A movie that was in 20 theaters for 3 months is not aiming for public consumption. It is aimed at the fans. Fans know what the movie will be about and how drag racing works (Christmas trees, burnouts, etc.). Even in the 60's and 70's, drag racing was on TV. Contrast this with Formula One in the same era which showed only one race a year (usually Monaco) and that's why the movie Rush explained things "to the public" a lot more than S&M did.
If the movie didn't go into "what makes a champion" to your satisfaction, I think that Ed Donovan explained it best to Tom when he said that the reason he felt Don was the best (champion material) was because he raced from the heart. Tom was the promoter of the two and Don was the racer. Even when they drove identical equipment, Don won more races likely due to better reaction time at the green light. That's usually where races are won and lost. Don even chided Tom for not having his head in the game. It finally took a tragic event in Tom's life for him to finally win the big one over his arch rival. I hope that he never thought that Don lost on purpose, even if that's what really happened.
And while I didn't say that anyone attributes winning all to luck (read my post again), it certainly can have a place in the end results.
KS
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