Ken Squier's Iconic Call of the 1979 Daytona 500

I am not a car racing guy. I assume this is one of the wildest endings to a race in the history of NASCAR, and even then it does nothing for me.

So what's the point?

The man on the mic is Ken Squier. Ken Squier played the announcer in "Rad." Ken worked for CBS and was the principle announcer for the Daytona 500 for nearly 20 years and he once said "Hulk Hogan eat your heart out" after a kid did a backflip on a bike.

Ken died in 2023.

Happy Hell Track Day

It's Hell Track Day today.

Last year I explained what Hell Track Day was and where it came from. I also put off the question of how we're supposed to celebrate it until this year.  I still don't know. I'll try to come up with something in 2026, I guess.

Rad References in Hot Rod

 

In a previous post I mentioned that "Rad" is available on AltaVod and that one of the special features is an interview between Jorma Taccone (of The Lonely Island) and the cast. Jorma makes it clear that he is a huge fan and says he put "a ton" of "Rad" references into his own works. I thought it would be fun to go through some of them.

First, the phrase "set to jet" used in the "Rad" dance scene is in "MacGruber."

"Hot Rod" and "Rad" are both bike movies, culminating in a big event at the end with crowded bleachers. 

Rod's uniform often has a big star on it, reminiscent of Cru's outfit for the big race.

Both Rod and Cru get special outfits before the big race replete with stars.

Rod's friends' "Team Rod" t-shirts, are clearly referencing "Rad Racing." In both movies, the friends wear them to show support in the big climactic event.

Wesley's "Charming-Check, Witty-Check, etc" shirt is recreated for Richardson in "Hot Rod."

And in both movies, the villains drive a red corvette.

There may be more references that I didn't catch and there are other cases where it's hard to tell the difference between a reference and a coincidence.

Finally, there's a similarity that's a bit of a riddle. In "Hot Rod," Rod gets gifted a new bike in honor of the big event at the end. When Cru is gifted a new bike for Hell Track only in the deleted scene that I grew up with and remembered. Did Jorma watch the same version that I did or is this just a complete coincidence?

Rad on AltaVod

Unbeknownst to me, a special "Superfan" edition of "Rad" was released on AltaVod in 2020. It includes "original bonus footage and an exclusive Q&A with the Rad cast, moderated by The Lonely Island's Jorma Taccone." I bought it, mostly to define exactly what the bonus footage is.

Before the bonus footage, obviously there is a remastered version of the movie. It looks good.

Bonus footage. First, there is the aforementioned interview with the cast. It includes Bart Conner, Bill Allen, the co-writer of the script Sam Bernard and the producer/actor Talia Shire. It's a fairly standard interview with many of the stories and factoids that we've heard already. There's one notable thing within it and I'll be making a post about that later.

Secondly, there is a promotional "making of" film from the time of the movie's release. Aside from the novelty of a 1980s documentary (it reminds me of "Plymouth International Ice Spectacular"), it's mostly just filler: how the movie was made, who's in it, constructing Hell Track, footage from the set. There is one gem. It contains an alternate angle of "Hollywood" Mike Moranda's second dramatic exit of the day. That is the gold nugget in the tons and tons of dirt. Will we ever again uncover more footage of his iconic wipeout? I doubt it. I would share a screenshot but the image is interlaced and so the still looks so bad it's not worth sharing.

Finally, there are interviews with Bart Conner, Bill Allen, Lori Loughlin and Hal Needham. The interviews were conducted at the time that the movie was being made. Aside from the fact that interviews with Hal Needham seem fairly rare, and you learn a little bit more about the actors, it's standard stuff.

And that's it. The movie and special features are all combined into a single video file, which is annoying, but in keeping with the experience of a VHS.

A Rad Documentary Trailer

A trailer for "A Rad Documentary" has been released on youtube.

Thanks to Vic for the news tip.

Rad Day is Next Week

 

You may recall that last year "Rad Remastered" was released to theaters on Rad Day. Well, they're doing it again. 

"Rad" will be re-re-released shown in theaters March 20th. Last year's iteration promised "new footage" and I speculated that the extra footage might be the Rad Documentary that was never released. While the extra footage last year turned out to be a new interview with some of the cast, this year's release will be a "double feature" alongside the world premiere of the never-before-seen documentary "A Rad Documentary."

