Circle Track Summer

Production

At the 2004 debut of Pallotta's film Lake Evermore, Palotta announced his plans to film Circle Track Summer as "a launching pad for a commercial filmmaking career", with plans to have it air on a cable network and eventually be released to home video. Filming occurred over a 14-month period (2005–2006) at the Barberton Raceway in Barberton, Ohio. With most of cast and crew working for free, the film was made on a micro-budget of under $10,000, and was one of the first independent films shot by cinematographer Chris Parker on the Panasonic DVX100 digital video camera. The film was edited in a room in the director's house and music was provided by musician friends of the director.

Circle Track Summer is Steve Pallotta's third full length feature, following his first two movies The Forbidden Closet and Lake Evermore. With this project, cinematographer Chris Parke, takes his production level "up several notches".

The project was shot entirely on location in the Akron, Ohio area, with more than 200 locals involved in the one-year filming. The project's costume design was done by Susie Smith, known for her award-winning work on St. Elsewhere.

The filmed debuted July 29, and had a DVD release by CustomFlix on May 19, 2006.

The film features WNIR radio talk show personalities, Stan Piatt, Maggie Fuller, Tom Erickson, Phil Fergusson, and Bob Earley. The film also includes cameo appearances by Akron Beacon-Journal columnist Bob Dyer, Bob Golic of Saved By the Bell: The College Years with additional cameos by Cuyahoga Falls then-mayor Don Robart and Nina Rawls, wife of Lou Rawls.

Plot

The owner of a failing race track seeks to reverse his fortune by holding a series of promotion events where the cars are driven by women. Becky (JodyMarie Spiech) is a waitress who unknowingly puts her life in danger while attempting to save the family farm. She had rediscovered her lost high-school sweetheart, reporter Scoop Hendrickson (Tony Rio), and must decide whether or not to tell him of what ended their romance. To raise money to save the farm, she and three other financially strapped but voluptuous local girls, Su Shi (Jenna Christie), Tammy Lay (Heather Ley) and Jette Black (Lindsay Robertson), sign up for a new Powder-Puff auto racing event at the Barberton Speedway in hopes of winning cold, hard cash. The promotional catch developed by the track owner is that the women must wear bikinis as they race, and must drive the cars backwards.

Release

The film was released on DVD on March 19, 2006, and screened April 14, 2007 at the Akron Independent Film Festival.

Response

Record-Courier offered that the film had both strengths and weaknesses. The reviewer wrote "On the weakness side, there was a little too much going on at times, and as a result, some of the plot and character development got lost in the shuffle. There were a couple of continuity problems, but those weren't enough to jar me out of the movie. Other than that, any perceived faults really are more a matter of individual taste (Lost In Translation it’s not) and tolerance for ethnic jokes, sexual innuendo and nudity. The strengths lie mostly in three things: the willingness of the filmmakers to take a chance by poking fun at every known stereotype of Ohioans, and especially of natives of Barberton; Pallotta’s ability to avoid crossing the fine line between localizing a story by using well-known landmarks or inside jokes and providing free advertising by referring to everything by its full name and location - something natives of an area never do; and the supporting players."