Day at the Races Converts Some Unlikely Fans
Written by Nick Parker    Tuesday February 09, 2010
You won’t normally find a lot of video game journalists at a NASCAR event.  It just doesn’t happen.   And perhaps that is why our recent event hosted by Paramount Digital Entertainment (PDE) at the Toyota Speedway was so perfect; we immersed a bunch of video game journalists in a world that was very different from their own and in the process increased awareness for PDE’s upcoming title – Days of Thunder.

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“Days of Thunder” star Michael Rooker and B/HI’s Shannon McPhee just before the green flag drops at Toyota Speedway.

In between rounds of racing through a preview build of Days of Thunder, journalists and B/HI team members took turns touring the NASCAR teams’ garages, meeting drivers in the pit, chatting with “Days of Thunder” actor Michael Rooker – who played the salt-of-the-earth antihero Rowdy Burns in the iconic film — and driving around the track in the official pace car with Hall of Famer Brett Bodine behind the wheel.  Following the behind-the-scenes tour, PDE also arranged a screening of “Days of Thunder” projected on a 40-foot inflatable screen in the middle of the track. It was great to show the journalists that even 20 years after its theatrical release, “Days of Thunder” has maintained its cult popularity within the stock car community.


Then came the races.

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ESPN’s Aaron Boulding, B/HI’s Megan Kellett, Hall of Fame driver Brett Bodine and Stacy Miles and Nick Parker of B/HI pose in front of the NASCAR pace car after a high-octane lap around the track.

As the cars flew around the track, it was fun to watch as the skepticism of the game journalists slowly gave way to raw enthusiasm. It started with nervous gasps at near misses, and then caged hooting at screeching tires until it became just wild screams and high fives with strangers two rows down. The smoke and steel and hot rush of exhaust enchanted them all. I could only hear one thing over the roar of the engines:  “I love this!”


Since the races, the thing we’ve heard again and again was that the day at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale taught a lot of journalists about how to enjoy stock car racing.  Within a few hours they went from thinking of racing as a chiefly-Southern pastime, to appreciating its inherent speed, danger and adrenaline. Suddenly, they got it.


This is why people love racing.  This is why “Days of Thunder” is such an iconic film. This is why people drive hundreds of miles to see other drivers go in circles. This is why this game is important. Now, it all makes sense.

Click here for a video recap of the event.
 
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