THE LEGEND OF THUNDER ROAD: FROM FAST CARS, MOUNTAIN BOYS, HOOCH, AND HOLLYWOOD, TO NASCAR
In the 30's, 40', and 50's, "white lightning', or strong mountain brewed whiskey, was an important revneue source for the mountain communities in Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Carolinas. But getting it out of the stills and down to the thirsty cities was tricky, as G-Men (revenue agents) did their best to put a stop on the distribution. Getting past the feds meant fast cars, fearless drivers, and some very top engineers capable of creating cars which could carry a ton a whiskey yet still make corners at high speeds and outrun their pursuers. In 1958 a movie called Thunder Road starring Robert Mitchum came out telling the story of a legend of a famous purportted incident in which a mountain boy, urged by his distiller father to make one last run, lost his life by crashing a roadblock and piling into a trnsformer station outside of Knoxville, Tennesee. This is the fascinating story of the Legend, the song that Mitchum wrote for the movie that he starred in and mostly directed, the effect that the movie had on the South and moonshiners in general, and how the hot cars, the chases down those dark, twisting back roads, and the movie all came together to birth NASCAR. #Nascar #ThunderRoad #RobertMitchum
Sources:
● Willie Clay Call - The Uncatchable
● The crossroads of history: local distillery crafts historic moonshine for North Wilkesboro Speedway
● Moonshine Runners And Their Role In The History Of Hot Rods - Street Muscle Magazine
● A Knoxville Legend, Revealed: The Truth About Thunder Road
● The legend of Thunder Road - farragutpress
● Hear Thunder Road Roar: Beyond the Mythology of Moonshine | Appalachian Free Press
The Ballad of Thunder Road at YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdwUpxkfSJw
