Talladega Superspeedway to honor Bobby Allison ahead of NASCAR Cup Series race
Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race will start with a special tribute to the late Bobby Allison, one of the founding members of the Alabama Gang.
Allison died in November, and this is the first Cup Series race at the Superspeedway since his death. Allison's grandson Robbie will be leading the racers around the track in his famous 1969 Mercury Cyclone. The car Robbie will be driving is the exact car Allison won in at Talladega in 1971.
'Talladega is built on history. It's built on tradition,' track president Brian Crichton said. 'It's a really core, authentic racetrack in NASCAR. So to have one of the 1969 iconic racecars from way back in the day going around the racetrack is just special. We've done it before for some others as well, and so it's obviously a fitting tribute to Bobby.'
Cause of fatal Moody fire revealed
It takes some work to get a car from 1969 in running order again.
'It was in a museum up in North Carolina,' Crichton said. 'They had to put some new tires on it. They had to do some different things with the engine, but it pretty much fired up when they were ready to go. So it's going to be a beautiful, beautiful sight down here going around the racetrack.'
Around 125,000 race fans are expected to fill the grandstands and the infield Sunday. Exterior groundwork has been done for campers arriving Wednesday. Crews are working on the infield to have everything ready by Thursday. Fans can look forward to some improvements in the infield this year as well.
'Talladega Garage Experience is a $50 million renovation that we did to our infield,' Crichton said. 'The number one question we get is 'How can I be in the garages?' And of course, we can't put all the fans in the garages, but what we did is we built this amusement park around our garages. Fans walk into one side, racecars and teams come in the other side. The only thing that separates you is about a four-foot-high fence and about five feet off the nose of the car, so you're right there in the middle of everything.'
Practices and qualifying races will start Friday, and the NASCAR Cup Series race is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
NASCAR makes decision on policing Victory Lane celebrations
NASCAR makes decision on policing Victory Lane celebrations originally appeared on The Sporting News To clear up a bit of confusion in the aftermath of Connor Zilisch falling and breaking his collarbone during his NASCAR Xfinity Series victory lane celebration on Saturday at Watkins Glen, no the Sanctioning Body is not going to police victory lane moving forward. Zilisch said he had heard that NASCAR would prevent drivers from standing on top of the cars the way he had before slipping and falling on his window net. Read more:What next for Zilisch after his fall? NASCAR's managing director of communications, Mike Forde, said that is not happening on the latest episode of his Hauler Talkpodcast. "We haven't said that we were going to tell drivers who have won not to step out onto their window, and stand there and take photos and all that," explained Forde. "Right now, there are no best practices. We aren't legislating it. We haven't said that drivers aren't allowed to do this or anything else. However, I think we did notice the window net ... we do have NASCAR employees in Victory Lane, and just make the window net is inside of the car. 'I think that was part of the problem -- the window net was flapping on the outside. I think Connor even said that may have been a problem, and one of our safety guys actually mentioned the same thing. He noticed that as being one of the issues. So, nothing as far as a policy goes. Make sure the window and check, (because) if that's inside the car, it's one less thing you can slip on." So in other words, NASCAR just wants to keep drivers safe as possible so this doesn't happen again but without micromanaging things.
NBC News
6 hours ago
- NBC News
Data center developer backs off $30 billion plans for Dale Earnhardt widow's property
A Denver-based company proposing a $30 billion data center on land owned by the widow of NASCAR champion Dale Earnhardt in rural Mooresville, North Carolina, will not move forward with the project, a city official and an engineer representing the company said Wednesday. The proposal had drawn intense community backlash, including from Earnhardt's eldest son. For months, developers with Tract had said they wanted to build a data center campus in Mooresville, about 30 miles outside of Charlotte. Many residents pushed back against the proposal, citing concerns about the future facility's water and electricity usage. Others viewed the project as an encroachment on the area's close-knit feel. Mooresville Mayor Chris Carney said in a Facebook post Wednesday afternoon that Tract developers had withdrawn their proposal. Dan Brewer, an engineer representing Tract, confirmed that he had withdrawn a request for a rezoning that was needed to move the project forward. The city's commissioners had been scheduled to vote on the rezoning next month. 'My client is Tract, I was instructed to withdraw it and that's what I did,' Brewer said in a phone interview. 