ASU’s Brad Yoder
Brad Yoder is looking forward to the debut of “Madhouse,” a 13-part television series following the lives and antics of stock-car drivers at Winston-Salem’s Bowman Gray Stadium that will begin airing Sunday.
Yoder, a 1994 graduate of Appalachian State, was an associate producer for the series, which will run weekly on the History Channel.
“Sunday, 10 p.m.,” Yoder said. “Watch or set the DVRs.”
Yoder, who grew up in High Point, majored in psychology at ASU, and went on to UNC to pursue a master’s degree in sports psychology with plans to pursue a career with a pro sports franchise. But he also had an interest in films.
“I had some friends that wanted to move to Los Angeles and I thought, ‘You know what, I’ve always lived in North Carolina and would like to live somewhere else just to see way it’s like,’ so I took off out there and jumped right into the industry and started a production company,” Yoder said.
As an actor, he has appeared in several movies, television shows and commercials – everything from a part in “Beverly Hill 90210” to an Anheuser Busch ad that appeared during NASCAR events.
He spent last summer as an associate producer for “Madhouse,” and recently completed a film “Red Dirt Rising,” based on the life of stock-car racing pioneer Jimmie Lewallen of High Point.
Yoder plays the role of Lewallen and was also an associate producer for “Red Dirt Rising.”. He said that the movie is being shown at film festivals across the country and hopes that it will make it to general theaters and later be available on DVD.
He is currently working on developing a feature film entitled “Seabreeze,” which chronicles the evolution of beach and shag music in the 1940s and ‘50s.
Yoder said that he still has time to follow ASU sports.
“The programs there have just grown tremendously,” Yoder said. “It was nice to turn on the TV and see Appalachian beating Michigan, let me tell you that.”