Talladega got off to a controversial start when the Professional Drivers Association, a union of drivers led by the great Richard Petty, went on strike the night before the inaugural Talladega 500. The union was concerned with the speed which could be attained due to the track's length and steep banking, and the perceived threat to driver safety that this posed. NASCAR founder Bill France took to the track himself in a car and drove around it at high speeds. NASCAR also ran a successful support race, but it was not enough, and the PDA drivers went on strike. Replacement drivers from the previous day's race were asked to race, and tickets were good for future races. The race was the only win for Richard Brickhouse and was the debut race for Richard Childress.

Speeds well in excess of 200 mph (320 km/h) were commonplace at Talladega. Talladega Superspeedway has the record for the fastest recorded time in a stock car - 212.809 mph set by Bill Elliott on April 30, 1987. Elliott circled the 2.66-mile tri-oval in 44.998 seconds. Early in that race, Bobby Allison's Buick flew into the catch fence, injuring fans. NASCAR imposed rule changes to slow the cars after the incident with a 1988 rule requiring cars running there and at Daytona run with restrictor plates. The plates limit the amount of air and fuel which could be entering the intake manifolds of the car at any one time, which greatly reducing the power of the cars and hence their speed. This has led to the style of racing held at Talladega and Daytona to be somewhat different than that at other superspeedways and to be referred to by NASCAR fans as "restrictor-plate racing". The reduced power affects not only the maximum speed reached by the cars but the time it takes them to achieve their full speed as well, which can be nearly one full circuit of the track. The racing seen at Talladega today is extremely tight; often in rows of three or four cars throughout most of the field. Such close quarters makes it extremely difficult to control the car, and the slightest mistake often leads to massive (and often frightening) accidents - dubbed "the big one" by fans and drivers - and Talladega is notorious for such. Crashes are less frequent at Daytona as handling plays a greater role there.

Talladega hosts both two Sprint Cup and one Nationwide Series races, NASCAR's top two divisions, annually. Both of the Sprint Cup races are 500.08 miles (188 laps) (800 km) in length. The names by which the races are called now vary due to the purchase of naming rights, with the spring Nextel Cup race since spring 2002 (2002) being referred to as the Aaron's 499 after the Atlanta-based rent-to-own chain. On July 26 2005 it was announced that the Camping World Truck Series would begin holding a race at Talladega starting in 2006.

The Aaron's 499 was known as one of the sport's four legs of the traditional "Winston Million", with the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, and the Southern 500 being the other three. With the demise of the Southern 500 by a lawsuit, there are only three majors remaining. (From 1985 until 1997, a driver who won three majors won a one million dollar bonus.)

The International Motorsports Hall of Fame is adjacent to the Talladega Superspeedway.

See also: List of NASCAR race tracks

Current Races

• NASCAR Sprint Cup - Aaron's 499
• NASCAR Sprint Cup - Amp Energy 500
• NASCAR Nationwide Series - Aaron's 312
• NASCAR Camping World Truck Series - Mountain Dew 250
• ARCA ReMax Series - ARCA 250

Records

• August 20, 1971: Paula Murphy, "Miss STP" made a record closed course run for a female at 171.499 mph.
• August, 1974: A.J. Foyt tests an Indy car at a speed of over 217 mph.
• August 9, 1975: Mark Donohue sets a closed-course world record at 221.160 mph. It would stand as a world record for four years, and as a United States record until 1986.
• 1984: The Winston 500 set a still standing NASCAR record with 75 lead changes in a single race.
• May 5, 1985: Bill Elliott sets a 500-mile race record, winning the Winston 500 at an average speed of 186.288 mph. Elliott won the race despite losing nearly two laps during a lengthy early pit stop to fix a broken oil line, and despite the race only having two caution flags. Elliott made up the entire distance he lost under one lengthy, green-flag period. The record stood as the fastest 500-mile race of any kind until 1990, when Al Unser, Jr. broke it by winning the CART Michigan 500 at Michigan International Speedway at an average speed of 189.727 mph. Mark Martin later broke the record for fastest 500-mile NASCAR race (see below).
• November 26, 1985: Lyn St. James sets a record closed course run for a female, at over 200 mph.
• 1986: The Saab Long Run - set of 2 world and 21 international records with three series SAAB 9000 Turbo - 100,000 km with an average speed of 213.299 km/h and 50,000 miles with an average speed of 213.686 km/h.

