Randy Lanier: the hotshot driver who juggled racing and drug smuggling
Here it was, the escape hatch that never fails to present itself in crime films: a chance to get away with it, an opportunity to go legit. Except when this all-too-real turning point arrived 37 years ago, Randy Lanier was deep into an unlikely double life as an endurance car racer and marijuana smuggler – and was convinced the feds were closing in on him. But to his great relief, the suspicious-looking suits who had been shadowing him at the track late in the 1984 IMSA endurance racing season weren’t FBI agents; they were representatives from Ford. And once they finally approached Lanier, he couldn’t believe what they were offering: a sit-down in Detroit to discuss him joining their factory team. In essence, it meant he wouldn’t have to smuggle weed to keep Blue Thunder – his racing team – punching well above its weight, and KO’ing some of the biggest dogs in the sport.
