Pops Racer (2008 character)


 * For the character from the original Speed Racer series, see Pops Racer.

Pops Racer is a main character from the Speed Racer film, portrayed by John Goodman.

Background
Pops Racer is the grandson of 1920s-era rum runner "Rapid" Ronnie Racer and son of demolition derby driver Pa Racer. From childhood, Pops had always been around cars. As a young adult, he found a job at Mishida Motors, working his way to the design table. Pops proved to be brilliant and intuitive in his automotive designs, and had won "Carchitect of the Year" three years running from 1956 to 1958.

At an unknown point in time, Pops participated in the Greco-Roman Wrestling federation as a professional wrestler and became the 19th State Champion.

After he left Mishida Motors, he started Racer Motors out of his suburban garage to construct hand-built cars, which became reputed to be a step above the others. The "Mach" series became known as a byword for car customization, starting with the Mach 1.

Pops took the Mach 1 to the Vanderbilt Cup, and entrusted the car to Digger Jones. However, because of "those darn hairpin turns" at the race course, plus Jones' driving, the Mach 1's gearbox got stripped, resulting in a DNF. The evolution of Pops' cars got to the point where he could no longer rely on outside drivers to race them, that everything had to be done in-house, both figuratively and literally. He tasked his first-born son, Rex, to be the one to drive the Racer family's hand-built cars at the circuit.

Sometime after Rex won the race at Thunderhead in the Mach 4, he left the team and walked out on the family, with Pops angrily telling him that if he leaves, he is not to come back. After Rex died in the Casa Cristo 5000, Pops attended his funeral alongside his wife and second-born son Speed. He closed down Racer Motors and lived life as a family man in the neighborhood. He also did what he could to keep Speed from becoming a racing driver for fear that history would repeat itself. He had also taken a correspondence course in metallurgy while in retirement. He was initially angered at Speed upon learning that he was driving at Thunderhead, but recognizing his driving ability, he regained his lost passion for motorsports and reopened Racer Motors.

MORE TO BE ADDED

Trivia

 * In the film, due to being a former wrestling champion, he is the strongest among his family. He easily defeated a ninja and disarmed two of Cruncher Block's men.
 * It is mentioned in Wonderful World of Racing: The Amazing Racer Family that Pops was the one who built Trixie's helicopter, showing that he has some shred of know-how and technical expertise in aeronautics.