• May 1, 1987: Bill Elliott sets the all-time NASCAR qualifying record, winning the pole for the Winston 500 at a speed of 212.809 mph (44.998 seconds). The record still stands due strictly to the use of the carburetor restrictor plate, mandated after the 1987 season.
• October 11, 1988: Lyn St. James sets a record closed course run for a female at 212.577 mph, driving a Ford Thunderbird.
• December 14, 1989: Patty Moise sets a record closed course run for a female at 216.607 mph, driving a Buick.
• January 23, 1990: Patty Moise sets a record closed course run for a female at 217.498 mph, driving a Buick.
• 1996 Saab set endurance and speed record-breaking runs in their 900.
• May 10, 1997: Mark Martin wins the Winston Select 500, a race which had no caution flags, at a NASCAR 500-mile record speed of 188.354 mph.
• June 10, 2004: Rusty Wallace tests a stock car without a restrictor plate, and hits a speed over 228 mph on the straights, and 221 mph average speed for the lap.

Memorable races at Talladega

• 1969: After a strike by the Professional Drivers Association, Richard Brickhouse,taking over the #99 car,wins his only career race in a field consisting of mostly Grand American drivers.
• 1973: The 1973 Winston 500 featured the largest starting field in modern era, 60 cars. On the 9th lap of the race,a multi-car crash occurred on the backstretch,eliminating 20 cars in all. David Pearson took the win by over a lap.
• 1973: Early in the 1973 Talladega 500,Larry Smith is killed in a freak accident in the first turn. His crew was fixing his car when they heard of his passing.
• 1975: Tiny Lund is tragically killed in the running of the Talladega 500 in a seventh lap crash. Dick Brooks takes a spectacular tumble down the backstretch later in the race. Buddy Baker would take the victory.
• 1981: Ron Bouchard wins his only Winston Cup event after passing Terry Labonte and Darrell Waltrip in the tri-oval coming to the checkered flag. Labonte and Waltrip were so occupied with each other that they did not notice Bouchard sneaking to the inside.
• 1982: In qualifying for the 1982 Winston 500, Benny Parsons qualifies at over 200 mph. His lap is the first 200 mph qualifying lap in NASCAR history.
• 1983: Phil Parsons and Darrell Waltrip are eliminated in a massive accident that also eliminates seven other cars. Parsons was turned into the Turn 1 wall nearly head on at 200 mph,causing his car to barrel roll side over side down the banking before landing on Ricky Rudd's car.Richard Petty would take his 197th win in that race. Dale Earnhardt wins his first race at Talladega in the Talladega 500 later that year,another race marred by an early wreck on the 1st lap,after Neil Bonnett blows an engine in Turn 4 and the oil spilled on the track causes cars behind to lose control.
• 1984: Cale Yarborough wins the most competitive race in NASCAR history,in terms of number of lead changes(75). Later in the Talladega 500 that year,Dale Earnhardt passes Terry Labonte on the final lap to win.
• 1986: In the 1986 Winston 500,the entire field of cars qualified at over 200 mph.Future greats such as Mark Martin and Alan Kulwicki failed to make the field. Before the race even got a chance to start,a drunk fan climbed into the pace car and took it for a few hot laps around the track,before being stopped by police and track workers. Bill Elliott had the car to beat early on,but on the last lap, Bobby Allison beat out Dale Earnhardt in a closely contested finish.
• 1986: In the Talladega 500, a record 26 of the 40 starters managed to lead a lap. Two-thirds of the field stayed in contention for most of the race,before multi-car crashes eliminated many contenders. Sterling Marlin triggered a multi-car wreck on the final lap that involved Bobby Allison,Joe Ruttman,Rick Wilson and Kyle Petty that allowed Bobby Hillin Jr. to take his only career victory,ahead of Tim Richmond and Rusty Wallace,driving in relief for Ricky Rudd.
• 1987: Bill Elliott sets a new stock car speed record with a lap of 212.809 mph. On the 22nd lap of the event,Bobby Allison loses an engine,and the debris from the motor cuts a tire as Allison enters the trioval.The cut tire causes Bobby to spin,and his car lifts off the ground,flying into the fence just short of the flagstand. Several fans were injured,including a woman who lost an eye from the flying debris.
