Talladega Superspeedway Racing Track

Talladega Superspeedway is a speed lovers delight. In the days of NASCAR it was an oval track. The track was built in Hillsborough, North Carolina. The significant fact about the track was that it was constructed in the 1960s. . This was constructed in place of deserted airport runways. It is basically a motor sports complex located in Talladega, Alabama that falls under the International Speedway Corporation.

When the Talladega Superspeedway track was built the local religious leaders opposed the construction, and NASCAR. Founder Bill France decided to build the track in Alabama. Talladega started with a controversy when Professional Drivers Association, a union of drivers led by Richard Petty, called for a strike, the night before the inauguration. They were concerned with the safety of the drivers, as the tracks length and steep banking could lead to great speed. Thus Bill France himself in a car drove around the track at high speeds. Till then it is one of the most outstanding track ways for high speed.

Talladega Superspeedway was a place that has seats for over 175,000 patrons and is the largest oval track in the Nextel Cup Series. Bill France wanted to have higher ticket sales towards the start /finish line and therefore it was placed after the pit exit. This was an unusual placement. As a result we see that this structure affected the outcome of several races. NASCARs founding France family along with Daytona International Speedway and several other racetracks controls this business.

At Talladega Superspeedway, speeds exceeding 200 mph were common. It has the record for the fastest recorded time in a closed oval course. Rusty Wallace set this in 2004. The record is spectacular as it surpassed the previous Record held by Bill Elliott, set in 1987. A significant fact to be noted is that the first driver to qualify was Buddy Baker in 1970. Bobby Allison, in 1987 experienced a failure while going through the trivial part of the track that sent his car into the air and went almost into the crowd. After this incident rules were imposed to slow the cars, 1988 rule requiring cars at Daytona to use restrictor plates. NASCAR fans referred to this style of racing at Talladega and Daytona as restrictor-plate racing.

The track at Talladega Superspeedway is so wide that it permitted even five cars in a row during a race. The proximity of the cars makes it difficult for the driver to avoid accidents. As a result we saw that even the slightest mistake often led to massive multi car accidents- dubbed The Big One by fans and drivers which caused extensive damage to cars and also affected points standings overall. It is common to see 20 or more cars collected in them.

The pavement of the racing surface and the trouble lane at the Talladega Superspeedway went under heavy reconstruction in 2006. Two Sprint Cup Races and one nationwide series are held annually by Talladega. The names of the races have now changed. This is basically due to the purchase of naming rights with the spring Nextel Cup Race since spring 2002 and it at the same time should also be mentioned that the place was repaved in summer 2006. Wikipedia