Go for the money and lead the pack

Not since the movie "Speedway" filmed in 1967 has Elvis made an appearance on the race track. But now, 40 years later, he's back. At least his image is, painted on a Chevrolet together with advertisement for Budweiser (see a picture here).

The car is driven by NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. who apparently is a big Elvis fan. That's nice, but the problem as I see it, Elvis wasn't a big beer fan. That doesn't stop Elvis Presley Enterprises from making a lot of the usual merchandise, this time with Elvis and Bud side by side on t-shirts, mugs, magnets, key chains and the like.

Speaking of "Speedway", I always thought the race sequence was pretty lame, despite the fact that it was filmed by ten cameras. And I never really understood what the story was with those professional racers who made a brief appearance in the beginning. But today a search on the Internet revealed to me that these are really famous guys, like Buddy Baker and Cale Yarborough.

Then in the 70's, they were challenged by a certain Dale Earnhardt, the father of Dale Earnhardt Jr. who is now driving a Chevrolet with Elvis image on the hood. So I guess the Elvis connection is a bit stronger than I thought at first.