In response to an audience question at the Rome (Georgia) International Film Festival, Burt Reynolds said that the role of Vic Edwards was the most "honest" he had or would ever play.
Adam Rifkin has said that if Burt Reynolds turned the role of Vic Edwards down, he would not have made the movie.
When Vic is asked about why he went from Marlon Brando style character-studies to 'actioney' pictures, he says, "I turned down Serpico for Johnny Speedway." Al Pacino was in Serpico in 1973, the same year Burt was in what many (including himself) consider his last great character-driven film with serious acting, Deliverance, although it does involve a lot of action.
Vic Edwards wife, Claudia Schulman is played by Kathleen Nolan. She also appears as a co-star with Vic in a scene shown near the end of the film festival. The film festival scene was taken from a real episode of Gunsmoke, Comanches Is Soft (1964) featuring both Kathleen Nolan and Burt Reynolds.
Writer and Director Adam Rifkin has said he wrote the part of Vic specifically for Burt Reynolds.