I looked everywhere for a "A Rad Documentary" trailer and found nothing except this trailer for the double feature event has about 2 seconds of documentary footage.... in fact, it maybe 1 second.

I don't know how it's possible to release a movie in 2025 without a trailer on youtube, but ok, here's a BOOTLEG of the trailer that was shown in 2021:

The really exciting thing about the documentary, to me, is that, yes, it does include Hollywood Mike Miranda.

Bear in mind that Rad Day is officially March 21st, though the Fathom theatrical event is March 20th.

Does Rad Take Place in Kentucky?

 

Early on in the film, Cru takes a consent form to his mom to allow him to race in Hell Track (really the qualifying race). 

The text is as follows:

HELL TRACK MINOR RELEASE FORM

(PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING BEFORE SIGNING)

In applying to enter any or all of the above mentioned races, I the racer & I/we the parent/guardian, hereby release all the rights and claims which I may have against you arising from conditions related to use of the track or track area or as a result thereof. Each of the undersigned expressly agree that the foregoing release waiver holds harmless and indemnifies National Bicycle League, Schwinn Bicycle Company, Levi Strauss & Co., its directors, owners and possessors of Derby City BMX Association, the Kentucky Department of Parks, and E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park.

Parent/Gdn. Signature _____

Date Signed: _____

Rider's Signature: _____

Date Signed: _____

Aside from the most important thing - that St. Louis beat Houston - there are some interesting nuggets here. I never knew that Hell Track was sponsored by Levi Strauss, all the signage in the movie says 7-11 and Chief Auto Parts. 

But then aside from that, why would they have to agree not to sue the Kentucky Department of Parks unless the race is supposed to take place in Kentucky?

Of course we know from the magazine article (and I think other places?), that the film takes place in Oregon. I suppose even within the props department, there was some disagreement. And by the way, E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park does exist in Kentucky (Louisville) but no Cochran or Cochrane Kentucky exists (at least on google maps), but there is a Cochran Oregon, of course.

The SATs in Rad

 

Ask anyone on the street what "Rad" is about and you're likely to be hear someone drone on about BMX bike racing and how Bart Taylor is "the man." But, at its core, "Rad" is essentially about the SATs - and specifically about scheduling the SATs.

Early in the movie, when Cru brings a consent form for his mother to sign. She looks at the form (which doesn't have a date on it, more on that later) and says "Isn't that the day you're supposed to make up your SATs?"

Did you ever notice that she says "make up." Doesn't this mean that he already missed them once? Later on in the movie, he's told that the conflict between Hell Track and the SATs could be resolved by simply taking the SATs at a later date and it seems like this is revelatory for him. But if he's rescheduled once, shouldn't it be obvious that he can reschedule again? 

So this is the second time he's putting them off. He's missing the SATs that he already missed.

And why didn't he take them the first time? What, the local yokel was too busy with his paper route? Pfff.

Happy Hell Track Day

 Earlier this year, we were told that Rad Day was March 21st, the day "Rad" was originally released. But today is Hell Track Day.

Near the beginning of the movie Cru sees the following sign on a picket fence: 

"7-11 (and) Chief Auto Parts 

Presents Hell Track

Coming to Cochrane." 

It looks like this (through cheap VHS):

But that differs from the original script which stated:

"7-11 & Chief Auto Parts

Presents

HELL TRACK!

Coming to Cochran, June 26th"

That's today.

Not only is there no date in the movie, it's pretty clear to me that it takes place in Fall - school is in session, the leaves are changing. On the other hand, SATs are given in the Spring. 

Not one to make unsubstantiated claims, I would link to the original script here but the uploaded script  has been completely scrubbed from the internet (as far as I can tell) and the only remaining information about it to determine what it said is my own blog...

Rad - Top Ten Script Anomalies (10-6)

Rad - Top Ten Script Anomalies (5-1)

So I remember the June 26th date and you'll just have to trust me.

Happy Hell Track Day. Today's the day where we ride bikes(?) or do back flips or eat Kix? Maybe we should make one or two dramatic exits. I haven't worked out all the details. Let's start building the mythology next year.

Rad Remastered (2024)

What is "Rad Remastered?" We were told that there was "additional footage" and that there was a Q&A hosted by Ed Helms. As it turns out, the Q&A WAS the additional footage. That was it. That was the whole thing.

