Slow Southern Steel

Steel Arena is a 1973 American sports drama film written and directed by Mark L. Lester, in his feature film directorial debut. A precursor of the Burt Reynolds school of mainstream redneck films such as Smokey and the Bandit, the movie follows the fictionalized career of auto daredevil Dusty Russell as he develops into a world class stunt driver. The fictional Dusty ties and then breaks the world record for the auto "dive bomber," a stunt where a stock car is driven at high speed off a ramp and over a measured space to come crashing down on top of parked junk cars. Russell actually was a world champion auto daredevil who set the dive bomber record while filming Steel Arena.