60 Fun Facts About Talladega Nights

Ricky Bobby is born in the back seat of which speeding car in the opening scene of Talladega Nights?

A Chevrolet Chevelle, driven so fast that Reese overshoots the hospital; years later he roars away from his one visit to Ricky's school in a Chevelle too.

Which word completes Reese Bobby's career-day advice to Ricky, 'If you ain't first, you're ___'?

Last, a motto the grown-up Ricky tells a TV reporter is trademarked and not to be used without the permission of Ricky Bobby Inc.

Ricky gets his first drive when Dennit driver Terry Cheveaux climbs out mid-race, saying he needs what?

A bathroom break is only the start: Cheveaux is next seen eating a chicken sandwich and planning a phone call, so Ricky takes the car and finishes third.

How does Ricky meet his future wife Carley?

She flashes him after a win, and the marriage lasts only as long as the winning: once his career stalls she tells him it has been over for a long, long time.

What is the name of the drafting move that makes Ricky and Cal an unstoppable duo?

The Slingshot has Cal let Ricky draft up behind him and whip past for the win, which is why Cal always finishes second and quietly longs to be slung to a victory himself.

What catchphrase have Ricky and Cal shared since their schooldays and still shout on the track?

Shake and Bake fires Cal up, he says, because 'it rhymes, they're both verbs'; an unimpressed Girard calls it nonsense.

Jean Girard arrives at Dennit Racing from which motorsport series?

Formula One's self-declared greatest driver is hired by Larry Dennit Jr. to win a points title and to show Ricky that he is the team's past.

Which actor plays Ricky's French rival Jean Girard?

Sacha Baron Cohen's Girard makes his entrance by pinning Ricky to a bar pool table and, when Ricky refuses to back down, breaking his arm.

In Talladega Nights' theatrical cut, what is Girard's retirement dream?

To design a currency for dogs and cats, in Stockholm, is the theatrical plan; the unrated cut swaps in taming Komodo dragons in Sri Lanka and teaching them to perform Hamlet.

Which water brand sponsors Jean Girard's #55 car?

Perrier's #55 is soon the fastest thing at Dennit Racing, and Girard replaces Ricky as the team's top driver.

In the dinner-table grace scene, which version of Jesus does Ricky insist on praying to?

Baby Jesus is his pick, he tells an exasperated Carley, because he likes the Christmas Jesus best and he is the one saying grace.

What are the names of Ricky and Carley's two sons?

Walker and Texas Ranger are no accident, Carley says: had the couple wanted wussies, they would have named the boys Dr. Quinn and Medicine Woman.

What job does Ricky take after Dennit fires him?

Delivering pizzas gets harder once he loses his licence and must go by bus and bicycle; one order turns out to be a ruse by his long-lost father to meet him.

What does Reese put in the car with Ricky to help him rediscover his nerve?

A live cougar is the most frightening passenger Reese can think of, so staying calm beside one is his way of teaching Ricky to drive with the fear.

At which restaurant chain does Reese cause trouble before abandoning the family again?

Applebee's gets the last word too: with everything finally perfect, the reunited family decides to go and get thrown out of one together.

Why does Reese disown his career-day advice to Ricky?

He was high on drugs when he said it, Reese shrugs, pointing out that a driver can perfectly well come second, third, fourth or even fifth.

Which single word is emblazoned on Ricky's unsponsored comeback car at Talladega?

ME, Susan explains, because with no corporate sponsor or team owner it is just him out there; Kurt Busch ran the same paint scheme at Talladega in 2012.

What does Girard confess to Ricky before the final race?

He came to America hoping to lose, Girard admits, since only defeat by a truly better driver will let him retire; even so, he refuses to throw the race.

Which snack brand's sticker covers Ricky's windshield at Lowe's Motor Speedway because he sold the space?

Fig Newtons earn his loyalty even mid-race: the sticker, he admits, is dangerous and inconvenient, but he does love them.

How does Ricky respond when Girard offers a handshake at the finish line?

He kisses him on the lips, a callback to the eve of their first race, when Girard offered to leave NASCAR for good in exchange for exactly that.

In the post-credits scene of Talladega Nights, Lucy reads a story by which Southern author to her grandsons?

William Faulkner prompts a seminar: the once-feral boys debate whether the bear in the story stands for the old South, and one is praised for his analysis.