The print was the same quality as the previous "Rad" releases in theaters. Evidently the sound was also different, they said that it was never 5.1 before and so that was new also. I can't confirm.

The Q&A included Bill Allen, Bart Conner and Jack Schwartzman's (the producer's) son.

When viewing movies on the big screen, I like to look at the edges of the screen to notice the finer details. Most of that work was done in the previous two times I saw "Rad" in the theater. But there was a thing or two. The last time I saw it, I wanted to get a better look at Cru's mom's license plate to see what state it was. I did that this time but the writing is just beyond the edge of discernment. At the bottom it says 3 words and the 3rd word is "county" I think.

The other small observation was that Rod and Rex's "girlfriend" has very distinctly brown hair in the dancing scene and then in the next scene, walking down the street, it's blonde.

There was a pre-movie trivia onscreen. One of the factoids (probably taken from imdb) says "The character of Cru is loosely based off of Eddie Fiola, who did most of Bill Allen's stunts in the film." The second part is undoubtedly true but the first part I don't believe for a second. I have never heard this. Can anyone confirm?

The first two times I saw "Rad," the theater was 25%-50% full. For some reason, this time it was 80% full. I couldn't figure out why or what made the difference. It couldn't have been the "additional footage" because the place cleared out after the movie as if they didn't know it was coming. The audience was also livelier - there were people laughing, singing along to the songs and there was applause when Cru won Helltrack (spoilers.) It could have been my imagination but I think some people behind me even reacted to the part where the race onlookers react to Cru wiping out before he actually wipes out. In both cases that takes a savvy audience.

Rad Remastered Trailer and Info

 The new trailer for Rad Remastered reveals that Rad Remastered will be the movie "Rad".

So... Not very helpful.

But then the Marcus Theaters page has one additional nugget:

"This special event will also include an exclusive Q&A moderated by RAD super fan Ed Helms (The Hangover)."

So is the Q&A going to fill 40 minutes? Q&A with who? More updates hopefully to come. 

Rad Remastered to be Released in Theaters; What is Rad Remastered?

 

Fandango, and other sites, confirm that "Rad Remastered" will be released to theaters March 21st. But what is that?

Not many details to go on. The runtime is listed as 2h15m which means it is about 40 minutes longer than the official version. Bill Allen confirmed on facebook that there will be "added footage".... which makes sense, I would assume they didn't make the runtime longer by playing it slower, but what is the footage? The first thing that comes to my mind would be to include the deleted scenes about which so much has been made, but even if that's the case, that would only account for 3 minutes of the 40.

At the 35th Anniversary release, they played a trailer for a new "Rad" documentary that was being made. That documentary, as far as I can tell, never came out. I wonder if this could be a way to hook people into seeing that in the theater as a pre-movie "extra." 

The poster states "Celebrate Rad Day March 21." It's my guess that "Rad Day" just means that it's going to be in theaters on the anniversary of the original release (March 21, 1986).

So, what is going on? I don't know. Will post again if additional information is released.

Thanks to Victor for the heads up.

Ask Max (1986) and its Place in the BMX Movie Pantheon

Somewhere on the internet someone suggested that there was this movie, "Ask Max," about a kid who invents a bike that can jump by the press of a button. This sparked my memory as something I had seen...

The movie stars Chunk from "The Goonies" as the kid inventor and aired as a Disney made-for-tv movie in November of 1986. It has a super-rare running time of 44 minutes, which turns out to be a great length for a children's movie, in my opinion.

The story is a standard setup which launches a somewhat unconventional story. Max is a kid inventor who's unrealistically smart but his inventions are always getting him into trouble. Max is also bullied by the jocks and has his eye on the prettiest girl in school. He's also fatherless which isn't explained and his mom sometimes has trouble paying the bills.

So he invents a bikes that's super rad because it does sweet jumps over cars and stuff.

So this is where things turn. In order to help his mom with the bills, he sells his bike invention to a major corporation and he includes in the contract that he gets to be on the Board of Directors. So you can imagine it's a slight oddity that this Disney movie... meant for kids... then turns its attention away from the sweet BMX bike in order to have discussions on breech of contract, gross profits, product lines and layoffs.

