current sponsor, Jim Catty of Zenon Oil, by dumping a load of wet concrete on him, he has to find a new one. Fried-chicken mogul Clyde Torkle, along with his chauffeur, Arnold, and newly appointed director of marketing and public relations, Pembrook Feeny, convince Stroker and his chief mechanic, Lugs Harvey, to sign up with him. Overlooking his contract by not reading its specifics, Stroker begins a new life as the commercial face for the Chicken Pit fast-food restaurants. (The slogan on Stroker's car reads: "The Fastest Chicken in the South.") His contract proves to stipulate that he must do personal appearances, which include dressing up in a chicken suit—feet included. Realizing that he is locked into a bad deal, Stroker devises a plan with Lugs to get out of it. Torkle is on to Stroker, though, and allows his antics because he sees the racer as his big ticket to regional fame by promoting the Chicken Pit franchise. A ladies' man, Stroker tries to seduce the beautiful Pembrook, who is a Sunday School teacher, does not drink, and is a virgin. She spurns all of his advances until he learns to respect her views. One night, after she gets drunk on champagne, he gets to remove her clothing but nothing happens. Stroker is winning races under the Chicken Pit sponsorship and is in the running for the season-ending championship. At the beginning of the final race, Torkle is offered a deal to sell his franchise for a huge profit, on the condition that he drops Stroker Ace as his driver. Torkle tells Stroker that if he wins the championship Torkle won't take the offer and Stroker has to sell chicken for the next two years; if he loses, he is out of the contract. During the race Stroker is at odds with himself. He drops back in the race in an effort to lose, but his ego won't let him so he quickly begins moving back through the pack. After a jack malfunction drops Stroker to 6th with time running out. Torkle, thinking that Stroker has no chance to win and with the offer to sell reaching the deadline, makes a public announcement that he is releasing Stroker immediately. He is unaware that Stroker is moving up through the field with a chance to win. With the news that he is free from the contract, Stroker wins the championship in spectacular fashion by flipping his car over as he crosses the finish line. Torkle then finds that the lucrative offer for his chicken franchise is a fake, cooked up by Stroker and his friends.

Cast

as Stroker Ace *

Ned Beatty Ned Thomas Beatty (July 6, 1937 – June 13, 2021) was an American actor. In a career that spanned five decades, he appeared in more than 160 film and television roles. Throughout his career, Beatty gained a reputation for being "the busiest ac ...

as Clyde Torkle * Jim Nabors as "Lugs" Harvey *

Parker Stevenson Richard Stevenson Parker Jr. (born June 4, 1952), known professionally as Parker Stevenson, is an American actor best known for playing Frank Hardy in the 1970s series '' The Hardy Boys'' and Craig Pomeroy on the 1990s series ''Baywatch''. Ea ...

as Aubrey James *

Loni Anderson Loni Anderson (born August 5, 1945) is an American actress. She played receptionist Jennifer Marlowe on the CBS sitcom ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' (1978–1982), which earned her three Golden Globe Awards and two Emmy Award nominations. Early life ...

as Pembrook Feeny * John Byner as "Doc" Seegle * Frank O. Hill as "Dad" Seegle *

Cassandra Peterson Cassandra Gay Peterson (born September 17, 1951) is an American actress best known for her portrayal of the horror hostess character Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Peterson gained fame on Los Angeles television station KHJ-TV in her stage pers ...

as Elvira * Bubba Smith as Arnold *

Warren Stevens Warren Albert Stevens (November 2, 1919 – March 27, 2012) was an American stage, screen, and television actor. Early life and career Stevens was born in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania and graduated from Clarks Summit High School.

as Jim Catty * Alfie Wise as Charlie * Cary Guffey as "Little Doc" *

Neil Bonnett Lawrence Neil Bonnett (July 30, 1946 – February 11, 1994) was an American NASCAR driver who compiled 18 victories and 20 poles over his 18-year career. Bonnett was a member of the Alabama Gang, and started his career with the help of Bobby a ...

as himself *

Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional Stock car racing, stock car driver and racing team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Serie ...

as himself *

Harry Gant Harold Phil Gant"Harry P. Gant"
(born January 10, 1940) is an American former

David Hobbs as himself *

Terry Labonte Terrance Lee Labonte (born November 16, 1956), nicknamed "Texas Terry" or "the Iceman", is an American former stock car racing, stock car driver. He raced from 1978 to 2014 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup and Sprint Cup Series (now called the NAS ...