• 1991: Ernie Irvan becomes the center of controversy at the Winston 500 after triggering a 20 car crash on the backstretch on lap 71. Mark Martin's car gets vertical and stands on its nose for a short time before coming back down on its wheels. Kyle Petty suffered a broken leg in the crash. Harry Gant won the race with hardly any fuel left,receiving a push from teammate Rick Mast on the final lap. In the DieHard 500,Ernie Irvan apologized to the drivers for the wrecks he had caused that season(one at Talladega,one at Pocono)and was wrecked by Buddy Baker later in the race,triggering a 14 car pileup. Dale Earnhardt held off a group of Fords to take the victory. Rick Mast would get upside down in the tri-oval late in the race,going for a long slide into the front-stretch grass.
• 1993: In a wild Winston 500, Ernie Irvan passes Dale Earnhardt on the final lap as the rest of the field battles behind them.Earnhardt would drift back to sixth,and coming through the tri-oval,Earnhardt would give Rusty Wallace a shove,sending Wallace airborne and flipping past the start/finish line.Two serious crashes marred the running of the 1993 DieHard 500. On the 70th lap of the race,Jimmy Horton gets tapped going into Turn 1,flipping over on the banking and going completely over the wall,the only time that has ever happened at Talladega. Stanley Smith is critically injured in the same crash. Later in the race,Neil Bonnett,in his first stock car race since 1990, goes for a wild ride,flipping end over end in the tri-oval. Neil was uninjured,and joined the CBS commentary team to call the end of the race,which was a close duel between Dale Earnhardt and Ernie Irvan,with Earnhardt prevailing by .005 second.
• 2000: Dale Earnhardt wins his final Winston Cup race in spectacular fashion,by moving from 18th to 1st in just 4 laps to win the Winston 500.
• 2002: In a Busch Series race, "The Big One" occurs on lap 15 when Scott Riggs up near the front got into Johnny Sauter, triggering a 27-car crash, biggest in all of NASCAR history in the modern era up to that point. Most cars were so damaged or uncompetitive to a point, that drafting was almost non-existant. Only 3 cars finished on the lead lap, a rarity at most any NASCAR event today, even for any other race that would otherwise be marred by "The Big One".
• 2003: Dale Earnhardt Jr. won his fourth consecutive race at Talladega. The spring race also featured a 27-car crash in the opening laps caused by a blown tire from a driver up front; the largest crash in NASCAR Nextel Cup in the modern era, and equaled what happened the previous year in a Busch Series race.
• 2004: Jeff Gordon wins the Aaron's 499 in controversial fashion. Brian Vickers causes a caution after spinning while overtaking Dale Earnhardt Jr. with less than five laps remaining, freezing the field. A red flag could not be applied when fewer than five laps were remaining in the race when the caution waved, and there were about four and a third laps remaining. When NASCAR decides not to restart the race, owing to concerns of another incident similar to Rusty Wallace's terrifying 1993 crash on a two-lap shootout, and Mark Martin's injury in a one-lap shootout at Daytona in 1997. Fans littered the track with debris. This incident resulted in outrage by Fox commentator Chris Myers, and led to the July implementation of a green-white-checker rule.
• 2004: Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins the EA Sports 500, but is penalized 25 points for violating NASCAR's policy on obscenity following an interview where he mentions to the pit reporter, "It (his fifth career Talladega win) doesn't mean shit (compared to his father's ten wins)."
• 2006: Jimmie Johnson wins holding off Tony Stewart and Brian Vickers at the Aarons 499 on May 1 2006. When he stepped out of the car the interviewer told him he is an uncle of new born Connor Johnson. Several drivers were blamed for causing two multi-car crashes in the race.
• 2009: Brad Keselowski wins his first Sprint Cup Series race in exciting fashion as he leads the final lap of the spring race and he nudges Carl Edwards left rear quarter panel and sends Edwards careening out of control as he hits the front of Ryan Newman's car, which sends Edwards air borne into the catch fence.

External links

• Talladega Superspeedway Official Site
• Talladega Superspeedway Page on NASCAR.com
• GNEXTINC.com: Talladega Superspeedway Page - Local area information, track specs, mapping, news and more.
• Jayski's Talladega Superspeedway Page - Current and Past Talladega Superspeedway News