@nascarcasm: ‘Field of Dreams’ — a NASCAR reboot

A racing enthusiast’s thoughts upon his first viewing of the classic film, with the Cup Series set to take on Iowa Speedway Sunday night (7 ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

OK, so, Ray Kinsella is out working in his corn and he starts hearing voices that only he can hear. I assume that’s just like his corn spotter up on the roof or something. I’d think spotters would be vital in corn farming -- easy to get lost out there.

This voice is saying "If you build it, he will come." I don’t know what that means but this voice is like the grand marshal of the race giving the command to start engines. It's just that the voice is a low whisper and the command is usually delivered at larynx-shredding volume.

Ray Kinsella has determined that the voices in his head want him to build a baseball field in his corn. All of his neighbors think he’s crazy for putting one there. But Ray Kinsella, we put a track inside a football stadium so you’ll hear no judgement from us. PLOW ON, CRAZY FARMER. If you want Ice Cube to perform the 7th-inning stretch we can probably arrange that.

Darrell Waltrip probably said the same thing with great pride when he invented Vortex Theory.

OK so the long-deceased Shoeless Joe Jackson just shows up in the field one night, straight out of the corn. If this is a real possibility and Red Byron’s gonna come waltzing out of the cornfield around Iowa Speedway, strap his bad leg to the clutch and start ripping laps then put this damn race on PPV. RED BYRON IS BACK.

Shoeless Joe went back and got the other seven players, just like a driver that has several influencer friends that desperately want an essential pass.

What does "Ease his pain" mean? This is like when a crew chief uses a code word on the radio. "Hey Bubba -- this stop we’re doing 'Filet-O-Fish.'" This voice needs to be like "Four tires, two cans of fuel and one round up on the wedge wrench," not this vague s--t. Ray’s confused and SO AM I.

Where was this voice whispering "Go the distance ... " a couple of weekends ago at WWT Raceway?

Dude whose page on Racing Reference has probably never been loaded and yet he’s a major plot point. Fascinating.

So the young Moonlight Graham was picked up hitchhiking and has been brought to the field where he's now playing in a game. This plot has more twists than the Roval. Come to think of it, Ray should plow a corn Roval into the rest of the corn. MAYBE RED BYRON WILL COME BACK AND RACE IT.

This field is magic but the penalties are brutal. Doc Graham is just barely over the line and race control has aged him 60 years.

This speech by Terrence Mann about baseball is giving me feelings. I could say the same thing about NASCAR. "People will come, Ray. They’ll come with coolers and in cutoff jeans and sit on metal bleachers and watch cars race by at unimaginable speeds. They’ll boo Denny Hamlin for no real reason. They’ll shave their favorite driver’s car number into their back hair. People will come, Ray."

Terrence has now been invited back into the magic corn with the rest of the players. Ray Kinsella is not and he’s like Blaney-on-the-radio LIVID. I would be too. Not sure why he can’t go back there. Maybe a limited number of corn charters.

OK guys, it turns out this whole thing was so that Ray could reunite and make peace with his father and now I’m reduced to a blubbering wad of molten emotional putty. I haven’t been this emotional since Paul Menard retired. The dad asks "Is this heaven?" apparently unaware that’s actually located in the Talladega Superspeedway infield.

What a scene. Reminds me of going to the first Cup Series race at Kentucky Speedway. Wow.