Showdown in Alabama
50 Years of NASCAR Racing - Post 1
By Matt McLaughlin
Editor's note: This article is part of a special reprise of Matt McLaughlin's "50 Years of NASCAR Racing", written and published in 1998 in commemoration of NASCAR 's 50th Anniversary celebration that year. In keeping with the RacersReunion mission of passing the history of our sport down to younger fans, Matt has kindly granted us permission to run the entire series. Please, sit back and enjoy as you take a journey back through the pages of history and perhaps relive a memory or two. Many thanks to Matt for his generosity in sharing. God bless you, my friend.
The inaugural race at the Talladega Superspeedway September 14th 1969 was won by Richard Brickhouse. "Who?" You might ask. Don't worry, the fans in the stands that day were asking the same thing. It was to be Brickhouse's only Grand National victory, and without diminishing the courage he showed running out on the new track that day, it will always be somewhat overshadowed by the showdown between the track's owner and NASCAR president Bill France, and the Professional Drivers Association (PDA) and its president Richard Petty.
A little background is in order here. The PDA had been formed that August and included just about every major Grand National driver with the exception of Bobby Isaac. The groups stated goals were to pressure NASCAR into increasing purse sizes, providing pensions and better insurance for the drivers, and better track accommodations for the drivers and their families. Right from the outset Bill France had been suspicious of the group's goals and openly hostile to it. Meanwhile the finishing touches were being put on the Talladega Speedway (then known as the New Alabama International Motor Speedway), the biggest and fastest track ever conceived, and Bill France's dream baby. Initial testing had already been done at the track and speeds were kissing close to 200 miles per hour. To a man, every driver who had tested at the facility had said the track was too rough and should be repaved before the event. France felt otherwise. Also during those tests there had been a high rate of tire failure, but the reps from Goodyear and Firestone said they could develop a special tire for the rough surface and high speeds anticipated at the track. At the same time Chrysler was ready to unleash the new Dodge Charger Daytona, the automotive equivalent of a platypus with its pointy beak and three foot high wing spoiler on the decklid. Coupled with the brass knuckled bad attitude of a big old honking 426 Hemi under the hood, the Daytona was designed to shatter records when it came to speed and down force which was making life real tough for the tire manufacturers. Chrysler was determined to get in a shot at Ford, by winning the first race at Talladega in their Daytonas, after the Ford Torino Talladega had won its first race at Daytona, ironically enough. The perennial rivalry between Ford and Chrysler had been turned up a notch that season when Ford hired Chrysler's top gun, Richard Petty to campaign a Torino.
