Smokey and the Bandit episodes of the series. Needham saw an advertisement for the soon-to-be-released 1977 Pontiac Trans Am and knew right away that would be the Bandit's car, or, as Needham referred to it, a character in the movie. He contacted Pontiac and an agreement was made that four 1977 Trans Ams and two Pontiac LeMans 4-door sedans would be provided for the movie. The Trans Ams were actually 1976-model cars with 1977 front ends. (From 1970 to 1976, both the Firebird/Trans Am and Chevrolet Camaro had two round headlights, and in 1977, the Firebird/Trans Am was changed to four rectangular headlights, while
Atlanta Motor Speedway races began featuring night qualifying. In 2006, the Bass Pro Shops 500 start time was adjusted to guarantee a night finish. The opening scenes of the 1980 movie "Smokey and the Bandit II" were filmed at the track, as were scenes of the 1983 film "Stroker Ace"; a 40th anniversary stunt show to commemorate the 1977 filming of the original "Smokey and the Bandit" in nearby Jonesboro, Georgia, was held at AMS in 2017 and attended by Burt Reynolds. The track was featured in the 1982 Kenny Rogers movie "Six Pack". Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter once worked as a