Interview with ‘Smash Motorized Mayhem’ Chuck Rush
XLrator media released Smash: Motorized Mayhem on VOD and iTunes on March 21. In rural Florida, blue-collar folks gather to witness a bi-annual wild event, Figure-8 School Bus Racing!
Nineteen full-size school buses pack a puny 3/8-mile figure-8 track and race 20 harrowing laps to crown a victor. It features four men whose passion to entertain and to win are at the heart of this race.
Chuck Rush joined The Hype Magazine for an interview about the film and how it all came together.
The Hype Magazine: How did you get involved with Smash: Motorized Mayhem?
Chuck Rush: Basically, back when I was about 16 years old, it all began because I worked at a salvage yard and they had demolition derbies and I used to come out and run the demolition derbies. As I grew older and I progressed into motor sports, I started into the stock car racing, demolition derbies, stunt man, and then school bus racing. We were actually doing school bus racing when Kevin Burroughs, the producer, approached us and asked if we could make a film about it.
The Hype Magazine: What is the film about?
Rush: It focuses on myself as well as two other drivers and a track promoter. School bus racing is part of a bigger event called Crashorama. It pretty much follows myself, Ben Craft and Butch Pierce. It’s about 3 to 4 weeks from the show as we start getting our buses ready for the show and it basically leads you all the way through. It shows you a lot of the action and a lot of the behind the scenes things as well as camera footage from the race itself. It just covers three of us as we get ready. I like to call it “red neck racing.” We try to find a way to race and wreck everything there is. We came up with that crazy idea several years ago, it started as just a joke and now it’s a huge event across the country.
The Hype Magazine: How long have you been working on this project?
Rush: It’s been a few years since we did the film, but I’ve been involved with this type of racing for 25 years now. After the film was made, my wife bought the company Crashorama. I still drive for special events, but now I am the promoter of these events. We do shows in Columbus Ohio, Buffalo, NY, Pennsylvania.
The Hype Magazine: Did you film in one location or did you film in multiple locations?
Rush: It was filmed in Orlando at Orlando Speedworld because that’s where Crashorama and school bus racing really began and it was the first place to have this type of event in the entire country. I’m proud to say that I was part of the first race like this ever held in the country.
The Hype Magazine: Since the beginning of your career, tell me about a situation that has made you proud. Why was this and what was the outcome?
Rush: My proudest moment as a driver was when I finally won my first event out at Orlando Speedworld. I had actually bought my entire family tickets so my family was there to watch me win it and it was done on a last lap pass. As a promoter, my proudest moment was last year at Columbus Motor Speedway. It was a racetrack in Columbus, Ohio that had been in continuous operation for 71 years. It was closing its doors forever and we did one last show there and we set the all-time attendance record for the entire 71-year history.
The Hype Magazine: From a professional context, what do you feel your greatest strengths are?
Rush: I like to think I’m a very good promoter. Now that my wife and I own the company, I do my own promotion, my own advertising, my own marketing and stuff like that. Considering that I didn’t have a college degree in it, I look back on the stuff I was able to accomplish and still accomplish and think ‘that’s pretty cool, I’m very good at promoting.’ I’m also the announcer for our show. So now that I get to be the announcer, that makes me pretty proud too.
The Hype Magazine: What other projects do you have going on?
Rush: Right now, we’re working on our Crashorama season for 2017. Our first show is Memorial Day weekend at Lake Eerie Speedway in Eerie, Pennsylvania. We do the school bus racing there, but we also do trailer racing where you hook boats and campers behind demolishing derby style cars.
VOD and iTunes release date: March 21, 2017
Tweet
About the Author
Jae Monique Contributing Editor Co-host and contributor to multiple media outlets. Interviewed celebs including Columbus Short, Darrin Henson, Claudia Jordan, Cocoa Brown and more.
Related Posts
Emmy-Nominated Filmmaker Serena DC Talks Aliens and New Film →
May Fall and “Sleep” Takes Listeners on a Mesmerizing Journey into the Depths of the Mind →
Love Crushed Velvet Talks New Single and Visual for “Blind Emotions” →
