Nascar races on all sorts of tracks, from short to long, oval to road course, concrete to asphalt. Here’s a bi-weekly look at all the tracks of Nascar’s National Touring Series.
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
2.66 mile asphalt tri-oval superspeedway
Opened 1969
Lights? No
Series: Cup, Xfinity, Trucks
Nicknames: ‘Dega, Home of the One Race Wonders
THREE FUN FACTS:
1. Talladega is said to be cursed (of the Native American variety), which could have led to a number of bizarre events at the track, including an opening-weekend boycott, a driver quitting a race because “a voice told (him) to”, and a win by Phil Parsons.
2. The start-finish line is located halfway between the tri-point of the tri-oval (where it is located at Daytona) and turn one. While this was done, in theory, to allow tickets to be sold at a premium away from the center of the frontstretch, it may have just been to give Mike Joy something to ramble about every spring.
3. According to legend, after Darlington introduced the slogan “The Track Too Tough to Tame”, Talladega wanted to adopt the slogan “The Track Too Tough to F—- With”. The fact that they didn’t actually try this is one of the sport’s greatest tragedies.
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