Then, with his newfound money, the story becomes a Richie Rich/Blank Check story, as a kid is suddenly able to buy anything he wants. Then, the story returns back to the corporate world as Max tries to save a plant from being shut down.

Nothing about the movie sparked any memory whatsoever except for the idea of a bike that jumps automatically, which, strangely, accounts for a very minor amount of running time. It feels like the bike that jumps is featured for 5 minutes before getting to the real meat of corporate greed. Still, assuming there isn't a second movie with this exact plot device, I am left to assume that this is the movie I remember from childhood.

So, if you're having trouble keeping track, here is the rundown:

• "Rad" is a movie about a high-school kid who races against the pros in a BMX race. It features Ray Walston.
• "Ask Max" is a movie about a little kid who builds a BMX bike that can jump. It features Ray Walston.
• "The Dirt Bike Kid" is a movie about a little kid who gets a magical dirt bike that can fly.
• "The Skateboard Kid" is a movie about a little kid who gets a magical skateboard that can fly (and talk).
• "BMX Bandits" is a movie I've never seen.

Rad - The Bart Taylor Magazine Article

With the HD quality of the new Rad trailer, we can finally read the magazine article Cru reads about Bart Taylor:

HELL TRACK

COCHRAN, ORE.

BART,

The Man.

CAN HE BE STOPPED AT HELL TRACK?

He hasn't lost a race yet. Bart "The Man" Taylor has ripped up the pro class for the last three years. At the U.S. Open in Long Beach, California last month, Bart carted home a hefty $25,000 for the win, giving him an easy lead going into Hell Track in Cochran, Oregon, where the title of No. 1 Pro will be decided.

Of course, Bart will be the favorite to grab the glory at Hell Track, starting with the brand spankin' new '86 Corvette that goes with the pro win. His heavy pursuit of the No. 1 [place?] has given him very little free time for surfing or kicking back at his new condo right on Zuma Beach.

The blond-haired swoop master claims that his constant workout on his bike while on the road keeps him in shape for the national BMX circuit.

On and off the track, Bart's the dude to watch. No one comes close. You might remember last year's grandnational, when Taylor lapped half the pack -- that was KILLER. Also, rumor has it that he's been attempting countless swoops on this year's number one national girl and Mongoose teammate, Christian. No luck with her yet, but he's got groupies to spare. Ah, the spoils of being the best.

BMX ACTION

 A few thoughts. 

This one throwaway prop alters forever my perspective of the entire movie. Bart has been competing for 3 straight years and hasn't lost even a single race? Not even 2nd place? Every great athlete loses at least sometime. If he had merely been the best rider, I'd believe Cru could prove himself to be the superior rider but now I think that's very unlikely. Bart must have won too much, became too satisfied and lost his edge.

The other thing is: I love that they mention, in a magazine article, that Bart is hitting on Christian. If they're going out, that'd be one thing but if he's hitting on her and getting rejected, why does that make it into a magazine? And then they go the opposite direction and talk about how he's got "groupies to spare," geez. Would that really happen? Sure, it was a completely different era and I have no knowledge of BMX magazines but it seems wacky.

Rad Deleted Scenes - Epilogue

I thought I'd make just one more post about this since I'm sure everyone other than me is tired of it.

About 20 years ago me and a friend bonded over our mutual love of "Rad".

"I know 'Rad', he gets the Murray from the store!", I confidently told him.
"What? That's not in the movie."

And he was right, it wasn't in the movie. But I felt sure that there was something going on - surely I hadn't just made up a movie scene in my mind. There must be multiple versions. The version I rented from the video store must have had scenes that other VHSs didn't. Years later I started buying up tapes, trying to find another one like the one I had seen.

It didn't take too long before I was investing more money in Rad VHSs than I hoped to. I'm a pretty cheap guy and it's not a cheap habit, for anyone. The next phase was contacting Rad VHS sellers on eBay and simply asking them if the copy they were selling had extra scenes. I told them I'd pay more if it did, but this also was fruitless. Many, many messages to many, many people and no one had a special copy like the one of my youth.

The recent news proves that my memory was real, the scene was real and I was not crazy. So I have that. But it does raise another question. If my local video store's copy of Rad had a deleted scene and no other similar copy seems to exist... where did it come from? How?

