The world of racing is cutthroat. It is an industry where friends aren’t made easily. Staying friends while competing every week on the track is even more difficult. Drivers are meant to be warriors and show no sign of weakness, even in the darkest days and the hardest career struggles. But what happens when two unlikely allies join forces to create one of the strongest friendships in NASCAR?
The detailed documentary, “Blink of an Eye,” showcases the life of journeyman driver Michael Waltrip, who goes from a small-town boy living in Kentucky to the grandest lights on the NASCAR stage. Waltrip struggled with finding Victory Lane in his racing career. The hardships and pressure that come along with a famous family name and a strong personality in the garage created a dark cloud that followed him every day. An 0-for-462 career mark is a losing record of great magnitude, especially when it follows the footsteps of a successful older brother, Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip. When Michael Waltrip started to lose all hope, emotion arrived with “The Intimidator.”
Nicknames like the “Intimidator” and “jokester” go together like oil and water. But Michael Waltrip’s bright light and the rough, country edge of Dale Earnhardt created a friendship that chased victories both on and off the track.
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The film demonstrates how two people can form a bond and traces the origins of their friendship, while displaying how that friendship changed both lives for the better. “Blink of an Eye” is a pulled-back curtain to the world of racing. With every mountain encountered, a valley is endured. Racing parallels life and the film’s arc with its highs and lows.
This emotional account reaches its peak with one of the crown jewels in NASCAR, the 2001 Daytona 500. Waltrip led the race late and Earnhardt’s son, Dale Jr., was running second. Earnhardt Sr., who had become a legend and a hero in the sport with seven championships and a devoted following, sat in the third spot. Waltrip, inside of his car, recounts all the struggles and the 400-plus races he had lost. This was his one chance to change all of that if he could just stay in the lead.
Waltrip stared down his losing streak and saw the checkered flag flying just for him, but he had no idea what actually was unfolding in his rearview mirror. Waltrip’s losing streak had ended but what the world of stock-car racing lost that day was much, much greater.
That day in Daytona, Florida, still echoes with the NASCAR community and the sports world today. It’s an underdog tale of friendship, tragedy and redemption; one the documentary captures in heart-tugging detail through the voices of those who actually lived through it.
Blink of an Eye opens nationwide on Sept. 12 and tickets can be purchased at BlinkofAnEyeFilm.com.