Best Car Racing Movies
by ARCHA1D3 | created - 11 Apr 2019 | updated - 29 Apr 2019 | Public- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. Grand Prix (1966)
Approved | 176 min | Drama, Sport
American Grand Prix driver Pete Aron is fired by his Jordan-BRM racing team after a crash at Monaco that injures his British teammate, Scott Stoddard.
Director: John Frankenheimer | Stars: James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, Yves Montand, Toshirô Mifune
Votes: 10,494 | Gross: $20.85M
2. Rush (I) (2013)
R | 123 min | Action, Biography, Drama
The merciless 1970s rivalry between Formula One rivals James Hunt and Niki Lauda.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Daniel Brühl, Chris Hemsworth, Olivia Wilde, Alexandra Maria Lara
Votes: 513,476 | Gross: $26.95M
3. Le Mans (1971)
G | 106 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Two car racing champions, an American and a German, face off on the world's hardest endurance course: Le Mans in France.
Directors: Lee H. Katzin, John Sturges | Stars: Steve McQueen, Siegfried Rauch, Elga Andersen, Ronald Leigh-Hunt
Votes: 11,860 | Gross: $0.71M
4. Winning (1969)
M | 123 min | Action, Drama, Sport
Frank Capua is a rising star on the race circuit who dreams of winning the big one--the Indianapolis 500. But to get there he runs the risk of losing his wife Elora to his rival, Luther ... See full summary »
Director: James Goldstone | Stars: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Robert Wagner, Richard Thomas
Votes: 2,213 | Gross: $14.64M
5. Days of Thunder (1990)
PG-13 | 107 min | Action, Drama, Sport
A young hot-shot stock car driver gets his chance to compete at the top level.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Robert Duvall, Randy Quaid
Votes: 96,371 | Gross: $82.67M
6. The Cannonball Run (1981)
PG | 95 min | Action, Comedy, Sport
A wide variety of eccentric competitors participate in a wild and illegal cross-country road race. However, the eccentric entrants will do anything to win the road race, including low-down, dirty tricks.
Director: Hal Needham | Stars: Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Farrah Fawcett, Dom DeLuise
Votes: 39,933 | Gross: $72.18M
7. Cannonball Run II (1984)
PG | 108 min | Action, Comedy
The original characters from The Cannonball Run (1981) race across the country once more in various cars and trucks.
Directors: Hal Needham, Ralph Bakshi | Stars: Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr.
Votes: 17,428 | Gross: $28.08M
8. The Fast and the Furious (2001)
PG-13 | 106 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Los Angeles police officer Brian O'Conner must decide where his loyalty really lies when he becomes enamored with the street racing world he has been sent undercover to destroy.
Director: Rob Cohen | Stars: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster
Votes: 419,411 | Gross: $144.53M
9. 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
PG-13 | 107 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Former cop Brian O'Conner is called upon to bust a dangerous criminal and he recruits the help of a former childhood friend and street racer who has a chance to redeem himself.
Director: John Singleton | Stars: Paul Walker, Tyrese Gibson, Cole Hauser, Eva Mendes
Votes: 297,524 | Gross: $127.15M
10. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
PG-13 | 104 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A teenager becomes a major competitor in the world of drift racing after moving in with his father in Tokyo to avoid a jail sentence in America.
Director: Justin Lin | Stars: Lucas Black, Zachery Ty Bryan, Shad Moss, Damien Marzette
Votes: 299,771 | Gross: $62.51M
11. Senna (2010)
PG-13 | 106 min | Documentary, Biography, Sport
A documentary on Brazilian Formula One racing driver Ayrton Senna, who won the F1 world championship three times before his death at age 34.
Director: Asif Kapadia | Stars: Ayrton Senna, Reginaldo Leme, John Bisignano, Neyde Senna
Votes: 75,752 | Gross: $1.61M
12. Formula 1: Drive to Survive (2019– )
TV-MA | 40 min | Documentary, Sport
Docuseries following the FIA Formula One World Championship across multiple seasons.
Stars: Will Buxton, Jack Nicholls, Daniel Ricciardo, Lewis Hamilton
Votes: 50,879
13. The Love Bug (1969)
G | 108 min | Comedy, Family, Sport
Down-on-his-luck race car driver Jim Douglas teams up with a little VW Bug that has a mind of it's own, not realizing Herbie's worth until a sneaky rival plots to steal him.
