Sad indeed, Jason.
The movie also has psychological overtones to it and will keep you glued to the screen.
You will also notice the obvious mistakes by the car driver in the chase, failure to prepare and also think tactically before the very end.
There were some places on the road where the driver could have set up an ambush and fired at the truck/driver with a good weapon. There was no-one around to witness anything.
What would be a good weapon to have in the car? Your Marlin 45/70 might do the job, though an M1-A Socom .308 for distance and accuracy would be king.
This one is a beauty.

Are you allowed to carry a rifle in the trunk in Alaska?
That movie caused many psycho truck drivers to pull the same thing on deserted roads.
What could Dennis Weaver have done when he recognized the truck stopped at the diner, and circled it but could not see the driver? What else could he have done to handle the situation in general?
In the movie the truck was very fast with a modified engine. The car Dennis was driving could not get out of its own way.
Rule no 1 on the road is to drive a very powerful but easy to maneuver car…so you can get away and disappear.