Talladega Superspeedway

Talladega Superspeedway is now the official name of a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama, that was formerly Alabama International Motor Speedway. It was constructed in the 1960s in place of abandoned airport runways by International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by NASCAR's founding France family which also owns Daytona International Speedway and several other racetracks. At 2.66 miles long, Talladega is the largest track in the Nextel Cup Series and has seating provisions for over 175,000 patrons. It is adjacent to, and visible from, Interstate 20, a major east-west highway across the Southern United States.

Related Topics:
Motorsport - Talladega, Alabama - 1960s - Airport - Runways - International Speedway Corporation - NASCAR - Daytona International Speedway - Racetrack - Nextel Cup - Interstate 20 - Southern United States

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Talladega got off to a controversial start when the Professional Drivers Association, a union of drivers led by Richard Petty, went on strike the night before the inaugural Talladega 500 because of 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, and they 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, but it was the only win for Richard Brickhouse and was the debut race for Richard Childress.

Related Topics:
Richard Petty - Richard Brickhouse - Richard Childress

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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 trioval in 44.998 seconds. Early in that race, Bobby Allison's Buick LeSabre flew into the catchfencing, 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 limiting the amount of air and fuel which could be entering the intake manifolds of the car at any one time, 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.

Related Topics:
Restrictor plate - Superspeedway

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Talladega hosts both two Nextel Cup and one Busch Series races, NASCAR's top two divisions, annually. Both of the Nextel 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 Craftsman Truck Series would begin holding a race at Talladega starting in 2006.

Related Topics:
Nextel Cup - Busch Series - Naming rights - 2002 - Aaron's - July 26 - 2005 - Craftsman Truck Series - 2006

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The Aaron's 499 was known as one of the sport's four legs of the Grand Slam, with the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, and the Southern 500 being the other three. With the demise of the Florentine classic 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.)

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

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See also: List of NASCAR race tracks

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