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A consumer’s guide to the best and worst of sports media and merchandise. Ground rules: If it can be read, heard, observed, viewed, dialed or downloaded, it’s in play here. One exception: No products will be endorsed.

What: “NASCAR 3D: The Imax Experience.”

Producer: Warner Bros., Imax Corp. and NASCAR.

Where: Imax Theaters, starting Friday.

This is both a remarkable display of the emotions and excitement of NASCAR for the devoted stock car fan as well as a primer in educating non-NASCAR fans about the intricacies and technology of the sport that is captivating America.

There are racing scenes, thanks to the magic of 3D, that put you in the driver’s seat alongside Dale Earnhardt Jr. and others, as well as in the middle of a drafting pack running 200 mph at Daytona.

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“We could never have shown what we show without the help of [car owner] Jack Roush, who built us a race car capable of holding a 300-pound camera that we could use for the race scenes,” said Greg Foster, Imax president.

Narrated by Kiefer Sutherland, the film provides an insider’s perspective of how NASCAR works, how its drivers live, both on and off the track, and also is instructional by focusing on the science of the sport.

The film opens with a cops vs. bootleggers chase scene through the backwoods of North Carolina, recalling the heritage of NASCAR. A humorous climax shows Jimmie Johnson driving an old Chevy, with Mike Helton, NASCAR president, as the sheriff.

It’s all NASCAR in a tidy 45-minute production on eight story-high Imax screens. A must for racing fans and an introduction for others.

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