Imax rides shotgun for NASCAR

What with those NASCAR dads the new hot political constituency of the presidential campaigns, many people -- the urban intelligentsia, fashionista glamazons, metro-sexual fancy-lads, and the like -- probably have a lot of catching up to do.

Thankfully, for all those not versed in the ways of modern stock-car racing, there is now the handy primer of “NASCAR 3-D: The Imax Experience,” which opens Friday in Imax venues. The Imax 3-D camera is a huge, bulky device, so the best illustration of the effectiveness of director Simon Wincer (“Free Willy”) and veteran Imax cinematographer James Neihouse is how a viewer takes for granted that they were able to place a 200-pound camera in the back of a speeding stock car and at various angles around the track.

For race fans, they convey the sensation of barreling along at nearly 200 mph. Just as interesting is the behind-the-scenes footage of the resources and efforts that go into getting the cars onto the track. And there are a number of spectacular crashes, complete with tires seeming to fly out over the audience.

No attempts are made to cover up NASCAR’s rather louche hillbilly roots, though the tradition-bound philosophy at the core of the sport goes unexamined. Among the many testaments to the sport’s swelling popularity is the fact that on race day one particular track in Tennessee suddenly becomes the state’s third-largest city.

The NASCAR phenomenon has come a long way from “Days of Thunder” and is definitely far beyond the days of “Stroker Ace.”

-- Mark Olsen