Smokey and the Bandit sponsored a racer in Atlanta's Southern Classic and wants to celebrate in style when he wins. They find local legend Bo "Bandit" Darville at a roadeo at Lakewood Fairgrounds in Atlanta and offer him $80,000 to pick up 400 cases of Coors from Texarkana (the closest place it could be legally sold at that time), and bring it back to Atlanta in 28 hours. Bandit takes the bet and recruits his partner Cledus "Snowman" Snow to drive the truck, while Bandit drives a black Pontiac Trans Am bought on an advance from the Burdettes as a "blocker" to divert attention
Jackie Gleason New York City, filming moved to Miami, Florida, in 1964 after Gleason took up permanent residence there. Among his notable film roles were Minnesota Fats in the 1961 Academy Award-winning drama "The Hustler" (co-starring with Paul Newman), and Buford T. Justice in the "Smokey and the Bandit" series from 1977 into the early 1980s (co-starring Burt Reynolds). Throughout the 1950s and 1960s Gleason enjoyed a prominent secondary music career, producing a series of best-selling "mood music" albums. His first album, "Music for Lovers Only", still holds the record for the longest stay on the Billboard Top Ten Charts (153 weeks),