Director: Robert Stevenson | Stars: Dean Jones, Michele Lee, David Tomlinson, Buddy Hackett
Votes: 17,530 | Gross: $5.09M
14. Death Race (2008)
R | 105 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Ex-con Jensen Ames is forced by the warden of a notorious prison to compete in our post-industrial world's most popular sport: a car race in which inmates must brutalize and kill one another on the road to victory.
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson | Stars: Jason Statham, Joan Allen, Tyrese Gibson, Ian McShane
Votes: 218,871 | Gross: $36.32M
15. Stroker Ace (1983)
PG | 96 min | Action, Comedy, Romance
The title character, a popular NASCAR driver, clashes with the fried-chicken mogul that sponsors his racing team.
Director: Hal Needham | Stars: Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Jim Nabors, Parker Stevenson
Votes: 4,265 | Gross: $13.00M
16. Roadracers (1959)
74 min | Action, Drama
The father of a race-car driver blames him for a death on the track, disowns him, and sponsors a rival racer.
Director: Arthur Swerdloff | Stars: Joel Lawrence, Marian Collier, Skip Ward, Sally Fraser
Votes: 85
17. It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)
Approved | 210 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A group of motorists witnesses a car crash in the California desert, and after the driver's dying words indicate the location of a hidden stash of loot, they turn against each in a race across the state to get to it.
Director: Stanley Kramer | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney
Votes: 46,095 | Gross: $46.30M
18. The Great Race (1965)
Passed | 160 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
In the early 20th century, two rivals, the heroic Leslie and the despicable Professor Fate, engage in an epic automobile race from New York to Paris.
Director: Blake Edwards | Stars: Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, Jack Lemmon, Peter Falk
Votes: 19,822 | Gross: $25.33M
19. The Last American Hero (1973)
PG | 95 min | Drama, Sport
A young hellraiser quits his moonshine business to try to become the best NASCAR racer the south has ever seen.
Director: Lamont Johnson | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Valerie Perrine, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Ned Beatty
Votes: 2,174
20. Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)
R | 102 min | Drama
While drag-racing through the American Southwest in a Chevrolet 150, a driver and his mechanic cross paths with an enigmatic hitchhiker and the tall-tale-spinning driver of a GTO.
Director: Monte Hellman | Stars: James Taylor, Warren Oates, Laurie Bird, Dennis Wilson
Votes: 13,417
21. American Graffiti (1973)
PG | 110 min | Comedy, Drama
A group of teenagers in California's central valley spend one final night after their 1962 high school graduation cruising the strip with their buddies before they pursue their varying goals.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith
Votes: 98,123 | Gross: $115.00M
22. Spinout (1966)
Not Rated | 93 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
Band singer/race driver Mike McCoy must choose between marrying a beautiful rich girl and driving her father's car in a prestigious race.
Director: Norman Taurog | Stars: Elvis Presley, Shelley Fabares, Diane McBain, Deborah Walley
Votes: 2,358
23. Cannonball! (1976)
PG | 93 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Racing across the country from L.A. to New York, a plethora of exotic cars carry contestants hoping to win a very large sum.
Director: Paul Bartel | Stars: David Carradine, Bill McKinney, Veronica Hamel, Gerrit Graham
Votes: 5,169 | Gross: $3.27M
24. The Wraith (1986)
PG-13 | 93 min | Action, Horror, Romance
In a small town in Arizona, a mysterious man/spirit descends from the sky and manifests in a sports car and targets a local violent road-racing gang of motor heads, headed by a ruthless bully who'll do anything to get what he wants.
Director: Mike Marvin | Stars: Charlie Sheen, Nick Cassavetes, Sherilyn Fenn, Randy Quaid
Votes: 19,232 | Gross: $3.50M
25. Speed Racer (2008)
PG | 135 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Young driver, Speed Racer, aspires to be champion of the racing world with the help of his family and his high-tech Mach 5 automobile.
Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Emile Hirsch, Matthew Fox, Christina Ricci, Nicholas Elia
Votes: 78,419 | Gross: $43.95M
26. Redline (2009)
Not Rated | 102 min | Animation, Action, Sci-Fi
A story about the most popular racing event in the galaxy, the Redline, and the various racers who compete in it.
Director: Takeshi Koike | Stars: Takuya Kimura, Yû Aoi, Tadanobu Asano, Yoshiyuki Morishita
Votes: 17,193
27. Thunderbolt (1995)
R | 110 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
In order to release his kidnapped sister, sports car mechanic Chan Foh To (Jackie Chan) has to beat a supercriminal street racer.
Director: Gordon Chan | Stars: Jackie Chan, Anita Yuen, Michael Wong, Thorsten Nickel
Votes: 9,999
28. Dust to Glory (2005)
PG | 97 min | Documentary, Action, Adventure
A documentary on the Baja 1000, an annual off-road race held in Baja, Mexico that attracts hundreds of racers, their souped-up machines, and thousands of fans.
Director: Dana Brown | Stars: Chad McQueen, Mario Andretti, Sal Fish, James Garner
Votes: 1,022 | Gross: $0.64M
29. Ferrari: Race to Immortality (2017)
Not Rated | 91 min | Documentary, Sport
The story of the Scuderia Ferrari motor team, which was formed by race car driver Enzo Ferrari.
Director: Daryl Goodrich | Stars: Peter Collins, Enzo Ferrari, Lin Gallagher, Mike Hawthorn
Votes: 1,459
30. Still Too Fast to Race (2004 Video)
77 min | Documentary, Sport
A loving look at the Group B Rally Cars of the 1980s. The group was dropped from official competition by the WRC. Disgruntled fans deemed it because the cars were "too fast to race." Each ... See full summary »
Director: Bruce Cox | Stars: Stig Blomqvist, John Moss
Votes: 18
31. Truth in 24 II: Every Second Counts (2012)
Not Rated | 83 min | Documentary
The follow-up film to the original Truth in 24, where the Audi Sport Racing team again attempts to cross the finish line first at the historic 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Director: Rob Gehring | Stars: Howden Haynes, Jason Statham
Votes: 329
32. Love the Beast (2009)
R | 92 min | Documentary, Sport
What if you were a Hollywood movie star with an obsession for cars and racing? You would probably read every script with even the tiniest link to the subject matter, in the hope that you ... See full summary »
Director: Eric Bana | Stars: Eric Bana, Jeremy Clarkson, Steve Coad, Grant Denyer
Votes: 2,188
33. The 24 Hour War (2016)
99 min | Documentary, History, Sport
In the early 1960s, Henry Ford II and Enzo Ferrari went to war on the battlefield of Le Mans(TM). This epic battle saw drivers lose their lives, family dynasties nearly collapse and the development of a new race car that changed racing.
Directors: Nate Adams, Adam Carolla | Stars: Charlie Agapiou, Mario Andretti, A.J. Baime, Bob Bondurant
Votes: 2,295
34. Super Speedway (1997)
Not Rated | 50 min | Documentary, Action, Sport
Follow the Newman-Haas (Andretti) racing team through the process of building, testing, and racing for a season.
Director: Stephen Low | Stars: Paul Newman, Richard Garneau, Jim Paulson, Jeff Andretti
Votes: 498 | Gross: $40.00M
35. 1 (2013)
Not Rated | 112 min | Documentary, Action, History
Set in the golden era of Grand Prix Racing '1' tells the story of a generation of charismatic drivers who raced on the edge, risking their lives during Formula 1's deadliest period, and the men who stood up and changed the sport forever.
Director: Paul Crowder | Stars: Michael Fassbender, Lewis Hamilton, Niki Lauda, Michael Schumacher
Votes: 4,475
36. Speedway (1968)
G | 94 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
Poor bookkeeping saddles stock-car driver Steve Grayson with a huge bill for back taxes which hampers his ability to continue racing competitively.
Director: Norman Taurog | Stars: Elvis Presley, Nancy Sinatra, Bill Bixby, Gale Gordon
Votes: 2,741
37. Michel Vaillant (2003)
103 min | Action, Sport
Fearless racer Michel Vaillant attempts to win "24 Hours of Le Mans", the famous highly challenging and prestigious annual endurance race that lasts one whole day.
