On an unassuming stretch of land suited for soybean farming located next to a couple of abandoned airport runways, crews constructed the biggest superspeedway in NASCAR, Talladega Superspeedway.
Since Alabama International Motor Speedway (as it was called until 1989) opened its gates in September 1969, the track has surpassed every initial expectation.
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. Ward found what he thought was the perfect site in north Talladega County near an airport that the U.S. Government had sold to the City of Talladega after World War II. He set up a meeting with then-Talladega mayor James Hardwick and other city officials, and in a restaurant in Anniston in 1966, France got the group to consider the idea of putting a major track on the site. After a trip to the Firecracker 400 in Daytona to observe first-hand the potential economic impact, the group was sold.
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, Sept. 13, 1969. Ken Rush drove his Camaro to Victory Lane in that event. The next day, Richard Brickhouse won the first Grand National (now Sprint Cup) race, the Talladega 500, edging Jim Vandiver and Ramo Stott.
The practice and qualifying speeds were so high (Charlie Glotzbach won the pole at 199.466 mph) that the tire companies could not 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.
France decided the race would go on, using the drivers that decided not to participate in the boycott, plus some of those who had raced the day before. The full 500 miles were run without a major incident.
His action broke the back of the PDA, which dissolved a couple of years later.
In 1987, Bill Elliott established a world stock car record when he posted a speed of 212.809 mph in qualifying. Mark Martin established a 500-mile stock car record in 1997 when he won the caution-free spring race with an average speed of 188.354 mph.
But the track's true dominator was Dale Earnhardt, who posted 10 Cup wins at Talladega.
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 a 1981 race, 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.
