Filming Location

The movie was filmed mostly in Atlanta and the DFW area.

One of race scenes was filmed in Crandall, Texas at the Thunderbird Speedway, which claims to be the oldest continually-operating dirt track in Texas. This was the race with Ben Johnson playing the track owner. The scene was supposed to take place in Louisiana to show that Corky was headed to Atlanta.

The figure-8 race scene where Corky pops his hood and deliberately rams his rival was filmed at Sportsdrome Speedway on Davis St. in Grand Prairie, Tx. It is long gone, but was adjacent to where the still-operating Yello Belly Drag Strip is.

The scene where they ride the Ferris wheel at the carnival was filmed at the grand opening of a Leonard's department store at the corner of St. Hwy. 360 and Pioneer Parkway in Arlington, Texas. The scene where Robert Blake and Christopher Connelly were trying on women's wigs was filmed inside that store. The Forum 303 mall was added onto that store about a year later. The whole thing was demolished a few years ago and an office park was erected in its place.

You can clearly see the Dallas skyline when Corky and his friend are driving out of Dallas to Atlanta.

Parts of this film were shot in Farmers Branch,TX. One scene was shot from the Valwood Cleaners (The two story white building with "Valwood Cleaners" on the side. This building was part of the old Downtown Farmers Branch area, now completely gone. A little later, the garage sceene was shot near the corner of Valwood and Denton Drive. You can see the Texaco and Jack-in-the-Box that are still there. I remember the filming, helicopters flying up and down Denton Drive for a few days. Everyone went out to watch the filming ! ...ed williams