Who else but racing legend Mario Andretti could balance an IMAX camera on an Indy car traveling at 230 miles-per-hour? It’s all part of the filming involved in the new IMAX film, Super Speedway, at the McWane Center.

Speed demon Mario Andretti is the epitome of the handsome, charming race car driver. The most versatile champion in racing history, Andretti has won in Indy cars, stock cars, high-tech Formula I racers, sprint cars, and 24-hour endurance racing. Adding a Hollywood flourish, the Italian racer with the Tony Bennett-good looks drove for a team owned by actor and fellow driver Paul Newman.

Now, highly-acclaimed IMAX director Stephen Low gives audiences the rare opportunity to experience Andretti’s 230-mile-per-hour perspective. For Southerners open-minded enough to check out racing other than the NASCAR sort, the McWane Center’s IMAX Theatre will feature the documentary Super Speedway for a five-month run beginning Saturday, March 23. Indy cars are faster and quicker than stock cars, and their wheel-to-wheel, tension-fueled battles are breathtaking. The half-million dollar automobiles pull four G’s in the turns, and create enough suction to jerk manhole covers from streets on road course surfaces (covers are welded to the street for road races).

Andretti was lured out of semi-retirement to pilot an Indy race car fitted with an IMAX camera whose aerodynamically intrusive bulk raised concerns that the car would fail to reach top speeds. Refusing to participate unless filming was done under true racing conditions, the veteran driver put those doubts to rest when he hit 240 miles per hour. “You never really know what’s going to happen until you dive into a corner at over 200 miles per hour, because otherwise these cars don’t react,” says Andretti, describing the aerodynamic forces that drivers challenge in order to find the perfect balance between risk and opportunity. Testing a new car is a daring, unpredictable venture. “You don’t have the sense of what this animal is going to do,” Andretti comments. “These things can bite.” Initially, the camera would shut off when speeds hit 210 miles per hour because of “harmonic vibrations killing the electronics in the camera,” according to Andretti. Filming took place during practice sessions prior to each of four different races during the 1996 season, documenting Mario’s son Michael Andretti’s quest for the CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) championship. Mario Andretti was in control of switching the camera on and off, and it was up to him to find the best shots.

A second story line develops when an automobile restorer finds a 1964 Dean Van Line Special Roadster in an abandoned chicken coop in Indiana. It’s the same car that Mario Andretti drove at the 1964 Indianapolis 500. Restoration continues throughout the movie until Andretti is reunited with the reconditioned sparkling white and chrome Roadster at the film’s end. Vintage footage depicts races from earlier days, including an ample number of dramatic crashes to emphasize the risks drivers take.

The film transcends the titillating boundaries of in-car race cameras that project drivers’ perspectives during Sunday afternoon telecasts. Both Mario and Michael Andretti were amazed at the realism of IMAX racing. “With an on-board video camera, you don’t really get a true picture of what’s going on,” explains Mario. “This IMAX stuff will keep you on the edge of your seat because everything is happening the way the drivers see it.”

Super Speedway will be shown at the McWane Center March 23 through August 30. For more information, call 714-8300.