Charlie Mincey is shown at age 19 in his first race car in 1949 at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. He raced for 33 years all over the South.

Today's dirt track automobile racers may have a hard time connecting the dots between the early days of their sport and running moonshine, but a Bradley County couple believe they have done that with their newest documentary, "It's a Dirt Track Life."

Producers Ron and Debbie Moore have scheduled the first showing of the 80-minute documentary for Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Museum Center at 5ive Points in Cleveland. The address is 200 Inman St. East.

According to Debbie Moore, the documentary explores the belief that dirt track racing originated from the unique driving skills of moonshine deliverymen. She said many of the drivers who were interviewed shared stories about that.

The Moores started last May with their interviews of pioneer dirt track racers and others involved in the "glory days" of the sport. In addition to interviews with about 20 men and women, the documentary includes home movies taken by friends and relatives of those involved in the early days of dirt track racing.

Also included are more than 200 vintage photographs of drivers and their cars -- some made from parts taken from junked vehicles.

Famed NASCAR racer Robert Glen Johnson Jr., better known as Junior Johnson, was convicted in 1956 of having an illegal still and served 11 months of a two-year prison sentence for it. He had started running "shine" for his father when he was 14.

On Dec. 26, 1986, President Ronald Reagan issued a pardon for Johnson, thus allowing him to vote.

While not quite as well known, Georgia Racing Hall of Fame member Charlie Mincey also made his mark in moonshine running. Mincey, who is included in the documentary, started hauling illegal liquor at the age of 14 and did so for the next five years before starting a 30-year racing career.

Mincey, who lived in Atlanta, would travel to Dawsonville, Ga., to pick up about 200 gallons of moonshine in his 1939 Ford and then travel back to Atlanta with a careful eye out for the law.

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Bradley County couple present dirt-racing documentary