zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
IndyCar Scenes In Focus Are Satisfyingly Cheaterlicious And Realistic
IndyCar Scenes In Focus Are Satisfyingly Cheaterlicious And Realistic-October 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:11:44

What better place to set a movie about a con man's biggest stunt than in racing, where you know that everyone's trying to bend every rule possible to eke out an advantage, anyway? That's what they're doing with the new Will Smith movie Focus, and it looks like it works. Best of all, actual IndyCars will appear in the film.

With several notable exceptions, fictional racing in movies tends to shoot pretty far off the mark, with scenes like the in Iron Man 2 where the cars looked more like IndyCars and the firesuits were bizarrely muscular. Sometimes they go full steam ahead into fantasyland, like the hypersexualized F1 dreamworld of David Guetta's "" music video (which had the full blessing of the Lotus F1 team, hilariously enough).

C'mon, Guetta. Everyone knows this kind of thing is more NASCAR's speed.

So, to avoid the Guetta Trap of unbelievable racing footage, the new film Focus enlisted IndyCar to help add some authenticity not only to its plot, but to its racing scenes as well. IndyCar released a behind-the-scenes short for the movie that shows IndyCars rigged up with all kinds of camera equipment, and it looks fantastic.

Realistic and believable, even.

According to , many of the scenes were filmed at NOLA Motorsports Park, one of the circuits on this year's IndyCar schedule. Drivers Bryan Herta and Carlos Munoz helped shoot the racing scenes.

"Obviously, movie driving is a little different than racing, but it was still good to get out there and feel the downforce, the power and all those sensations again," Herta told . "I think the contract said we couldn't go over 100 mph. I'm not going to say we didn't, though."

Driver and team owner Ed Carpenter is excited about getting IndyCar in front of new audiences.

"Whether you want to talk about IndyCar racing or motor racing in general, it's a pretty segmented demographic," Carpenter explained to . "It's nice to cross over into pop culture a little more and open up the sport to a new audience."

This is the kind of thing I was on Media Day. This whole business of getting IndyCar in front of new eyeballs. This, this, this.

I'll take it whenever it comes up, though. Better late than never.

Besides, if Will Smith gets punched in the face in this movie, it must be worth a watch...right? (We're still not over "Gettin' Jiggy With It," dude.)

Focus premieres today.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
Local Businesses Want Compensation After Allegedly Losing Money During Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix
Local Businesses Want Compensation After Allegedly Losing Money During Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix
If you listen to Formula 1 or local officials from Las Vegas and Clark County, you’d probably think November’s inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix was a success. Some sources estimated that the city of Las Vegas made over $1 billion in revenue from the event — but there were...
Oct 27, 2024
Get Ready To Spend All Your Money On Retro Formula 1 Merch
Get Ready To Spend All Your Money On Retro Formula 1 Merch
Fellow nerds, get ready to open your wallets, because I’ve found what may be the greatest store of all time. With designs from Formula 1 teams like , you’re sure to find something that fits your particular nostalgic niche. I’d like to introduce you to Racing Retro. I first...
Oct 27, 2024
You've Probably Never Heard Of The Coolest Canadian Car Ever Built
You've Probably Never Heard Of The Coolest Canadian Car Ever Built
Name a car from the early 1960s built by a famed racing driver with curvy, lightweight aluminum bodywork, a big American engine, and a reputation for being unruly and fast as all hell. Your first thought was probably the famed Shelby Cobra, did you know there was a who...
Oct 27, 2024
Listen To In-Car Audio From Race Cars While You Work
Listen To In-Car Audio From Race Cars While You Work
If you follow racing in the U.S., you probably already know about the . Most of the episodes are too much of a distraction to put on as background noise while you work, but a couple of recent entries in his series have been working incredibly well for me....
Oct 27, 2024
After Delivering 8 Seasons At The Back Of The Grid, Haas F1 Team Dumps Guenther Steiner
After Delivering 8 Seasons At The Back Of The Grid, Haas F1 Team Dumps Guenther Steiner
The partially North Carolina-based squad has determined that after , it needs to mix things up a little. The team’s firebrand has been following an abysmal 2023 season which saw the team score just four points-paying finishes. The team’s , where scored a fourth-place finish, but that season too...
Oct 27, 2024
Race Team Would Rather Create A Fake AI Woman Rather Than Hire A Real One
Race Team Would Rather Create A Fake AI Woman Rather Than Hire A Real One
In another unsurprising example of motorsport’s inhospitable mindset toward hiring competent women, the Racing team has announced a new partnership with Ava Rose, a literal , who will... engage with fans? Share knowledge about technology? “Navigate the cutting edge of innovation to create positive change” (whatever that means)? I...
Oct 27, 2024
Copyright 2023-2024 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved