When you grow up in farm country, you find yourself surrounded by people who simultaneously worship two individuals -- Jesus Christ and Dale Earnhardt. Jesus Christ, of course, is the Son of God and Savior of mankind who famously allowed Himself to be brutally tortured and hung by nails from a wooden cross to save us all from eternal damnation; while Dale Earnhardt was a dude who drove fast cars until he crashed one of them. So really, you can see why they're both so revered.

Okay, so I'm not a NASCAR fan, even though I grew up in the right area for it. I grew up as the comic book geek, remember? But even I have to admit Dale Earnhardt was a pretty fantastic dude. He was, by most accounts, a very nice, humorous, and exceptionally talented individual who really helped vault the sport he loved onto a much larger stage. He was one of those guys you just felt compelled to like any time you saw him -- unless, I suppose, you were a fan of a different driver, in which case you probably disliked him every time he was outracing your guy. So well liked was Dale, he's got an archival-footage film called Dale this year; and ThatsRacin.com has an interview with his widow Teresa about the film.

Teresa, naturally, said the film was hard to make in many respects, because it involved so many memories of her late husband and the career which took his life -- but at the same time it was a joy to create for many of the same reasons. She said the film allowed her to share more of the personal, private Dale with people who mostly only got to see the professional-racer Dale. It will also help illustrate just how Dale Earnhardt helped move NASCAR from something of a fringe sport to the mainstream.

So ... racing fans ... how does Teresa's heavy involvement with this flick play into the currently popular rumors of her entire lack of interest and attendance in Jr's racing?

NASCAR fans are looking at an embarrassment of cinematic riches these days, what with the recent release of Cars and the looming arrival of Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and the (admittedly smallish, but it's better than nothing, right?) wave of films shows no signs of slowing down. In addition to the upcoming Richard Petty biopic (starring one of the Quaid brothers), fans now have a Dale Earnhardt documentary to look forward to. CMT Films and NASCAR Images recently announced their intention to collaborate on the doc, entitled Dale, which is being made with the full cooperation of Earnhardt's family and is expected to include "archival race footage, rare outtakes, never-before-seen home videos and interviews with [his] friends, family, competitors and fans."

What is most interesting about Dale, however, is its planned release structure. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie will hit theaters next February, but only those in cities on the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series circuit. Perhaps inspired by the recent world premiere of Cars at a racetrack, CMT's vice-president of programing indicated that the film's debut in each city will not be a typical, quiet appearance in a local theater. Instead, CMT's goal is to "create an event atmosphere more like a live concert than a traditional movie screening." After that limited theatrical exposure, Dale will air on CMT in the fall, followed by a DVD release.