Which brand's logo covers Ricky's #26 car during his rise to the top of NASCAR?

Wonder Bread's new owners put the logo on Kurt Busch's real car at Talladega in 2013, in a scheme modelled on Ricky's, to relaunch the brand.

Which deodorant brand sponsors Cal's #47 car?

Old Spice, like every brand on the film's fictional cars, had to be approved by NASCAR, which also helped the production land its sponsorship deals.

Girard's husband Gregory is described as a world-class trainer of what?

German shepherds come up in a mock TV profile of Girard, which notes that Gregory is 'no stay-at-home spouse' and that the driver's world-class horses are also gay.

Which actor plays Ricky's crew chief and close friend Lucius Washington?

Michael Clarke Duncan's Lucius deals in hard truths, from telling Ricky a win was 'some of the dumbest driving I have ever seen' to breaking the news that he can walk.

At the dinner table, one of Ricky's sons warns his grandfather Chip that he is 'all jacked up on' what?

Mountain Dew is his excuse for joining a tirade at Chip that their father applauds, on the grounds that winners get to do what they want.

Which pit-crew member supposedly died working on the car, then admitted faking it to motivate Ricky?

Glenn, forever being told to shut up, is mourned with the dying words 'Tell Ricky, win for me' moments before Ricky spots him alive; the crew wanted to give him extra motivation.

Which actor plays Ricky's absentee father Reese Bobby?

Gary Cole's Reese comes back only because Lucy phones him for help, years after janitors threw him out of his one visit to Ricky's school.

Which actress plays Susan, Ricky's assistant and eventual love interest?

Amy Adams gets the film's big speech: Susan tells Ricky he is a driver, not a thinker, and talks him back into racing at Talladega.

Who plays Ricky's disciplinarian mother Lucy Bobby?

Jane Lynch's Lucy takes in Ricky and his unruly sons once he has lost everything, and makes reforming the boys her mission.

Which actress plays Carley, Ricky's trophy wife?

Leslie Bibb's Carley trades up the moment Ricky is fired, marrying his best friend Cal and keeping the mansion.

Which two real NASCAR drivers have scripted cameos in Talladega Nights?

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jamie McMurray: Earnhardt asks Ricky for an autograph and begs him not to tell the other drivers, while McMurray is the rival he beats to the line.

Taunted by Girard with a line of poetry, Ricky answers by quoting which 'late, great' restaurant founder?

Colonel Sanders, Ricky claims, once admitted to being too drunk to taste his dinner, which leaves Girard, fresh from quoting Blake on the worm and the plough, asking what that has to do with anything.

Wrongly convinced that he is paralysed after his crash, Ricky proves his point by plunging what into his own leg?

A knife goes into his leg, the pain proves he can walk after all, and his friends make matters worse by using a second blade to prise the first one out.

Stripped to his underwear after his big crash, Ricky begs which film star to use his 'witchcraft' on him?

Tom Cruise is fourth on Ricky's list of saviours, after Jesus, the 'Jewish God' and Allah; Oprah Winfrey gets the next call.

Apart from scenes at Talladega Superspeedway, in which state was Talladega Nights filmed?

North Carolina locals filled out the film: hundreds were hired as extras and crew, and smaller parts were cast at local auditions.

Which outfit taught Will Ferrell and his co-stars to handle a stock car before filming Talladega Nights?

The Richard Petty Driving Experience started them off as passengers, and the laps so terrified the actors that Ferrell based Ricky's crawling comeback run on the memory.

Which film does Ricky tell Girard won the Academy Award 'for best movie ever made'?

Highlander is what their showdown reminds Ricky of, after Girard says he needs a worthy rival the way the Beatles needed the Rolling Stones.

Pinned to a pool table at The Pit Stop, Ricky has his arm broken for refusing to say he loves what?

Crêpes were all he had to praise, and he even agrees they are just the really thin pancakes he enjoys, but pride wins and Girard keeps his word.

Talladega Nights' $47 million opening was Will Ferrell's biggest until which film passed it?

The Lego Movie opened to $69 million with Ferrell as the villain, not the hero: he voices the tyrant Lord Business, while Chris Pratt plays the lead.

Which earlier Will Ferrell comedy had taken more at the worldwide box office than Talladega Nights would?