'That's the only comment I have.' Representatives for Tract, which had pitched the project as a boon for local tax revenue, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Tract spokesperson said last week in a statement to The Charlotte Observer that the company was 'both disappointed and surprised' by the mayor's previous comments indicating he no longer supported the project. Earnhardt was killed in a crash during the 2001 Daytona 500. When he wasn't at the racetrack, he was an avid outdoorsman, and neighbors said he used the North Carolina property at the center of the recent battle for hunting and fishing. Teresa Earnhardt, who married Dale Earnhardt in 1982, began asking city officials to rezone 400 acres of that land for a data center last fall. She didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Kerry Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt's eldest son, blasted efforts to rezone the property on social media recently, saying his father 'would be livid for his name to be associated' with the project. At an Aug. 4 meeting, roughly 200 residents showed up, many in protest of the pending rezoning. Several of them, including Kerry Earnhardt's wife, René, urged commissioners to halt the project. Kerry and René Earnhardt posted a YouTube video Wednesday detailing their opposition to the data center. Kerry Earnhardt recalled dove hunting with his father on the property, and added that he felt compelled to speak up on behalf of his neighbors. 'The bottom line is this project does not belong where they're trying to put it,' he said. While the White House embraces data centers as critical infrastructure in the global artificial intelligence race, in a growing number of communities they're not welcome. Wednesday's announcement makes Mooresville the latest city where developers have either backed off their plans for a data center, or had their plans for a data center voted down by local leaders amid public backlash. Last week, officials in Tucson, Arizona, rejected a proposed Amazon data center. Kerry Pennell, who ordered yard signs for the campaign opposing the Mooresville project, cheered Wednesday's withdrawal. 'AI and data centers are an important part of the world we live in today, but we really need to figure out their proper place in this country,' she said. 'We can't just take rural residential land and destroy it forever.' Late last week, Carney, the mayor, cast doubts on the project's prospects because Tract hadn't said which tech company would ultimately use the facility once it was built. 'There is no request to postpone — this is a full withdrawal,' Carney wrote on Facebook on Wednesday. The mayor added that there are no other 'active' requests for a data center in Mooresville. For Donna Jones, who lives about a half mile from the proposed Mooresville site, Wednesday's retreat felt like a victory. But she's remaining vigilant — and urges her neighbors to hold onto their anti-data center lawn signs 'in the event that something else comes along.' 'You just never know what they're going to plan for the future,' she said.
Newsweek
6 hours ago
- Newsweek
Connor Zilisch Shares Surgery Update Following Scary Fall After Xfinity Series Win
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Connor Zilisch posted an update on social media after undergoing surgery for his broken collarbone. The 19-year-old driver fell off his car while celebrating his race win at Watkins Glen International. Zilisch's fall made headlines during the recent race weekend, given the intensity with which he fell head first. While a head injury was ruled out, Zilisch's broken collarbone needed to be fixed soon for him to be race-ready for the Wawa 250 at the Daytona International Speedway on August 22. Newsweek Sports reported Zilisch's comments following his fall, where he admitted that he might need surgery for a faster recovery. He said: "I think it might be something that I might have to get surgery for. But in this case, I think surgery is something that speeds up the process, so you can get plates and screws and get it reconstructed back together. Connor Zilisch, driver of the #88 Registix Chevrolet, slips and falls off his car in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Mission 200 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International on August 09,... Connor Zilisch, driver of the #88 Registix Chevrolet, slips and falls off his car in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Mission 200 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International on August 09, 2025 in Watkins Glen, New York. More"Shane [van Gisbergen] talked about it — he had an injury in 2021 and broke his collarbone — he had plates, screws, everything done and he was racing back the next weekend. Thankfully, the collarbone is a relatively quick bone to fix and heal." Related: NASCAR's Connor Zilisch Gets Trolled by His Father After 'Embarrassing' Fall "We're still working out with all the doctors to figure out what's gonna be the next steps. But I've got a little motivation from Shane [van Gisbergen], my teammate, he had a plate put in and raced the weekend after. So, I don't know if I'll be that quick but hopefully my young bones will heal fast, and I'll be able to get back in it as soon as possible." Now, the 2025 Xfinity Series standings leader has confirmed that he underwent surgery on his collarbone. He posted on X: "Wanted to give everyone a quick update. Had surgery on my collarbone this morning to get a plate and screws to help with the healing process. Been a tough few days for me mentally, but all the love you guys have shown has certainly helped. Thank you." Wanted to give everyone a quick update. Had surgery on my collarbone this morning to get a plate and screws to help with the healing process. Been a tough few days for me mentally, but all the love you guys have shown has certainly helped. Thank you❤️ — Connor Zilisch (@ConnorZilisch) August 12, 2025 As a result of the injury, Zilisch was unable to race the following day in the Cup Series with Trackhouse Racing. On the topic of Zilisch's racing return, Trackhouse's team owner Justin Marks opened up. He said: "I think it's a discussion that we all have to have. We haven't really talked about much, obviously, since yesterday, but in the little bit that we've discussed in some of the quiet moments over the last 24 hours, it's going to have to be a group decision. "It's going to have to be sponsors, Chevrolet, the team, taking care of his development, taking care of him as a human and as an athlete, and then keeping his motivations high and making sure he knows he's got a group of people behind him that are supportive of him."
