On an unassuming stretch of land
suited for soybean farming located next to a couple of abandoned airport
runways, crews constructed the biggest, fastest and most competitive
superspeedway in the world - - Talladega Superspeedway.
Since Alabama International Motor Speedway (as it was called until 1989)
opened its gates in September of 1969, the track has surpassed every
initial expectation in terms of sheer size, speed and competition.
Talladega, Ala. emerged as the top choice among several possible sites
in the Southeast, with the main criteria for selection being
availability of land, access to the interstate system and a population
base of at least 20 million people within 300 miles. Anniston insurance
executive Bill Ward, a race driver and fan himself, helped NASCAR and
International Speedway Corporation founder William H.G. (Bill) France
find the land in Alabama, following a casual conversation with France in
Daytona in the mid-1960s.
Several obstacles had to be overcome, including financing. With France
as the guiding force, however, construction began on the 2,000-acre site
on May 23, 1968, with the first race being the 'Bama 400 Grand Touring
race on Saturday, September 13, 1969. Ken Rush drove his Camaro to
Victory Lane in that event. The next day, Richard Brickhouse won the
first Grand National (now NASCAR NEXTEL Cup) race, the Talladega 500
(now known as the UAW-Ford 500), edging Jim Vandiver and Ramo Stott.
Setting precedents
Putting that first race weekend on the record books wasn't as easy as it
may sound, however. The practice and qualifying speeds were so high
(Charlie Glotzbach won the pole at 199.466 mph) that the tire companies
- try as they might - could not in the time available come up with a
compound that held together for many laps. The Professional Drivers
Association (PDA), led by Richard Petty, declared the situation unsafe,
and left the track Saturday afternoon.
Buddy Baker won three straight races, both 1975 races and the 1976
spring event, then added another, the Aaron's 499 in the spring of 1980,
to become the first four-time winner. Darrell Waltrip, Bobby Allison and
Jeff Gordon have since joined him in that category, tying four ways for
third on the all-time series win list here.
In 1987, Bill Elliott established a world stock-car record when he
posted a speed of 212.809 mph. in qualifying for the Aaron's 499. Mark
Martin established a 500-mile stock-car record in 1997 when he won the
caution-free spring Aaron's 499 with an average speed of 188.354 mph.
But the track's true dominator was Dale Earnhardt, who posted 10 NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup wins at Talladega over the years. Earnhardt's first victory
was in the 1983 UAW-Ford 500, driving for Bud Moore. He won again the
next year in his first season with Richard Childress. When he captured
the 1990 UAW-Ford 500, he became the first three-time winner of that
event, then added UAW-Ford 500 wins in 1991, 1993 and 2000.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has quickly followed in his father's footsteps. Dale
Jr. won the 2001 UAW-Ford 500, defending the title for his late father.
Dale Jr. swept both races at Talladega in 2002 and won the 2003 Aaron's
499 for an unprecedented four-in-a-row winning streak. With a win in the
2004 UAW-Ford 500, he now is second in terms of NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series
wins here, with five.
Delighting fans with fierce competition
The track itself is 2.66-miles long, four lanes wide and is banked 33
degrees on each end, with 18-degree banking in the tri-oval. This layout
has produced some of the fastest and most competitive racing in history.
The backstretch is nearly 4,000 feet long, and stock cars have reached
speeds in excess of 220 miles per hour there in competition.
The grandstands seating capacity is 143,231 including the most recent
expansion of the O.V. Hill South Tower. The 212-acre all-reserved
infield holds many thousands more.
Perhaps the greatest 1-2-3 finish in motorsports occurred in the 1981
UAW-Ford 500, when rookie Ron Bouchard passed both Darrell Waltrip and
Terry Labonte in the final 500 yards to win by less than a foot over
Waltrip and two feet over Labonte. Labonte got even with the 30-year-old
track 18 years later, when he edged Joe Nemechek by .002 seconds to win
the Aaron's 312 Busch Series race. The finish had to be reviewed several
times before a winner was determined.
The 1984 Aaron's 499 set a motorsports standard with 75 official lead
changes in a 500-mile race. In 1986, 26 of the 40 drivers who started
the UAW-Ford 500 led at least one lap, 19 of them under green flag
racing.
In 1993, the UAW-Ford 500 became the first 500-mile race to produce
1,000 official lead changes over the years, an amazing feat considering
the race was only 25 years old, and has only 188 laps - or opportunities
- to record lead changes.
But competition always has been fierce at Talladega, no matter what time
of year. In the 2000 UAW-Ford 500, 26 cars finished on the lead lap, a
NASCAR record for a 500-mile race.
The 2004 Aaron's 499 saw 54 lead changes among 23 drivers - 13th on the
all-time list for lead changes and the most since July 1984, also at
Talladega Superspeedway. Fans saw 20 drivers share 47 lead changes in
the fall at Talladega, bringing the year's total over 100, as the track
celebrated its 35th anniversary.
In the last two years, NASCAR has instituted a new championship format,
and the UAW-Ford 500 has enjoyed placement as the third race in the
final 10 comprising the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. In the 2005 UAW-Ford
500, many fans expected to see the 2005 Aaron's 499 victor Jeff Gordon
or defending UAW-Ford 500 race winner Dale Earnhardt, Jr. take the
checkered flag at the end of the day, but it was Dale Jarrett who led
the final and most important lap. It was a particularly fitting finish
to another great year of racing at Talladega Superspeedway, as Jarrett
put a Ford in Gatorade Victory Lane here for the first time in 7 years
just as UAW-Ford made its debut as the track's fall NASCAR NEXTEL Cup
Series event sponsor.
