"The Daytona 500" movie remake underway

Lights, camera, action at Daytona International Speedway; filming continues on "The DAYTONA 500" Movie

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., (May 14, 2002) -- Daytona International Speedway has been turned into a movie set this week as Mentor Films completes the filming of the remake of "The DAYTONA 500."

Mentor Films, which did a good portion of its filming during Speedweeks 2002, will have "The DAYTONA 500" completed in time for its debut during Speedweeks 2003 in the Pepsi Theater at DAYTONA USA.

This week at the "World Center of Racing," Mentor Films has been filming on-track racing as well as an in-depth pit stop sequence with the No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet fielded by Richard Childress Racing.

In addition to the No. 29, cars on loan by team for the filming include the No. 88 UPS Ford, the No. 24 DuPont Automotive Finishes Chevrolet, the No. 40 Coors Light Dodge, the No. 19 Dodge, the No. 10 Valvoline Pontiac, No. 20 Home Depot Pontiac and the No. 21 Motorcraft Ford

Morgan Shepherd is among the stunt drivers participating in this week's filming. He's wheeling the No. 21 Motorcraft Ford for the famed Wood Brothers. Shepherd, who drove for the Wood Brothers between 1992-95 and picked up a NASCAR Winston Cup victory, enjoys being back in the driver's seat of the No. 21 at Daytona.

But this time instead of listening to a crew chief, Shepherd has to listen to the director's instructions.

"Pace ourselves. Everybody stay together. Don't run over the cameras," Shepherd said about the film crew's instructions. "They want you to just stay in formation so they can get their shots. It's not like racing. It's more fun to beat and bang a little bit. When I get in the car, I think you've got to push somebody. They won't let us do that."

"The DAYTONA 500" movie gives the race fan the ultimate Daytona 500 experience as they watch favorite drivers and teams prepare for the Daytona 500 and find out what winning and losing the "Great American Race" is like for some of the greatest drivers in the world.

"The DAYTONA 500" is a large-screen format film presented on a screen 55 feet wide and almost three stories tall. With such a large screen, the fan can feel as if they're in the driver's seat. The film also runs at 48 frames per second - twice as fast as standard movie theater presentations - for a remarkably clear picture and add to that DAYTONA USA's exclusive ThunderRound®-Sound.

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