“America is all about speed. Hot, nasty, bad ass speed”. This (fake) quote from Eleanor Roosevelt sums up America’s fascination and lust for speed. To give you an idea of how popular NASCAR racing is in America, the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama has seating for 175 000 spectators! By comparison the largest NFL stadium in Washington, D.C. can only accommodate 80,000 spectators.
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby tells the story of Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) who was born in the backseat of his Dad’s speeding car. The dope-smoking Reese Bobby, Ricky’s dad (Gary Cole) skips out on the family and Ricky grows up treasuring the only bit of wisdom his father left him — “If you ain’t first, you’re last.”
Ricky and his best friend, Cal Naughton Jr. (John C. Reilly), become drivers for the Wonder Bread NASCAR racing team and are soon known as the “Shake ‘n Bake” duo. Ricky becomes NASCAR’s most popular driver, and enjoys the fruits of his labour, amassing an obscene amount of money, a bleached-blond trophy wife, and two cute (but utterly rude) sons Walker and Texas Ranger.
Ricky’s perfect world is about to hit a speed bump. Hit the jump to see where it goes.