Stroker Ace

Stroker Ace is a 1983 American action comedy film directed by Hal Needham and starring Burt Reynolds as the eponymous Stroker Ace, a NASCAR driver. Burt Reynolds turned down the role of astronaut Garrett Breedlove in Terms of Endearment to do this film. The role went to Jack Nicholson, who went on to win an Academy Award. Reynolds said he made this decision because "I felt I owed Hal more than I owed Jim" but that it was a turning point in his career from which he never recovered. Although car-themed films starring Reynolds had all previously been successes - including four made with Needham - Stroker Ace flopped. "That's where I lost them," he later said of his fans.