Star Trek Goes NASCAR

In May of 2008, TrekMovie reported on the Indiana Jones themed race car and asked if Star Trek would get its own. One year later, we have now have the the answer as Star Trek stormed NASCAR over the weekend with its own car.

 

NASCAR TREK

The Star Trek Dodge #12 premiered at the NASCAR Richmond Sprint Cup in Richmond, Virginia on Saturday. The car sported the movie logo and the USS Enterprise along with the color theme utilized to promote the feature film.

The car was driven by David Stremme who was also wearing a Star Trek themed outfit racing suit.

 

The Star Trek Dodge started the Cup impressively, consistently leading the pack. During the race, Stremme showed piloting skills that would have made Sulu envious as he and another car (#99) made contact. Stremme did not panic, and although the #99 car got spun, the race continued as seen in this video report.


CLICK for Video at NASCAR.com

Unfortunately, there was an accident that caused the Star Trek car to touch the wall. The damaged area was ironically right where the Enterprise is on the car and the accident meant Stremme was out of the competition. During the race, the announcers referred to Star Trek and its characters, as is evident in this video of the accident.


CLICK for Video at NASCAR.com

Advertising Trek at NASCAR is smart promotion. Last year’s Indiana Jones car created a nice buzz and NASCAR is family entertainment watched by millions. TrekMovie probably got more tips on this than just about any other recent Star Trek promotion.  This isn’t however, the first time a Star Trek feature film has assimilated a racer. In 1996, NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip drove the #21 Citgo/Star Trek First Contact car during that year’s Winston Cup.

TrekMovie doesn’t often editorialize, however we would like to remind NASCAR drivers that they would likely improve their performance if only their teams utilized the Star Trek Space Fun Helmet from Enco Toys (1976).


TrekMovie says ‘safety first!’

For more about Stremme and the Star Trek car, visit his website.

More photos of the car at: Jaski.com and PenskeRacing.com.

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First?

Oh look they’re turning left! They’re turning left again! LOL

Shouldn’t that be Richmond VIRGINIA, instead of Richmond, Indiana?

That kid looks like a Time Cop

SHIELDS!

Now if Sulu was piloting the car it should have one. Or yet maybe Captain Archer he did some fine driving on Enterprise. T”Pol” Can you pilot this vehical?” Archer: “I can pilot a Star Ship I could pilot this vehical” Tpol “Maybe you should engage the External Lighting.”

LOL sorry I couldn’t resist. lol

Um maybe KiD Kirk could drive the car he was pretty good at driving for being such a young age except for the Cliff he leaps the car off from. Pretty quick witted and fast for getting out of the vehical unscaved. Maybe Kid Kirk would have done a better job at avoiding the wall. OH well
Just a thought.

Chris

He should’ve used evasive maneuvers.

Yeah, sorry, I hate Nascar. Hold the steering wheel a few degrees to the left, press the gas, and presto, you can do it too!!!

Very good marketing though

It was a nice surprise to see the ST car during the race. My girlfriend just told me “isn’t that the movie you want to see, honey?”… lol. Nascar is family fun, and it’s great to have this presence in the mainstream.

Saturation? Or ubiquity?

Dear Mr. Tenuto,

I’ll take 1,000 Space Fun Helmets, please.

This is now the seventh actor to portray Spock?

Nasa car is cool

The Official Star Trek Space Fun Helmet?? WTF??

#7, your an ignorant fool if you think that is all it takes to be a driver in NASCAR.

ok lets not start a flamewar over NASCAR…geeeeeeez

#12–It’s from Enco toys for TOS, and was released in 1967.

#14–Thank you! This is a TREK site, not a NASCAR site!

Several long seconds of the Star Trek logo in front o f the camera. Sorry the guy got wrecked but still good free ad time for the movie.

The only thing I believe I’m not going to like about this movie are the Engineering scenes. JJ said he wanted the movie to feel real but filming Engineering at a beer factory that looks like the engine room of the Titanic is RIDICULOUS! The problem is, compared with the futuristic sets from the rest of the ship it will look very UN-REALISTIC! From the couple of short “beer factory Engineering” snippets I’ve seen, the Engineering section on the NX-01 Enterprise is more advanced and realistic looking than this new JJ Abrams Enterprise which is almost 100 years newer. I’ll take the Engineering set from ST:TMP please.

Immature Trek fans..go figure..lol

#1: No, it’s “Hard to port! Hard to port.” Repeat as needed.

300 quatloos on #12!

Red Nacelle alert! I’m asking anyone who has seen the film to confirm that the nacelle caps do indeed glow red at SOME point in the movie?

Being a NASCAR Fan as well, THIS IS SO COOL!!!!!!!!!!!! I want the race uniform. There was 2 cars at Richmond. The first one you have a picture of was in the Nationwide Race on Friday night driven by Justin Allgaier and sponsored by Verizon/ Star Trek. The one that David Stremme drove was in last nights Sprint Cup Race sponsored by Star Trek only. On the pre-race show, they interviewed David Stremme saying how fun it was to have Star Trek on his car. They had fun with it all week and most likely this coming week as well. They are going to Darlington Raceway to race in the Southern 500 Saturday night and they are bringing another Star Trek Car. He did not say if the the car will look the same or if it will be painted in a different way.

16:

The real engine room won’t be delivered until Tuesday.

In seeing that crash, all I can think of is the demolition derby sequence in “Futurama: Bender’s Game” — “Way to kill the franchise, Bakula!” :)

ughgh… can it just be the 7th already?

@24: It’s gonna be a long 4 days indeed…

Again with the red Bussard collectors.

#1. Ian

LOL!

I’d like to see an article about the Nascar driving suits and how similar they are to Trek space suits- Nascar suits have multilayered fire and collison protection elements and a layer for cooling down the body which can reach 125F inside the car.

