Coming from director Roger Corman, "The Young Racers" actually has a story you could follow fairly well, unlike a couple I've just watched like "Gas" and "The Trip". I guess you have to take the bad with the good. The story here has a novelist (Mark Damon) intending to do an exposé on womanizing race car driver Joe Machin (William Campbell), and in the process, comes to understand him a little better as a person and a competitor. But make no mistake, Machin is a creep and a cad, who sees women as targets to be exploited, while at the same time, many of those women seem to invite the experience. And at the same time, he's married to a woman who really does love him despite his infidelity. So it comes as some surprise when the story reveals that Steve Children (Damon) is an ex-race car driver himself, and winds up as an alternate, and eventually a seeded driver in the same events as Machin and on the same Lotus race car team.
One thing that puzzled me was that in their races, the principals didn't seem to drive the same cars from event to event. The races were all Grand Prix competitions, and in pictures like the recent "Ford v Ferrari" and 1971's "Le Mans", the principals always drove the same cars which makes sense, because all vehicles are different, with nuances that become second nature for the person who handles them. So that was a bit of a disconnect, seeing Machin driving Lotus's numbered #16, 12 and 20, while Children climbed behind the wheel of Lotus's #17, 14 and 22. It just didn't make sense to me, especially since all the cars looked exactly the same, except for the numbering.
Anyway, the competitive juices of Machin and Children give rise to a rivalry that could have turned into a disaster in their last race, with Steve skidding out and Joe crashing and burning, but surviving the collision. By that time, Joe had come to terms with his growing fear that the aggressive driving he was used to was in a state of decline and could eventually lead to a fatality. It also opened his eyes to a decadent lifestyle that could be turned around if his wife had anything to do with it. Which is how the picture wound up offering a feel good ending of sorts, with the principals involved gaining a new found respect for each other.
One thing that puzzled me was that in their races, the principals didn't seem to drive the same cars from event to event. The races were all Grand Prix competitions, and in pictures like the recent "Ford v Ferrari" and 1971's "Le Mans", the principals always drove the same cars which makes sense, because all vehicles are different, with nuances that become second nature for the person who handles them. So that was a bit of a disconnect, seeing Machin driving Lotus's numbered #16, 12 and 20, while Children climbed behind the wheel of Lotus's #17, 14 and 22. It just didn't make sense to me, especially since all the cars looked exactly the same, except for the numbering.
Anyway, the competitive juices of Machin and Children give rise to a rivalry that could have turned into a disaster in their last race, with Steve skidding out and Joe crashing and burning, but surviving the collision. By that time, Joe had come to terms with his growing fear that the aggressive driving he was used to was in a state of decline and could eventually lead to a fatality. It also opened his eyes to a decadent lifestyle that could be turned around if his wife had anything to do with it. Which is how the picture wound up offering a feel good ending of sorts, with the principals involved gaining a new found respect for each other.