Each week millions of NASCAR fans – a massive television and digital audience – tune in to watch NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events and CMT announced an unprecedented six hour, three night special event dedicated to the fearless men who took stock car racing out of the backwoods and into the national spotlight with NASCAR: The Rise of American Speed premiering Sunday May 8, May 15 and May 22 at 10:00pm et/pt. From Stephen David Entertainment, the Emmy Award-winning company behind the miniseries ‘The Men Who Built America,’ ‘Gold Fever’ and ‘The World Wars,’ the special event is not only a unique look into NASCAR’s legendary beginnings, but in the spirit of racing, it is a no-holds-barred account of the sport’s early pioneers and ascention to national prominence. The film features archival footage, reenactments and interviews with NASCAR personalities and experts including Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Richard Petty, Tony Stewart and Darrell Waltrip.
It’s the story about how a generation of Southern bootleggers and gangsters pursued their version of the American dream and created an industry that defined them. Despite a destitute South, they became wildly rich, while in the process forming the nation’s greatest racing league through their persistence, sweat and moonshine. The success of NASCAR surpassed even their wildest dreams and inspired a new generation of Southern icons. But in the race to always go bigger and faster, sometimes there were casualties along the way. ‘NASCAR: The Rise of American Speed’ is a tale of fearless men who didn’t just live their lives, they raced them to the finish. To see a sneak peek of ‘NASCAR: The Rise of American Speed,’ click on the trailer here.(CMT)