LOLOLOLOLOLOL, UNFORTUNATELY THE CAR CRASHED, LOL . I’m sorry… it just sounded too funny.

Ashamed to say I had that Spock ‘Space Fun Helmet’ was I was a kid!! I used to run around wearing it, whilst wielding my toy phaser and scanning the living room with my toy tricorder. Ahhhhh….to be young again!!!:P

Dear Governator,

Have you ever driven fast — too fast — in urban Interstate traffic?

I do it every week! And that’s NASCAR’s appeal to Yankees.

Sincerely,
C.S. Lewis

7. The Governator – May 3, 2009

Yeah, sorry, I hate Nascar. Hold the steering wheel a few degrees to the left, press the gas, and presto, you can do it too!!!

7, there’s a lot more than “turning left” involved in NASCAR. A lot more. There’s pit strategy, the fact that the driver needs to put huge amounts of pressure on the wheel, etc. in order to control the car, race strategy during the race (for example, when to push low or when to back off) the danger involved in serious wrecks (as witnessed last week during Carl Edwards final lap wreck that sent 8 spectators to the local medical facilities, one of which had a broken jaw), and much more and, of course, the whole spectacle and rooting for your driver (in my case Jeff Gordon #24). Go watch one race and you will see the difference. No other race is like it. In short, to quote Scotty, “It’s exciting!”

31, it’s about a lot more than speed. You are right however that NASCAR (which stands for National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing) is popular in the United States and seemingly no where else. Oh well, thank God I’m an American!! :)

Well, I have 0 interest in the whole nascar thing but that star trek helmet, WTF!? Seriously?? Anyone who would give that to their kid and put them out in public…shouldnt have kids, ever.

I don’t follow NASCAR, althought I do sometimes watch some of the races.
#7 and others that think it’s easy. It is not. Not one bit.
I took a Skip Barber driving course at Limerock Raceway several years ago. We drove a variety of cars and the course culminated in us racing Vipers on the long circuit. We all thought we were pretty good unti they paired us up with professional drivers. They drove with skills that take years to aquire. It was a white knuckle trip around the track and was more thrilling thaan any Disney ride.
It also made me a much better driver.

#7 In your opinion. I happen to love NASCAR and I can appreciate the training, skill, and perseverance it takes to make a winning team. You obviously have no clue. Now, go enjoy your lens flares…

I thought it was named after a couple of guys with southern accents sitting in a garage and saying

“Whooo-e! That sure is a nas car you got there fella”

I kid.

I’m also a Country music fan (also much more popular in the United States than elsewhere) and NASCAR and Country go hand in hand.

21, excellent news about the fact that there’s going to be another STAR TREK car in NASCAR next week. Looking forward to it.

To everyone: don’t forget the check out the race next Saturday (May 9) from Darlington only on FOX and enjoy the race!

Also, the FOX song “Let’s go Racing, Boy” also called “NASCAR Love” is available for download on iTunes! It’s a country song so obviously you’ll only like it if you like country. I think that’s its a good song so check it out.

Cool! For how long will Stremme’s car be advertising Star Trek? This is great!!! I am so glad to see Trek get this kind of attention.

38, I’m not sure. According to Larry in post 21, David Stremme will be driving his #12 STAR TREK Dodge next Saturday at Darlington. It is indeed good news but I can’t confirm it. I doubt that the STAR TREK car will be around after Darlington though.

#7: A few years ago, I could have not cared less about Nascar–that is, until my niece raced cars for a while at a local track in North Carolina. After having an opportunity to learn more about the sport, I fell in love with it! Let me tell you, we quickly learned that this isn’t any easy strategy to just turn left and push the gas petal. Her racing hobby turned into a project for the whole family and we learned that it takes practice, skill, and stamina to competently race these cars in a real-world competition. That’s why the drivers are rightfully referred to as athletes.

Trust me, don’t get into one of these cars on a race track unless you know what you’re doing. You’ll be squashed like a bug before you know it.

Good Lord. Sorry if I offended anyone! The part about holding the steering wheel and holding it a few degrees left was a joke. Obviously it takes more than that. Sorry that I never got into Nascar. Personally, I’ve always preferred Formula 1 racing. It just seems more entertaining. But hey, if Nascar is your thing, than by all means, please don’t let any silly comment of mine stop you from enjoying it.

Apologies,
THE GOVERNATOR

No offense taken, Governator. My husband likes Formula 1 too, arca, and most other racing divisions. Racing is a competitive sport and is fun to watch or be a part of, no matter which division happens to be on the track.

Oh, and I’m surprised this photo hasn’t come up yet. Its a good look at the behind the scenes of the water pipes set.

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2954070784/tt0796366

That’s Jayski.com….

God NASCAR has to be the most boring “sport” on the planet!

45. manufan

Be careful what you say on this board. You may regret it! Hopefully, everyone has left this board and you’ll be safe.

I also took no offense from your comments Governator. Formula 1 is indeed and interesting sport but I prefer NASCAR. BTW, thanks for the “behind the scenes” photos of the “water pipes set.”

45, you may change your mind if you watch next week’s race. Darlington is always an exciting time and the commentators always provide insightful and knowledgeable facts about the sport, safety, etc.

Still, whether you like NASCAR or not, the fact that STAR TREK is getting promoted by the fastest growing sport in America is a good thing!

48. LoyalStarTrekFan

I agree. The more the merrier.

Cheers to the most important time for Star Trek since 1979. Our future is at stake. “Let as make sure that history never forgets the name.. Enterprise.”

Proof read your first paragraph: “…we have now have the the answer as Star Trek stormed NASCAR over the weekend with its own car.”