as himself * Benny Parsons as himself *

Kyle Petty Kyle Eugene Petty (born June 2, 1960) is an American former stock car racing driver and current racing commentator. He is the son of racer Richard Petty, grandson of racer Lee Petty, and father of racer Adam Petty, who was killed in a crash duri ...

as himself *

Richard Petty Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed "the King", is an American former stock car racing driver who competed from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most nota ...

as himself *

Jerry Reed Jerry Reed Hubbard (March 20, 1937 – September 1, 2008), known professionally as Jerry Reed, was an American country singer, guitarist, composer, songwriter and actor who appeared in more than a dozen films. His signature songs included " Gui ...

as himself *

Tim Richmond Timothy Lee Richmond (June 7, 1955 – August 13, 1989) was an American race car driver from Ashland, Ohio. He competed in American Championship Car Racing, IndyCar racing before transferring to NASCAR's Winston Cup Series. Richmond was one o ...

as himself *

Ricky Rudd Richard Lee Rudd (born September 12, 1956), nicknamed "the Rooster", is an American former racing driver and racing team owner. He is the uncle of actor Skeet Ulrich and former NASCAR Busch Series driver Jason Rudd. He retired in 2007 with 23 ...

as himself * Linda Vaughn as herself *

Cale Yarborough William Caleb Yarborough (March 27, 1939 – December 31, 2023) was an American NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner, businessman, farmer, and rancher. He was the first driver in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships, winn ...

as himself * Ken Squier as himself * Chris Economaki as himself

Development

Novel

The film was adapted from the 1973 novel ''Stand on It'', an autobiography of fictional driver "Stroker Ace." The novel's joint authors, William Neely and Robert K. Ottum, based the book on actual events from the racing world but with their protagonist as the subject. The critic from the ''Chicago Tribune'' thought it "would do for stock car racing what... ''

Semi-Tough ''Semi-Tough'' is a 1977 American sports comedy film directed by Michael Ritchie and starring Burt Reynolds, Kris Kristofferson, Jill Clayburgh, Robert Preston, Lotte Lenya, and Bert Convy. It is set in the world of American professional fo ...

'' did for football." "How this one found its way between hard covers is a mystery," wrote ''The New York Times''.

Development

In 1977, Philip K. Feldman of First Artists Productions announced the company had bought the film rights to the novel to make a vehicle for

Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and activist. He was the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Paul Newman, numerous awards ...

. The following year,

Mort Sahl Morton Lyon Sahl (May 11, 1927 – October 26, 2021) was a Canadian-born American comedian, actor, and social Satire, satirist, considered the first modern comedian. He pioneered a style of social satire that pokes fun at political and current e ...

was reportedly writing a script. Producer Walter Wood read the novel in 1978 and decided it would make a film. "I see it as an innocent, unpretentious comedy," said Wood. "I just wanted it to be a slice of fun." "It was never my intention to make a 'racing film'," he added. "I wanted a light comedy and that's what I got. I also wanted Hal Needham to direct and Burt Reynolds to star and that's who I got. I knew that they'd know about the milieu and that they'd teach me. Those guys know the film's characters. Stroker is a composite." He got Hal Needham, who owned a NASCAR racing team with Reynolds, to direct. Needham got Burt Reynolds to star. "I didn't actually ask Burt if he'd like to do it," said Needham, "but when I was in New York I looked him up and told him how funny the script was. Two days later he called and said 'Needham, I want to do that film'. I hadn't been laying a trap for him. With his other commitments I just didn't see how he could do it but he pushed everything back to fit this one in." The actor's fee was reportedly $5 million. Finance came from Warners and Universal, which both owed Reynolds a film – Universal got domestic theatrical, Warners other domestic and foreign. The co-stars were Jim Nabors,

, and Bubba Smith, with appearances by many NASCAR drivers, such as:

Harry Gant Harold Phil Gant"Harry P. Gant"
(born January 10, 1940) is an American former

, Benny Parsons,

, and announcers Ken Squier, David Hobbs, and Chris Economaki. The film was Anderson's starring feature debut (she had a small role in '' Vigilante Force'' in 1975), although she was already well known through her appearances in ''

WKRP in Cincinnati ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' is an American sitcom television series about the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional AM radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson. It was based upon his experiences obs ...

'' and in TV movies.

