The Track That No One Wanted to Race At

This weekend NASCAR heads to Talladega. The home of the Big One. The track is seriously bad ass, scary and fast. Yup. There are huge parties, a infamous infield, and more side by side racing than any other track. We’ve all seen Talladega Nights; there are some funny bits, some close to the truth bits and some insulting bits. Shake and Bake, right?

But in 1969, Alabama Motor Speedway was just a big, bad ass, rough scary track. The track was still called Alabama Motor Speedway until 1989, by the way. There hadn’t been a Big One, but the surface was so rough and the speeds that the track were producing was something that few drivers wanted anything to do with.

Who can name the first winner at the track? I couldn’t, I’ll admit it. I had to go and look it up. (Thanks to Racing-Reference.com! A resource that I keep at hand at all times.) Richard Brickhouse, from Rocky Point, North Carolina won the first race at Talladega. Brickhouse’s brief showing in NASCAR brought him only one win, here at the track few drivers were willing to face.

The first race at Talladega Motor Speedway was something different. Those first races are always something, aren’t they? The surface of the track was so rough that tires couldn’t last. They tore to shreds, unable to withstand the speeds or the surface. In response to the danger, the newly formed Professional Drivers Association decided to boycott the race. The drivers were certain that Bill France was more interested in showing off his new track than worrying about the safety of the drivers. The drivers associated with the PDA walked away from the track, packed up their trailers and left after the Saturday night race. By Sunday morning, there were only thirteen Grand National cars line up, the rest of the field was set with the Grand Touring cars from the night before. Grand National drivers who stayed to race included Richard Brickhouse, Tiny Lund, Jim Vandiver, and Coo Coo Marlin.

Greg Fielden lists the attending crowd at that first race at 62,000.  Fans who had faith in France’s ability to pull off a race, no matter how many drivers walked away, were rewarded with a ticket to a future race at either Alabama Motor Speedway or Daytona International Speedway. To prevent future boycotts, NASCAR instituted a "Good Faith to the Public" pledge included on the race entry blank. France felt that he had an obligation to the fans and the drivers had an obligation to him. The drivers more than likely felt an obligation not to get themselves killed. For those who thought that maybe the drivers were over reacting? Remember Indy in 2008? Competition cautions every ten laps or so? The first race at Talladega, NASCAR officials were so worried about the tires that were tearing to pieces that they called competition cautions after every twenty five laps. The tires barely lasted five without blistering and shredding. Speeds never went much higher than 150 mph.

The race at Alabama Motor Speedway was certainly not the end of the dispute between the PDA and NASCAR. And it surely wasn’t the last time that the track at Talladega scared drivers. But we can talk more about that in the fall, when we head on back down South to Alabama.