Well someone on facebook might have a clue:

Is it a coincidence that this took place in the Philadelphia area and that's where I am too?

So the video store recorded a movie off of TV and offered it for rental? Keep in mind, this is before the widespread use of home printers so they can't just make a professional cover and put a VHS in it and pass it off as the real thing. I guess my best theory is that they had a real copy, someone didn't return it and they replaced it with a bootleg.

The funny thing about this idea, if it is what happened, is that my friend had watched his VHS so much he even memorized the movie advertisements before the movie and I... I don't remember any ads before the movie.

Rad - The Deleted Scenes

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is finished. The end has come. The fifth and last Golden Ticket has just been found right here in Paraguay. The Rad deleted scenes have surfaced on The Facebook.

Many thanks to Corey Kearns of facebook who writes:
"Hi guys, these are the cut scenes from the movie. I recorded this in 1989 from Canadian cable. These scenes are not in the American release. Sorry for the quality but this tape is almost worn through from me watching it so much lol, LETS WALK THIS SUCKER"

And many thanks to Victor for sharing the link.

It feels like the end of an era. I can't believe it's over. Not only did we get the deleted scenes back but I HAVE CONFIRMED THAT THERE WAS THE MURRAY FROM THE STORE. I hope to ruminate on that in a future post.

I would venture to say historians will be examining and picking apart every detail of these scenes for decades. But here are a few initial observations:

• Every actor in these scenes appears to be an alien or android. Is this how the rest of the movie appears to people who haven't seen it a million times?
• Luke's parents appear to be his grandparents. Did they skip a generation?
• Luke's dinner scene with his "parents" mirrors the scene in Star Wars where Luke has dinner with his aunt and uncle on Tatooine. In fact it's very similar. Is it coincidence? Luke/Luke!
• More character development for Amy. She likes WHAM and Duran Duran and she has a waterbed. Whoah.
• When your parent confronts you in your room and you storm out, where do you go?
• Imdb describes the third scene as "An unnamed boy storms out of his house late at night." The unnamed boy looks so familiar, I thought I could name him, is it possible it's the guy who says "how about a hand for our rad dude?"... It could be the character Harold or Miles but I can't figure out which one is which.
• Bart Taylor doesn't know how to act drunk. The filmmakers were perhaps unsure of the effectiveness themselves and perhaps just decided to have actor just announce that he's "smashed". We can't compare to the script because that's been taken down though we know this scene is in the script in some form.
• The couple who announce that he's smashed is interesting - Rick and Katie. It looks like the guy from the beginning who's listing off colleges he's applying to is with Katie, Cru's fantasy. Is this coupling seen anywhere else?
• Blob is standing in the back of the drunk scene. What is he doing?
• There could have been an alternate timeline where Sgt. Smith arrests Bart for public drunkenness and Cru wins Helltrack because Bart's still stuck in jail. But events would change further because without Bart in the race, the Reynolds Twins would try to win themselves instead of taking Cru out. Perhaps in this alternate timeline Cru loses.
• Sgt. Smith charges Bart $1.05 but I'd like to think it's not for his sundae, it's the cost of not getting arrested - freedom costs a buck-o-five.
• Did Bart lose Helltrack because he was hungover? Did Bart almost win Helltrack whilst hungover?
• Mr. Pratt has the mannerisms of some sort of bicycle priest. He seems to say "Go now, my child... and ride in peace."
• Cru receives the bike of his dreams and his reaction is as if someone just died. Shouldn't this be a happy moment?
• Unrelated to the deleted scenes.... but I just noticed that an actress is credited as "Katie's Friend" but no one is credited as "Katie".

Again, it's not much, just my initial thoughts.

The Rad Blu-Ray and Deleted Scenes (Update)

Although my Rad Blu-Ray has not yet shipped, the word is in from my friend Vic... The Blu-Ray does NOT contain any deleted scenes. Yet another defeat.

For context.
Context #2.

Rad Script Anomolies #10-#6.
Rad Script Anomolies #5-#1.

Rad Deleted Scenes Update... UPDATE!

There is yet more written on the parchment...

Further back in the Bill Allen timeline, there is a post about the origin of the scenes and a screenshot:

There are a series of comments made by people asking where it came from and how they can get a copy and, as far as I know, Bill's not replied to anyone.