Filming

''Stroker Ace'' was filmed in North Carolina Georgia, and Alabama at

Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009 due to sponsorship reasons) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Concord, North Carolina. It has hosted various major races since it ...

Talladega Superspeedway Talladega Superspeedway (Alabama International Motor Speedway from 1969 to 1989) is a tri-oval superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. Built in 1969, the track has hosted a variety of racing events, primarily races sanctioned by NASCAR. The track is ...

and the

Atlanta Motor Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway (currently known as EchoPark Speedway for sponsorship reasons, formerly known as the Atlanta International Raceway from 1960 to 1990) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Hampton, Georg ...

in Hampton, Georgia. "We wanted to make a very broad comedy and I was worried that the drivers might resent it when they saw it," Wood said. "But they loved the simplicity of it, so I'm off the hook as far as the racing is concerned." "If you like Burt Reynolds, you'll like this movie," the producer added. "It was made for his fans which, for a producer, is not a bad reason to make a movie. I've never been involved in so commercial a movie. I'm not really that financially-oriented. I always go for the subject. I've lost a couple of fortunes doing that. Making ''Stroker Ace'' was like being a kid and running away with the circus. But that's not my lifestyle."

Music

The music score was originally written by

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, and h ...

who said the film "when you’re scoring a film about race cars, you’re either playing Deep South

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

" and that the movie "had enough racing action to make the rockabilly tempo work. I got this incredible rockabilly ensemble together, and the director just hated our music! He fired all of us right after he heard the tape." However Cooder says he later used the music in his score for '' Streets of Fire''. The theme song was performed by

Charlie Daniels Charles Edward Daniels (October 28, 1936 – July 6, 2020) was an American singer, musician, and songwriter. His music fused rock, country, blues and jazz, and was a pioneering contribution to Southern rock and progressive country. He was ...

Reception

The film was a critical failure. It received five

Golden Raspberry Award The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic failures. Co-founded by University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John ...

nominations including Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Actress (Anderson) and Worst New Star (also for Anderson), winning one for Jim Nabors as Worst Supporting Actor.

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who was the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in 2000. ...

of ''The New York Times'' called it "the must-miss movie of the summer. It's a witless retread of the earlier, far funnier road-movie collaborations of Mr. Needham and Mr. Reynolds, especially of their two ''Smokey and the Bandit'' movies." Roger Ebert gave the film 1.5 stars out of four, and wrote: "To call the movie a lightweight, bubble-headed summer entertainment is not criticism but simply description." Gene Siskel gave the film zero stars out of four, writing: "Reynolds' reputation as a serious actor is virtually destroyed with this miserable picture. He's sending only one message here: Fans, I'm in it for the money. What other explanation is possible?" ''Variety'' wrote that the Reynolds-Needham team were "just coasting in circles, trying to pick up whatever prize money might be attracted by their track record." Sheila Benson of the ''Los Angeles Times'' described Reynolds as "ambling through the movie as though it were a colossal in-joke, which, of course, it must be, since it isn't perceptibly funny to anyone outside Reynolds and Needham's immediate circle." Gary Arnold was somewhat more positive, calling it "a knuckleheaded but amiable summer trifle." Wood said: "For the past five years, Burt has been No. 1 at the box office, and during that period, there has seldom been a good review of anything he's done." However the film was a major commercial disappointment. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has a 19% approval rating based on 16 reviews, with an average rating of 3.5/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a score of 30% based on reviews from five critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

Legacy

For the 2019 Bojangles' Southern 500, Rick Ware Racing used Stroker Ace's No. 7 car as the basis for their No. 51 car's throwback paint scheme for driver BJ McLeod. Spire Motorsports used a Stroker Ace scheme for their No. 7 car driven by Corey LaJoie for the 2021 Hollywood Casino 400 as well as Justin Haley driving a replica throwback scheme honoring Aubrey James' paint scheme.

References

External links

* * * * {{Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor 1983 films 1983 action comedy films 1983 romantic comedy films 1980s sports comedy films American action comedy films American auto racing films American romantic comedy films American screwball comedy films American sports comedy films Ace, Stroker Ace, Stroker Ace, Stroker Ace, Stroker Ace, Stroker Films based on American novels Films directed by Hal Needham Films shot in North Carolina Films with screenplays by Hugh Wilson (director) Golden Raspberry Award–winning films NASCAR mass media Universal Pictures films Warner Bros. films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films English-language action comedy films English-language romantic comedy films English-language sports comedy films