Godfather Star James Caan Revealed Why He Took the Lead Role in Infamous NASCAR Movie

Earlier, there was a spot of tragedy when news broke of actor James Caan’s passing away. The actor is best known for playing Sonny Corleone in the original Godfather movie. However, he helmed several other projects in his career and one of them was even NASCAR-themed. On the down-side, it was a pretty infamous movie called Red Line 7000 and it came out in 1965.

As it turned out, it was so bad that NASCAR driver Curtis Turner led a walkout on the red carpet. According to reports, he exclaimed to Tiny Lund, “Goddamn it, this is terrible! Tiny, let’s get the hell out of here!”. However, Caan did not mind the role at all. He said once, “I was 24. No one took that gig expecting to win any Oscars. They paid me in actual dollars to pretend to be a race car driver and to make out with and dance with beautiful girls. Pretty sure you’d sign on for that right now, wouldn’t you?”.

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What role did James Caan play in the NASCAR movie?

As it turned out, Caan played the role of NASCAR driver Mike Marsh. The movie also featured appearances from classic cars like the 1965 Shelby GT-350, a Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe, and more. 1962 Southern 500 winner Larry Frank was a consultant for the film and even consented to mounting cameras on his car. As for the NASCAR tracks, the Daytona International Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Darlington Raceway were heavily featured.

Caan later confessed that the film was a ‘joke’, and director Howard Hawks didn’t like it either. That sentiment was definitely shared by drivers like Curtis Turner, Tiny Lund and many more. Though if we’re being honest, staging a walkout was a little too extreme. So, one had to wonder if the movie was that bad that real life NASCAR drivers hated it?

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