Interesting to me are these comments:

I'm not alone! "The Murray from the store"! My people!

Rad Deleted Scenes Update

A while back I cried out to the world for someone, anyone, to upload the Rad deleted scenes onto the internet.

Nothing has changed since then.

However, recently a reader with the username "the" has informed me that Bill Allen is holding a special screening of Rad in Huntington Beach (California) which will contain deleted scenes. The post:

There's no way for me to get to California so I'm out. My hope is someone bootlegs a small screening of a niche movie...

An observation. This confirms imdb's (and my) claim that there are deleted scenes out there. But Allen specifically says there are five and according to imdb there are six. The likeliest explanation, I think, is that Allen is not an obsessive fan and simply missed one but who knows.

He also says the scenes have never been seen "in the States". This also coincides well with the imdb page which says they were shown in Canada. But if I my memory is correct, they have been seen in the States because that's where I was when I saw them.

If you're a Rad fan and will be in the Huntington Beach area on July 30th, be there!

Rad Roundup '16

Well, it's Valentine's Day so let's take a look at what's happening in the world of "Rad"...

Heroes of Dirt

Bill Allen, star of the movie Rad, has a new-ish BMX movie, "Heroes of Dirt". Well, well, well, looks like the local boy thinks he's a pro.

Right from the start, the connections are apparent. There's a kid who loves BMX and dreams of competing in the Big Show with the professionals. The opening scenes show him trying to evade a police officer who, as it turns out, really cares for him. Oh, and his parents don't really approve of this BMX stuff either. Bill Allen plays the father.

But that's largely where the similarities end. This movie isn't intended to be a remake or reboot, but a movie of its own. It's actually a little surprising how little the plot really revolves around BMX - it's really more about kids stuck in a life of crime and it strangely turns into a kind of a heist thriller.

The part that was the biggest surprise to me is that the film takes place in Allentown, Penna. (Allentown? More like Bill Allentown.) I had vaguely heard of it for a few years but I didn't know it was being shot locally. I'm honored to have just been in the same state as Bill Allen, even if I was never aware it was happening. At one point someone goes to jail and the "jail" that he gets sent to is clearly Eastern State Penitentiary. That kid is going to do some hard time.

This is one of those low budget movies where they really do a pretty good job of hiding the fact that it's low budget even though it's inescapable. In particular, there are some weak acting moments. The cinematography is pretty excellent. Overall, it kind of constantly rides that line of good/bad so I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. I give it a pass though, I think you gotta take what you can get or you're screwed.

Turbo Kid

"Turbo Kid" is also a low-budget movie and also a movie that came out last year but, unlike "Heroes of Dirt" has no direct connection to the movie Rad. But the opening scene is a kid riding on a BMX bike to the song "Thunder in Your Heart" and we know what that's about....

"Turbo Kid" is a unique movie concept. It came out last year (as I said) but it's in the style of a post-apocalyptic 80s film set in the distant future of 1997. The style is an 80s era projection of what the future would look like. Think "Mad Max" but with a kid on a bike instead of a car.... and also with a sense of fun and some clever, comedic elements.

The movie strikes the perfect balance between paying homage to all those classic 80s hits and also not falling into the one-trick-pony "remember the 80s?" schtick. This is a smart movie with a nice sense of fun and really likable characters. It's got "heart". It's got heart AND it's got Michael Ironside with an eye patch.

But the real star of the movie, for me, is the completely synthesized score. The movie SOUNDS great.

I highly recommend seeing "Turbo Kid" but not to everyone. It's the kind of movie that you have to "get". You have to be on the same wavelength, but if you are, it's pretty great.

My Rad Career

“If Bill Allen was hanging from a cliff and I was holding him with one arm, and I was holding my girlfriend with the other, and I had enough strength to save them both, I would let go of my girlfriend just so I could make sure that I had a really good grip on Bill.” - Daniel Tosh

So says the promotional website for Bill Allen's new book. It also has a positive quote from the screenwriter of "Rad". "RAD" HAD A WRITER?!

Bill Allen has a new book out. It's an autobiography in which he talks about the making of "Rad", how he was cast and his days (apparently) hanging out with Brad Pitt and Brandon Lee. I haven't read it and I don't know that I ever will but I can't help but be curious.

Official Website.