Debunking the myths about ‘Breaking Away’

“Breaking Away” isn’t a true story.
The movie was written by former Little 500 rider Steve Tesich. Tesich rode for the 1962 Phi Kappa Psi team with legendary Little 500 rider Dave Blase, who was the model for the movie character Dave Stohler. Blase rode 139 of 200 laps to lead the Phi Psis to victory. Blase, like Stohler of “Breaking Away,” was an Italian opera enthusiast with an eccentric personality.


Cutters actors Jackie Earle Haley, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern and Dennis Christopher pose for a post-race victory photo on filming day in 1979 at the Tenth Street Stadium.

Only students are allowed to ride in the Little 500.
The Cutters team in the movie were not students. The race has never been open to non-students. In the movie, the race was open to non-students to ease the tension between the students and the “cutters,” or Bloomington locals. In the late 1970s, however, there was tension between the Bloomington community and the University because of the massive amount of people the weekend brought into the quiet midwestern town.

The real cutters team is not made up of Bloomington locals. They are also students.
The actual Cutters team was started in 1983 by ousted Delta Chi students. They named themselves the Cutters after the team in the movie to gain attention. They were not, and never have been, a team full of Bloomington locals.


During filming, “Breaking Away” director Peter Yates tried to recreate the Little 500 race exactly. He advertised in the Indiana Daily Student for extras to appear in the mock race, but not enough people showed. Yates was forced to move the crowd around the stadium in different shots to give the illusion that the stadium was full.

Source: The Little 500 by John Schwarb