Talladega Superspeedway

**Talladega Superspeedway**
*1969–1989: Alabama International Motor Speedway*
	Talladega , Alabama , USA
Route type:	permanent race track
Owner:	International Speedway Corporation
Operator:	International Speedway Corporation
Architect:	Bill Ward , Bill France Sr.
Building-costs:	4 million US dollars
Start of building:	May 23, 1968
Opening:	September 14, 1969
Superspeedway oval
	Tri-oval
	Route data
Important ; events:	Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series ; GEICO 500 ; Alabama 500 NASCAR Xfinity Series; Sparks Energy 300 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series; Fred's 250 powered by Coca-Cola ARCA Racing Series; General Tire 200
Route length:	4.280 km (2.66 mi )
Curve superelevation:	33 °, 33 °, 32.4 °, 32.5 ° ; Start-finish straight: 16.5 ° ; Back straight: 3 °
Audience capacity:	175,000
	http://www.talladegasuperspeedway.com

33.566944444444 -86.065833333333Coordinates: 33 ° 34 ′ 1 ″ N , 86 ° 3 ′ 57 ″ W.

The Talladega Superspeedway is the largest circuit on NASCAR's racing calendar . It is located in the US state of Alabama and opened in 1969. The oval is 2.66 miles (4.28 km) long. More than 143,000 spectators can watch the NASCAR races, which take place twice a year.

Opening race

Even before the first race in 1969 there were problems: in general, the mood among the drivers at the time was bad because they felt underpaid. The drivers founded the “Professional Drivers Association” (PDA) and elected Richard Petty as president. First, the PDA wanted to boycott the famous Southern 500 in Darlington in order to achieve the following points: higher prize money , better insurance protection, introduction of a pension fund for the pilots and washing facilities in the paddock .

The boycott of Darlington was canceled because the PDA decided that the Talladega premiere would provide a much better setting for their cause. And indeed: on the first day of training on the new course, the tires of the fastest threw big blisters. Nobody knew exactly why, even the experts at the tire supplier Goodyear were at a loss. Most of them guessed that it wasn't the speed, but the rough asphalt . This led to heated discussions between Bill France senior , the boss of NASCAR and owner of the track, the tire manufacturer Goodyear, the PDA and the factory teams. NASCAR or Bill France definitely wanted to start the race and declared that the track and the tires were safe. He even offered to put himself in a racing car to prove it. Goodyear asked to postpone the race in order to be able to produce new tires. When that was refused, Goodyear asked drivers not to go faster than 185 mph (298 km / h), but they refused to adhere to that. Manufacturers Ford and Chrysler neither forced their pilots to drive (which annoyed NASCAR boss France), nor did they withdraw their cars (which annoyed the drivers). Instead, they announced that their cars would stay on the track and could be driven by anyone who wanted to. So it happened. The only prominent rider to start on Sunday was Bobby Isaac , the rest of the field consisted of little-known riders, most of them from the Grand American Series. The race was repeatedly interrupted, officially because of debris on the track. In fact, they wanted to give drivers the chance to change tires before they got punctured. The winner of the race was an unknown driver named Richard Brickhouse. After that no one heard from him, it was his only NASCAR race. The PDA also had no influence after this race, it disbanded again in 1975 without having achieved much.

Fastest laps and the introduction of Restrictor Plates

Paul Menard headed the field at the UAW Ford 500 in October 2006.

To date, Bill Elliott holds the record for the fastest lap in a NASCAR racing car: 212.809 mph (342.483 km / h). This record was made possible by constant improvements in the aerodynamics of the cars. The record, driven with a Ford Thunderbird , exists since April 30, 1987. Qualifying for the Winston 500 took place on that day . On the following day of the race, however, there was an accident, which ensured that this will probably be an all-time record. On lap 22, Bobby Allison had a puncture and spun. His Buick picked up and smacked into the safety fence. Some fans were injured by debris flying around. As a result, NASCAR introduced the so-called “ Restrictor Plates ” for the two Superspeedways Talladega and the almost identical Daytona International Speedway in order to reduce the engine power of the cars. This reduced the speed by about 20 mph to a lap average of about 190 mph (306 km / h).

Due to the reduced engine power, the NASCAR races in Talladega and Daytona look a little different than on the other superspeedways. It is difficult for a single car to gain a lead over the rest of the field due to the reduced performance. Usually, large groups form immediately after the start, in which the drivers drive behind each other with minimal distance (usually less than a meter). This slipstream driving makes it possible to achieve a higher top speed than with a single car. A car that pulls out of the slipstream of the vehicle in front to overtake has little chance unless there are several cars behind it to improve its (and their) aerodynamics. So it happens again and again that three and sometimes even four lines of cars drive next to each other to overtake each other. As a result, these races require a high level of concentration from all drivers. And yet there are always mass accidents, the so-called “the big one (s)”. Since the speeds of the cars are still very high despite the restrictor plate (around 190 mph = over 300 km / h), it is enough for a single driver to lose control of his car. Due to the short distance and the high speed, it is impossible to evade. An accident in which 20 cars are involved is not uncommon. NASCAR is constantly trying to get this problem under control. For example, different sizes of the restrictor plate were experimented with and the angle of the rear spoiler was prescribed in order to worsen the aerodynamics of the cars. In the late 1990s there were also attempts with a small spoiler on the roof, which was supposed to have a further negative effect on the aerodynamics, but these attempts could not solve the problem either. The Car of Tomorrow should bring radical changes . The exterior of this vehicle is not as aerodynamic as that of today's racing cars. Visually, it is more reminiscent of the angular racing cars of the early 1980s.

In June 2004, Rusty Wallace tested a car without a restrictor plate on the Talladega Superspeedway. On the straight, it reached a speed of 228 mph (367 km / h), which resulted in a lap average of 216.306 mph (348 km / h).

Autumn race 2006

The autumn race 2006 on the weekend of October 8, 2006 had several special features. The newly applied asphalt surface led to higher lap speeds in the free training sessions than in previous years, which is why new restrictor plates with smaller air passages were required at short notice. The background to this was the fear that the cars could lift off the road after an accident. In the race itself there was a "Big One" which, among other things, significantly minimized Jeff Gordon's chances of winning the championship. This unpredictability for the championship was criticized in advance. Among other things, Jerry Bonkowski spoke out in favor of not racing in Talladega in the decisive ten races. However, the Talladega Speedway stayed on the calendar and was also one of the ten racetracks in the Chase for the Sprint Cup in 2011 .