NASCAR: The IMAX Experience

Carnegie Science Center

Through September 30…

NASCAR: The IMAX Experience

Carnegie Science Center

Through September 30

Narrated by Kiefer Sutherland

You’re in the driver’s seat of a car going 200 miles per hour, and there are no cops behind you ready to give you a ticket and a fat fine. You must be dreaming – on any other day that you go 10 mph over the speed limit, you would be pulled over in a heartbeat.

But you aren’t dreaming – you’re along for the ride as IMAX gives you the ultimate NASCAR experience.

Go behind the scenes of the biggest show on earth as “NASCAR: The IMAX Experience” takes you into the garage of some of the top racers in the business. See how the cars are built to rigorous specifications, modified to fit the track and possible weather conditions. Watch how the crews dig deep during last-second adjustments.

Not only do you go in the garage, but you also get put into the driver’s seat. Luckily, it was filmed to fit the IMAX screen and it actually feels like you are in the race. Riding right behind the No. 2 car of Rusty Wallace, you feel the tight turns, bumps and chills of being at the mercy of a shell made out of steel and plastic.

The chills really hit close to home as they take you back to the unforgettable day that no one will ever erase from their memory, when the film puts you up close at the 2001 Daytona 500 race that took Dale Earnhardt’s life. On the last turn of the last lap, Earnhardt was holding back the rest of the pack, sitting in the third position behind his Earnhardt Inc. teammates Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

After being bumped by Sterling Marlin, Earnhardt lost control and crashed head-on into the wall. Bumping happens in racing, but this bump proved fatal – Dale’s seat belt snapped, and he was killed on impact. It just so happened that this race was Darrell Waltrip’s first race as a commentator, and the film captures his emotions as the final lap comes to a close.

Darrell Waltrip, a former NASCAR driver, older brother of Michael Waltrip and close friend of the Earnhardt family, is seen in shambles as he is congratulating his brother but also worried to death about Dale, crying tears of joy and fear.

“NASCAR: The IMAX Experience” does a great job of moving through the history of stock car racing, from its early roots to the fanatical craze it is today. Narrated by Kiefer Sutherland, the dialogue has a dry sense of humor, and for any fan of NASCAR, this film captures the essence of NASCAR: the drivers, the crews and the families all tied into one thrilling experience in which they leave everything out on the track.

Even for non-NASCAR fans, this film might prove to be a thrilling experience and an insightful look into a sport that is so much more than the race on Sunday.

For show times and more information call (412) 237-3400 or log onto www.CarnegieScienceCenter.org