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The Quarter Mile Foundation is working to create a 25 episode documentary about drag racing – its birth, growth and how the supporting performance automotive aftermarket industry built up around it. Its’ working title is “PROJECT 1320”, and it will cover the people, the vehicles, the races, the technology and the entrepreneurs that made up drag racing from the 1940s through the dawn of computerization in the late 1980s.
Episodes will cover each decade of drag race history from the late 1940s and 1950s to the end of the 1980s. It will include key figures in drag racing history, aftermarket innovations that made their way into mainstream automotive technology, the influence of corporate sponsorship, major racetracks and their owners, and the birth and growth of the sanctioning bodies that govern drag racing.
More than just a historical archive, the documentary will bring the daring, genius and excitement of drag racing to a new audience, and a new generation of racing fans. It will be composed of both first-person interviews with drag race and performance aftermarket greats and archival footage that brings the sport to life.
Because the Quarter Mile Foundation board members are intimately acquainted with drag racing, they are uniquely positioned to portray an insider’s view of the sport. The documentary crew has access to the big names in drag racing.
Interviews have already been filmed with legends including Carroll Shelby, Louie Senter, Joe Amato, Linda Vaughn, Dave McClelland, Jon Lundberg, Bill “Speedy” Smith, and Ed Iskendarian, Alex Xydias, Joe Mondello, Tom “T.C.” Lemons, Ray Godman and many others. The documentary will show the perspectives of the interviewees on the who, how and why, with illustrative photos and movies/video accompanying the narrative.
The pilot episode of the series will be a feature-length documentary showing the highlights and shining stars of drag race history as well as the birth of the automotive aftermarket. The documentary is designed to appeal to both drag racing enthusiasts and newcomers.
After the post production of the documentary has been completed, it will be divided into twenty-five specialized segments that will be expanded to approximately one hour each, forming an episodic and detailed history of drag racing and the automotive aftermarket that will also be available in a DVD box set available to the public.
After the documentary has been produced, the Foundation will turn its attention to creating an archive and a repository for the materials, including the raw interviews, used in the production of the documentary. Additionally, the Foundation will continue to gather interviews and historical documents, photographs, and movie and video footage. The archives will assist journalists, students and researchers to gain a deeper understanding of the culture and traditions of this sport and the industry.