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Hazzardous duty

By KEN BECK
Staff Writer

View Article on Tennessean.com

'Dukes' cast, 'General Lee' roar into Bristol raceway for fan festival

For a TV show that's no longer on the air, The Dukes of Hazzard is hotter than cousin Daisy Duke in a pair of denim cutoffs in July.

A Dukes of Hazzard feature film is in pre-production, the first season of the TV series was recently released on DVD, a new video game arrives in September, and Dukesfest 2004 rolls into the Bristol Motor Speedway in East Tennessee July 31-Aug. 1.

''It's the biggest thing we've ever done. If you love The Dukes of Hazzard, NASCAR and country music, you'll love this,'' said Ben Jones, the actor behind Hazzard County mechanic Cooter and sidekick to Bo and Luke Duke.

''We're calling it a Southern Woodstock but for families. There will be no drinking, no fighting, no shooting and no spitting on the floor.''

What there will be at the two-day event is lots of bluegrass music, drag racing, an automobile stunt show, including a world record jump attempt by the General Lee, and appearances by cast members Jones, Catherine Bach (Daisy Duke), James Best (Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane) Sonny Shroyer (Deputy Enos), Rick Hurst (Deputy Cletus) and Don Pedro Colley (Sheriff Little).

''It's a nice event. It will be fun, kind of like a county fair,'' Bach said. ''The fans are fantastic. I think everybody has a good time and it's a way for all of us getting together.''

''Great music sort of anchors it,'' said Jones, naming such acts as Lonesome River Band, Jesse McReynolds, Ralph Stanley and his own Cooter's Garage Band. ''I'm an actor and never claimed to be a singer, but I act like a singer. They have to let me sing. It's my band and I pay 'em.''

Jones, who is organizing Dukesfest, knows that the cars were as big as the stars on the hit TV series that aired on CBS from 1979 to 1985.

''The car stuff is gonna be amazing,'' he says, referring mainly to the General Lee, Bo and Luke Duke's bright orange 1969 Dodge Charger that featured a horn that played Dixie.

''We're gonna wreck a bunch of police cars during a stunt and daredevil show.''

To help promote the 25th anniversary celebration of the TV series, Jones, Bach, Shroyer and Hurst will be guests on tonight's Grand Ole Opry. And replicas of the General Lee, Daisy's Jeep and Cooter's tow truck will be on display this afternoon at Opry Plaza.

This year's Dukesfest is the fourth edition. Previously, Jones held the event near his home in Sperryville, Va., the former site of his tourist attraction, Cooter's Place.

''The thing got bigger and bigger and the store got bigger and bigger, so we opened a new store in Gatlinburg in spring 2002,'' said Jones, who spends many of his summer nights at minor league baseball stadiums, where he drives around in the General Lee and sings the national anthem.

''The Dukes of Hazzard has become a classic. It's been 25 years and it's just amazing the way people react to this thing. The DVD has just come out, Wal-Mart can't keep them on the shelves, and there's a third video game. Warner Bros. is finally getting hip to the fact that Dukes is a permanent piece of Americana.

''The show was not so much about the South as about the heartland of America, a quintessential American show with fast cars, pretty girls, country music and great comedy — like an old B-western where the good guys always win and nobody gets hurt and you learn right from wrong,'' Jones said. ''It was unpretentious, goodhearted and had good action for a weekly series. And there were those boys and the best-looking girl in the history of television and the car.''

Bach, now a homemaker in Southern California with daughters ages 5 and 8, says it was simply ''a wholesome funny show where you could laugh with and at the people.''

She nearly blew off the audition for the role that made her famous.

''I thought, 'They want a Dolly Parton look-alike.' They're not gonna like me.' '' But like her they did, and she became the most merchandised woman of the '80s.

''I have 500 toys,'' Bach says, referring to mementos she kept from the show, from lunch boxes and dolls to toy cars and bed sheets, not to mention her wardrobe with famous cutoffs.

Jones, too, has collected a lot of the goodies.

''In the 1990s, Dukes came back on TNN and took off like a rocket but with the next generation of kids. . . . It took on another life and now seems to have kicked into gear again. That stuff, you look on eBay and Dukes stuff has become very collectible,'' says Jones, who has his collection on display at Cooter's Place in Gatlinburg, along with vehicles.

When The Dukes of Hazzard went off the air, Jones got into politics and served two terms in Congress from 1989 to 1993 before losing to Newt Gingrich in 1994.

''That was it for me,'' Jones said. '' . . . He had a gazillion bucks and I had $12.19. I'm an old yellow-dog Democrat, but we don't do politics at Dukes events. I'm having too much fun, and am real, real happy and busier than I've ever been.''

'The Dukes' new video game due this fall

Coming in September is a new video game, The Dukes of Hazzard: Return of the General Lee.

Players step into the shoes of Bo and Luke Duke as they race to win prize money in the Hazzard County Derby in order to save the local orphanage from Boss Hogg's latest crooked scheme. With the help of Daisy Duke, Uncle Jesse and Cooter, the good ol' boys go up against Hogg, Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane and Deputy Enos. The game is filled with wild off-road action, gravity-defying stunts and car chases.

Voice-overs and likenesses come from many cast members including John Schneider, Tom Wopat and Catherine Bach.

Getting there

Dukesfest 2004, the 25th anniversary celebration of The Dukes of Hazzard, begins at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, July 31, and Sunday, Aug. 1, at Bristol Motor Speedway and Dragway in Bristol, Tenn.

The site is about 260 miles east of Nashville.

Tickets for Dukesfest are $15 for a single day or $25 for a two-day pass. Children under 10 will be admitted free of charge. Advance ticket purchases will qualify for a special grand prize drawing, including a ride in the General Lee. Tickets may be purchased at the Bristol Motor Speedway ticket office at 1-423-764-1161 or at Cooter's Place, 1-865-430-9909 in Gatlinburg, Tenn.

For more information about Dukesfest 2004, visit www. cootersplace.com. The schedule (all times are listed Eastern standard time):

Saturday, July 31

Drag racing and children's play area open all day

11 a.m.-5 p.m.: Stars and stunt team autograph sessions

Noon: Cooter's Garage Band

2 p.m.: Travis Wetzel Trio

4 p.m.: BlueRidge

6 p.m.: Stunt show with the General Lee world-record jump attempt

8 p.m.: Cooter's Hoedown

Sunday, Aug. 1

Drag racing and children's play area open all day

11 a.m.: Show cars parade

Noon-4 p.m.: Stars and stunt team autograph sessions

Noon: Hazzard County Boys

1:15 p.m.: Jesse McReynolds and the Virginia Boys

2:45 p.m.: The Lonesome River Band

4:15 p.m.: Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys

5:30 p.m.: Grand finale with cast, stunt drivers and bands