Director: Louis-Pascal Couvelaire | Stars: Sagamore Stévenin, Peter Youngblood Hills, Diane Kruger, Jean-Pierre Cassel
Votes: 4,475
38. Driven (2001)
PG-13 | 116 min | Action, Drama, Sport
A young hot shot driver is in the middle of a championship season and is coming apart at the seams. A former CART champion is called in to give him guidance.
Director: Renny Harlin | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Kip Pardue, Til Schweiger, Burt Reynolds
Votes: 43,091 | Gross: $32.72M
39. TT3D: Closer to the Edge (2011)
Not Rated | 104 min | Documentary, Sport
Motorcycle racers reveal their motivation to participate each year in the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy, the most dangerous and deadliest event in the sport.
Director: Richard De Aragues | Stars: Guy Martin, Ian Hutchinson, John McGuinness, Michael Dunlop
Votes: 6,627
40. Heart Like a Wheel (1983)
PG | 113 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
Shirley Muldowney is determined to be a top-fuel drag racer, although no woman has ever raced them before. Despite the high risks of this kind of racing and the burden it places on her family life, she perseveres in her dream.
Director: Jonathan Kaplan | Stars: Bonnie Bedelia, Beau Bridges, Diane Delano, Ellen Geer
Votes: 1,582 | Gross: $0.27M
41. Red Line 7000 (1965)
Approved | 110 min | Action, Drama, Sport
The story of three racing drivers and three women, who constantly have to worry for the lives of their boyfriends. Jim Loomis and Mike Marsh drive for Pat Cassarian. Jim expects his fiancée... See full summary »
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: James Caan, Laura Devon, Gail Hire, Charlene Holt
Votes: 1,149
42. 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story (2004 TV Movie)
92 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
Barry Pepper portrays legendary race car drive Dale Earnhardt, who died in 2001 during the last lap of the Daytona 500.
Director: Russell Mulcahy | Stars: Barry Pepper, Elizabeth Mitchell, Ernest Whitted, Andrea Powell
Votes: 1,735
43. Greased Lightning (1977)
PG | 96 min | Action, Biography, Comedy
The true life story of Wendell Scott, the first black stock car racing driver to win an upper tier NASCAR race.
Director: Michael Schultz | Stars: Richard Pryor, Beau Bridges, Pam Grier, Cleavon Little
Votes: 1,983
44. Racing Legends (2012–2015)
60 min | Documentary, Sport
High-profile car enthusiasts retrace the steps of Great British racing legends. Their goal is to emulate the legend by re-enacting one of their greatest-ever races in a rare classic car.
Stars: Damon Hill, Patrick Stewart, James Martin, Chris Hoy
Votes: 37
45. Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman (2015)
Not Rated | 83 min | Documentary, Biography, Sport
A documentary chronicling the 35 year car racing career of Paul Newman. The documentary showcases Newman's racing life as both a prolific driver and owner.
Directors: Adam Carolla, Nate Adams | Stars: Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti, Dick Barbour, Bob Bondurant
Votes: 936
46. Adrenalin: The BMW Touring Car Story (2014)
123 min | Documentary, Sport
ADRENALIN brings the exciting and successful BMW touring car story to the big screen. 50 years of a spectacular sport played out at race circuits around the world. Charismatic drivers and ... See full summary »
Director: Tim Hahne | Stars: Johnny Cecotto, Augusto Farfus, Hubert Hahne, Joey Hand
Votes: 142
47. No Limits (2015)
60 min | Documentary
His new adventure takes Zanardi to one of the most famous endurance races in the world: The 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. He shares the cockpit of the BMW GT race car with two of the ... See full summary »
Director: Tim Hahne | Stars: Olaf Bulgrin, Timo Glock, Jens Marquardt, Bruno Spengler
Votes: 57
48. 24 Hours - One Team. One Target. (2011)
104 min | Documentary, Action, Sport
The 24-Hour Race at the Nuerburgring is known as the world's biggest motorsports event. More than 200,000 fans set up their camp in the Eifel forest and cheer for their heroes in the 210 ... See full summary »
Director: Tim Hahne | Stars: Dirk Adorf, Uwe Alzen, Augusto Farfus, Charly Lamm
Votes: 61
Tell Your Friends