NASCAR lampoons itself in ‘Talladega Nights’

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Realistic race scenes
Comedic fodder aside, the film is being lauded for many of its on-track scenes.

Unlike “Days of Thunder,” the 1990 Tom Cruise movie that was panned by the NASCAR community and fans who found it stereotypical and unrealistic, Talladega Nights took pains to avoid that.

Yes, Ferrell does race his car backward in one eyebrow-raising scene. But for the most part, everything else is dead-on.

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Andrew Giangola, NASCAR’s director of business communication, said Robert Yates’ mechanic shop was rented out and relocated to Talladega, where it was used to build 32 different stock cars. Ten crashes then were orchestrated at three different tracks, and Ferrell and several co-stars also took lessons at the Richard Petty Driving experience to learn how to pilot a car.

“During the training required before getting behind the wheel, the actors were quiet and apprehensive,” said driving instructor Chris McKee. “They were sponges who wanted to absorb everything. At one point, when we were taking the van ride to get the feel of the track, I was trying to be funny.

“Will Ferrell said in a loud and serious voice, ‘Excuse me, we’re trying to drive serious NASCAR stock cars here!”’

Consultants also were used to make the pit stops look realistic.

The end result, Giangola said, should please true fans.

“The way the cars look, the way the cars handle, all of that is quite authentic,” Giangola said. “There’s a lot that went into making the racing action and the wrecking look realistic, because we knew that would be important to fans.”

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