STUDIO: A&E
RELEASE DATE: May 27, 2008
FEATURES: NASCAR R&D Tour
Sadler's Wild Ride: Anatomy of a Crash
Exclusive PC/MAC Wallpapers

When it comes to (motor)sports on DVD, no other organization does it better than NASCAR. It’s that simple. I used to be a huge fan of Indy and Formula 1, and still am to a large degree, but no other racing league caters to its fan base better than NASCAR. Although it might seem like the popularity of NASCAR has exploded in recent years, the evolution of the southern-fried motorsport has been evolving since the first set of stock car wheels hit the sand at Daytona Beach back in the 1920s. When you look back through the decades, NASCAR has been embryonic almost like no other sport. When huge corporate sponsors jumped on board back in the early 1970s and when CBS televised the first start-to-finish Daytona 500 in 1979, NASCAR was destined for mainstream greatness. When NASCAR executives got together sometime over the past 15 years to shape the sport’s future, what they came up with is nothing short of marketing genius. 30 years after that first flag-to-flag broadcast of Daytona, NASCAR is one of the best thrill rides on the planet. And the greatest thing about the sport in the home entertainment market: if you’re not a fan, you probably will be after checking out Full Throttle Adrenaline: Volumes One and Two since it’s as equally educational as it is entertaining.

Back in 2006, I got the chance to interview NASCAR legend Richard Petty twice before the Coca Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina. Although Petty is widely considered to be the greatest NASCAR driver of all time, the amazing thing about him (and almost every driver) is that he’s just a common, grounded guy like the rest of us. Interviewing Richard Petty is a lot like talking to an old friend while working on your car in the driveway. The beauty of Full Throttle Adrenaline is that not only do you get to see a ton of heart-pounding high-speed action from all eras of NASCAR, but both volumes provide a wealth of candid insight into the personal lives of the drivers, as men, fathers, and average guys inside an over-the-top, full throttle world. Sure the drivers are huge celebrities in the racing world, but you’ll never ever know it by talking to them or listening to their stories. NASCAR is as much about being humble as it is about being a winner.

While Volume One sets the pace with an explosive feature presentation highlight pack from all eras of NASCAR that includes "Photo Finishes", "Hard Hits", "Wild Rides", "The Big One (multi-car crashes)", "Pit Road Intensity", "Victory Lane", and more, Volume Two gets underneath the sport with personal segments that focus on the "Lifestyle", "The Fire of Competition", "The Racing Fraternity", "A Different Kind of Athlete", "It Consumes Me", "Winning" and other aspects of the sport from the perspective of almost everyone involved.

If you still don’t know how NASCAR functions on a day-to-day level and the challenges that befall everyone as they race to victory lane, owners, executives, crew chiefs, pit crew members and such drivers as Casey Mears, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Michael Waltrip, Jeff Gordon, Elliott Sadler, Boris Said, Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Greg Biffle and more share their personal thoughts on everything from the challenges of travel and business to sponsorship, managing their careers, performance, and balancing family. Between both volumes, fans get the perfect blend of explosive action and what it’s like to live on the elite levels of NASCAR, complete with footage of the sport’s most famous and notorious moments, crashes, and drivers.

Although both feature presentations provide more than enough adrenaline to satisfy hardcore and casual fans alike, Volume One houses the best bonus bang for your NASCAR buck, as the disc offers up two educational and enthralling extras. The first, "NASCAR R&D Center Tour" serves up a detailed walkthrough tour of the massive Research and Development facility located in North Carolina. In this comprehensive segment, fans get an inside look at not only NASCAR’s remarkable research headquarters but how the sport continues to evolve through technology and science. From how NASCAR makes and deploys their restrictor plates, fabrication and "The Greenhouse", and the ongoing challenges to improve aerodynamics to safety, protecting the integrity of the sport, and how ideas are generated, the "R&D" feature is a must see for all NASCAR fans. Even if you’re not a fan, after watching this one, there’s no way you can’t respect what goes into the sport.

Next up is "Sadler’s Wild Ride," which breaks down Elliott Sadler’s famous 2003 crash at Talladega Speedway in "Anatomy of a Crash". Aided by video footage from the incident, Sadler himself gives a second-by-second, blow-by-blow breakdown of the crash, elaborating on what he was thinking, how it all started, the science of the event, and the aftermath. If you want to know what goes through a driver’s head when a car flips over and again through the air, here it is. The only extra to be had on Volume Two is a ROM bonus that allows you to download various NASCAR wallpapers. Nice option, but it’s easier just to surf your way to NASCAR.com.

The only downside (if you can call it that) to most NASCAR DVDs is that many feel like extended commercials for the sport at large. You can certainly look at it as a downside; it just depends on your taste as a fan. But when the commercials are of such high quality, so masterfully produced from a technical standpoint, and more eye-poppingly entertaining than most DVDs on the market, it’s hard to find fault with the NASCAR home entertainment product. The fact that Full Throttle Adrenaline is as much a plug for NASCAR as it is for racing, the drivers, the tracks, and the experience, is what continues to draw new fans to sport. After watching any NASCAR DVD, you usually walk away feeling like you’re as much a part of the NASCAR experience as the drivers, their crews, the owners, and sponsors. It really is a testament to how well NASCAR treats its fan base and how the organization markets the sport to almost flawless perfection. If you don’t have time to watch the actual races, Full Throttle Adrenaline will more than make up for lost track time.