By Bob Baker
KNOXVILLE, IOWA (March 26, 2013) – The “Sprint Car Capital of the World” comes to life on April 5-7 as the National Sprint Car Museum hosts the fifteenth annual International Reel Wheel Film Festival, which celebrates the automobile and motorsports in film. Amongst the documentaries being screened that weekend are Michael Hamm’s & Kerrie Long’s “The Greatest Auto Race on Earth.” Curt Wallin’s “Boys of Bonneville: Racing on a Ribbon of Salt,” Sean Buckley’s “Follow the Corn III: (Jesse) Hockett Memorial Weekend,” and Mike Thompson’s “Faded Thunder: The Clarence ‘Mutt’ Anderson Story” and “Faded Thunder: The Amazing Mr. (Jim) Welty.”
According to museum curator Tom Schmeh, “We are truly excited to be screening five motorsports-related documentaries this year. Both ‘The Greatest Auto Race on Earth’ from 2008 and ‘Boys of Bonneville: Racing on a Ribbon of Salt’ from 2011 have been screened at other indie film fests in the past, while ‘Follow the Corn III’ and the ‘Faded Thunder’ duo, were completed just last year and are basically new films on the circuit.”
The fifteenth annual International Reel Wheel Film Festival (IRWFF) tentative event schedule is as follows:
Friday, April 5
5 p.m. – “Follow the Corn” documentary (2010) by Sean Buckley
– Inside the world of Indiana sprint car racing (66 minutes).
6:15 p.m. – “Follow the Corn 2: Next Level” documentary (2011) by Sean Buckley
– Inside the world of sprint car and midget car racing with drivers such as Hunter Schuerenberg, Daron Clayton, Levi Jones, Bryan Clauson and Kyle Larson (117 minutes).
8:15 p.m. – “Follow the Corn 3: (Jesse) Hockett Memorial Weekend” documentary (2012) by Sean Buckley
– A visit to the Hockett home in Warsaw, Missouri, spending the entire weekend with Jesse’s father Jack and his two hired guns Casey Shuman and Brady Bacon (50 minutes).
Saturday, April 6
1 p.m. – “Faded Thunder: The Amazing (Jim) Welty” documentary (2012) by Mike Thompson
– Fairborn, Ohio’s Jim Welty spent almost thirty years as a high school science teacher, but still found time to pursue racing efforts in MARC, ARCA and USAC stok cars (60 minutes).
2 p.m. – “Faded Thunder: The Clarence ‘Mutt’ Anderson Story” documentary (2012) by Mike Thompson
– The story of the Xenia, Ohio, driver and United States Auto Club (USAC) owner/ mechanic who earned admittance into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame (60 minutes).
3 p.m. – “The Greatest Auto Race on Earth” documentary (2008) by Michael Hamm & Kerrie Long
– The story of the brave men who participated in the famed 1908 New York to Paris automobile race (95 minutes).
4:45 p.m. – “Boys of Bonneville: Racing on a Ribbon of Salt” documentary (2011) by Curt Wallin
– This documentary offers a wealth of archival footage of David Abbott “Ab” Jenkins who set several land-speed records with vehicles he would personally tinker with and then drive over the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah (81 min.).
Sunday, April 7
12 Noon – “Follow the Corn 3: (Jesse) Hockett Memorial Weekend” documentary (2012) by Sean Buckley (encore presentation).
1:15 p.m. – “Faded Thunder: The Amazing (Jim) Welty” documentary (2012) by Mike Thompson (encore presentation).
2:15 p.m. – “Faded Thunder: The Clarence ‘Mutt’ Anderson Story” documentary (2012) by Mike Thompson (encore presentation).
3:15 p.m. – “The Greatest Auto Race on Earth” documentary (2008) by Michael Hamm & Kerrie Long (encore presentation).
5 p.m. – “Boys of Bonneville: Racing on a Ribbon of Salt” documentary (2011) by Curt Wallin (encore presentation).
The cost for each day of the International Reel Wheel Film Festival is just the price of a museum admission (i.e. – four dollars per adult). Those individuals interested in the fifteen annual International Reel Wheel Film Festival are encouraged to visit the museum’s web site at www.sprintcarhof.com.