Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is a 2006 American sports comedy film directed by Adam McKay and starring Will Ferrell, while written by both McKay and Ferrell. Additionally, the film features John C. Reilly, Sacha Baron Cohen, Gary Cole, Michael Clarke Duncan, Leslie Bibb, Jane Lynch, and Amy Adams, and appearances by Saturday Night Live alumni. NASCAR drivers Jamie McMurray and Dale Earnhardt Jr. make cameos, as do broadcasting teams from NASCAR on Fox (Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip) and NASCAR on NBC (Bill Weber, Wally Dallenbach Jr. and Benny Parsons). Talladega Nights was Pat Hingle's last film before his death in 2009.
Andy Hillenburg's Fast Track Enterprises and K4 Motorsports combined to provide race cars, hauler transportation and stunt coordination. Previously, the companies had assisted in promotion for Herbie: Fully Loaded, 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story, and other stock car racing films. Within Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, K4 Motorsports created custom wrapping for specific race cars, notably Bobby's "ME" car.
Plot[]
In Alabama, race car junkie Reese Bobby and his wife Lucy conceive their son Ricky after missing the turn to the hospital. During career day at school, a ten-year-old Ricky invites his father to speak there, but Reese makes a scene and is thrown out, leaving Ricky with advice the boy takes to heart - "If you ain't first, you're last."
Fifteen years later, Ricky and his best friend Cal Naughton Jr. work as pit crew members for a struggling NASCAR team. When the driver leaves mid-race for a bathroom break, Ricky volunteers to substitute for him, and with his skilled driving, gives the team an epic comeback by finishing third; the CEO of Dennit Racing, Larry Sr., impressed with Ricky's driving, hires him. Ricky's continuous wins soon skyrocket him to superstardom, even leading him to marry Carley, a random woman who flashes her breasts at him after a win. Later on, Dennit Racing allows Cal to join Ricky on the track as his teammate, where they use their Shake and Bake slingshot maneuver to assist Ricky in his winning streak.
Ricky lives in luxury with Carley, their sons Walker and Texas Ranger, and Carley's father Chip, who is constantly mistreated by Ricky and the boys. At another race, Ricky takes a reckless risk and drives backwards past Jamie McMurray for another victory. Larry Jr., who has taken over the sponsorship from his father, absconds Ricky for throwing a rude gesture at McMurray, but the latter ignores him. While Ricky celebrates his victory at a bar with Cal and his team, a new face arrives on the NASCAR scene - Jean Girard, an openly gay French Formula One driver, hired by Larry Jr. for an overall-points championship victory, but likely as payback for Ricky's mistreatment. Girard immediately shows Ricky up and breaks his arm, threatening to steal the spotlight from him. At Lowe's Motor Speedway, Girard takes the lead position on the qualifier, and an irritated Ricky decides to ignore his injury and challenge Girard in the race. The following night, Ricky, who has covered his windshield with a Fig Newtons sticker, reaches Girard, but his rival effortlessly continues to block his attempts to pass him. Cal tries to assist him, but blows his engine; despite this, Ricky refuses to back off, determined to win. However, a sudden collision sends Ricky into the air and into a nasty rollover crash, leaving him traumatized.
In the following weeks, Ricky's trauma from the crash leaves him delusional and having lost his confidence, failing to perform practice laps in his attempt to get back on the track; believing Ricky will be unable to return to NASCAR, Carley leaves him for Cal. Ricky, upset by this, takes Walker and Texas Ranger and moves in with his mother, taking a job as a pizza delivery guy, but his struggle to drive results in him losing his driver's license and delivering pizzas on a bike. On one specific delivery, Ricky stumbles into the apartment of Reese, who has become a drug addict and a drunkard in the years he spent out of Ricky's life; Ricky is initially against seeing Reese again but is persuaded by Lucy and his sons to take him up on his help to get his mojo back.
On the first day, Ricky ends up mauled by a cougar Reese locked in his car to teach Ricky how to conquer his fear, while Lucy, fed up with the boys' misbehaving, decides to discipline them. On another day, Reese wakes up Ricky and informs him that he called the cops on him after stuffing a bag of cocaine under his car, using this to spur Ricky into driving again; he immediately gets in the car and escapes the cops, regaining his confidence as he gets a new driver's license; at the same time, Lucy successfully turns Walker and Texas Ranger into well-behaved children. Ricky takes his family out to dinner at Applebee's, but Reese, believing he doesn't deserve a good moment in his life, gets himself thrown out of the restaurant. Ricky confronts him, informing his father of the races he won in his honor and the advice he gave him. However, Reese reveals that he was on drugs when he gave the advice, leaving Ricky discouraged and considering leaving NASCAR for good.
At a bar, Ricky runs into his former assistant Susan, who soulfully inspires Ricky to keep racing, kindling romance between the two. Invigorated, Ricky calls his pit crew back for the upcoming Talladega 500, where they acquire a new car and emblazon it with a cougar and the word "ME" to symbolize Ricky's confidence and the bravery he attained in his quest. In the race, Ricky starts in last but manages to make his way past the other drivers, including Cal and Brian Wavecrest, the driver that replaced him in Dennit Racing. Larry Jr., seeing Ricky progress in the race, orders Cal to knock Ricky out of the race, but Cal instead helps Ricky catch up to Girard with a slingshot. As a result, Wavecrest, by Larry's order, takes Cal out, causing a multi-car crash that leaves only Ricky and Girard in the race.
After the other drivers are cleared out, Ricky and Girard race one-on-one with no advantage over the other. The two start ramming into each other, sending them both into a crash, leaving their cars totaled. However, the two men refuse to quit, and they leave their cars to finish the race on foot; Ricky ultimately wins, finally earning Girard's respect. At Victory Lane, officials declare Cal the winner by legal technicality, since both Ricky and Girard were disqualified for exiting their cars. Before leaving the track, Ricky runs into Reese, who asks who Ricky won the race for, and Ricky declares that as long as the people he cares for love him, he doesn't need to win. Impressed, Reese drives them from the track to celebrate with a dinner.