Elf took about $220 million worldwide in 2003, and it was during its shoot that Ferrell and his future director first talked about a NASCAR comedy.

Ricky picks the nickname El Diablo, which he explains is Spanish for what?

A fighting chicken, 'with the claws and the beak', is his confident translation of the Spanish for 'the devil', and his best friend thinks it is awesome.

Which driver ran across the finish line on foot after wrecking at Talladega in 2009, copying Ricky Bobby?

Carl Edwards had flown into the catch fence on the last lap; asked on Larry King Live why he ran to the line, he said he was 'kind of a Will Ferrell fan'.

Which Red Bull driver's radio rang with the Talladega Nights catchphrase after he took pole at the 2013 US Grand Prix?

Sebastian Vettel won the race a day later; quizzed about the shout, he seemed hazy on the reference, saying there was apparently a movie a couple of years ago.

Which singer, later Zoey's singing voice in KPop Demon Hunters, released 'Ricky Bobby' in 2021?

Rei Ami co-wrote it after rewatching Talladega Nights one December, struck by Ricky as a raw talent suddenly thrown into the racing world.

What solo nickname does Cal announce on the day he tells Ricky he is marrying Carley?

The Magic Man outlasts the feud: when the two friends make up after the final race, they retire their old catchphrase and become Magic Man and El Diablo.

At Ricky's school career day, Reese introduces himself as a semi-professional racing driver and an amateur what?

Tattoo artist is his second trade; within minutes he is being thrown out by the school janitors, one of whom he greets as a former cellmate.

With which four words does jack-man Ricky volunteer to take over Terry Cheveaux's abandoned car?

'I wanna go fast' answers his crew chief's plea for a volunteer, and he brings the car home third in his very first race.

To get Ricky up to speed again, Reese calls the police and claims he has taped what under the car?

A kilo of cocaine, or so Reese claims, turns the lesson into a real police chase, which is what finally gets Ricky driving flat out again.

Under which alias does Cal confess, at Ricky's hospital bedside, to having posed for Playgirl?

Mike Honcho was the name on the full spread, Cal says, which is why Ricky never heard about it; Ricky, apparently unconscious, is in no state to reply.

Which track in Concord hosted many of the racing scenes in Talladega Nights?

Charlotte Motor Speedway was then called Lowe's Motor Speedway, the name the film uses for the night race where Ricky has his big crash.

Who directed Talladega Nights and co-wrote it with Will Ferrell?

Adam McKay also turns up on screen as Terry Cheveaux, the idle driver whose car Ricky takes over at the start of the film.

Which actor plays Ricky's best friend and teammate Cal Naughton Jr.?

John C. Reilly, an Oscar nominee for Chicago, said the film introduced him to improvised comedy, and his director called him a revelation at it.

Which former driver calls the races in Talladega Nights as part of the real Fox broadcast team?

Darrell Waltrip, in the Fox booth with Mike Joy and Larry McReynolds, predicts NASCAR will black-flag Ricky for selling the space on his windshield.

Which British singer-songwriter appears as himself among Jean Girard's guests before the final race?

Elvis Costello, introduced as Girard's dear old friend, politely greets Ricky Bobby as 'Mr. Robert'; the rapper Mos Def is at the table too.

After a late spin, how does Ricky's car cross the finish line to win a race?

In reverse, and with a one-fingered salute for the driver he beats; Ferrell called it the one scene he feared NASCAR fans might find a little too much.

Which kind of music does Girard put on the jukebox at The Pit Stop, to the regulars' disgust?

Jazz is on the jukebox, the barman explains, only 'for profiling purposes', alongside the Pet Shop Boys and Seal.

After his big crash leaves him unhurt, Ricky strips to his underwear believing he is what?

On fire, he insists, whatever the rescue crew tell him; Ferrell joked that his contracts guarantee him screen time in the same pair of white underpants.

After quitting racing, Ricky tells Susan he has applied to appear on which MTV series?

The Real World is the basket holding 'a lot of my eggs', he says; his fallback plan is to deal crack, though as a friendly sort of dealer.

During the dinner-table grace, Cal says he likes to picture Jesus wearing what?

A tuxedo T-shirt says 'I wanna be formal, but I'm here to party too', he explains, and since he likes to party he likes his Jesus to party.