Planning and construction Failed Spartanburg proposal originally drafted plans to build a track similar to AIMS near the airport. However, plans to build the track in Spartanburg fell through.|alt=Refer to caption Sometime in the early 1960s,
NASCAR founder
Bill France Sr. made initial plans to construct a superspeedway in
Spartanburg, South Carolina, with the help of Spartanburg native
Joe Littlejohn. In October 1963, designs for the Spartanburg track were drawn up by C. H. Moneypenny, with it planned to be built near the
Spartanburg Downtown Memorial Airport. An official announcement was made on February 18, 1964, with stated hopes of building 50,000 seats and a budget of "near a million dollars"; it was also touted as a "little
Daytona". However, while France Sr. later stated that plans were "far away from building" in March, local residents near the airport immediately raised opposition towards the proposal in the Spartanburg City Council; particularly due to concerns of increased noise. Despite this, in May, France Sr. continued to scout for potential sites. The proposal was eventually rejected by the local city council; the rejection, which heavily contributed to the declining racing scene of Spartanburg that started in the start of the 1960s, was seen by locals as the point of no return of the city's decline. In an interview, longtime NASCAR driver
James Hylton stated that the city council "stuck a knife in their hearts, their own hearts. Because if the city fathers in Spartanburg and Spartanburg County had approved that, this would be Talladega... All the people who had a vote on that really didn't understand racing. They really didn't have a clue as to what the future held." At the beginning of 1966,
The Anniston Star reported that France Sr. was negotiating to build a $1.5 million (adjusted for inflation, $) facility in
Eastaboga near the
Talladega Municipal Airport. However, according to France Sr., local Alabama tax laws and the cost of surrounding land were deterrents to the track's construction. In February, France Sr. had reportedly began negotiations in
Gadsden. However, in the next several months, France Sr. and city of Talladega officials resumed negotiations for the Eastaboga proposal. In August, the
Alabama Senate passed a measure to allow Talladega and its nearby cities to finance the track with their own credit. The measure was signed by governor
George Wallace soon after; by this point, Talladega Industrial Development Board chairman O. V. Hill stated that the budget for the project had risen to $6 million (adjusted for inflation, $), and planned to host a capacity from 40 to 50 thousand seats. Leaders of the now-proposed track also hoped to raise $3 million and acquire approximately 1,500 acres of land to kickstart the project. Nearing the end of the year, leaders awaited a verdict from the
Union Oil Company on whether they would invest $3.5 million for the project. .|alt=Refer to caption France Sr. later stated hopes of starting construction in the summer of 1967 and to open the track sometime in 1969. A finalized plan of the project was reported in April 1967, which according to France Sr. was "economically justified". In June, France Sr. stated in
The Anniston Star that the "bond market just isn't what it should be at the present"; however, speculated rumors of
Pure Oil, a subsidiary of Union Oil, investing the entire amount needed to finance the project were also being made, with a feasibility report stating that the project was "highly favorable". In the next month, a party associated with France and Pure Oil were reported to have invested two-thirds of the financing needed for its construction, along with the city of Talladega offering 650 acres. At the beginning of 1968, France Sr. announced that the track would be longer than the France Sr.-owned
Daytona International Speedway by "400 [to] 600 feet". In the same announcement, he also stated that he aimed to start construction in a couple of months and that the project was "90 percent assured". On March 14, Talladega County officials announced that they hoped for a final verdict on access road financing in order to finally approve the project; however, a sale of $2 million to First Alabama Securities relating to industrial bonds failed to go through. Despite this, France Sr. and Hill did not consider the lack of funds to be a major problem, and instead were so confident that they thought that the purchase would nevertheless be secured within the next month. In April, the city of Talladega gave France Sr. 2,000 acres at the site of the former
Anniston Air Force Base. On May 16, 1968, France Sr. officially announced the construction of the project along with a new airport runway near the track, which came at a final projected cost of $5 million and an opening date in September 1969. Groundbreaking occurred seven days later, with the facility officially being named the Alabama International Motor Speedway (AIMS). At the groundbreaking ceremony, France Sr. stated plans to host
NASCAR, sports car, and motorcycle events at the facility. France Sr.'s son,
Bill France Jr., was placed in charge of AIMS. During construction, the track was advertised to have bankings steeper than Daytona International Speedway and potential average speeds over . In October, work began on constructing grandstands, which involved bulldozing part of the
Talladega Mountains. In April 1969, a "roval" road course was announced by France Sr. That same month, reports by the
Associated Press stated that AIMS was selling 70 tickets daily on average. In July, the amount of tickets sold daily was "100 or more", with the goal of 100,000 people coming to the inaugural race being "assured". The next month, the only construction fatality occurred when W. L. Harry died when a crane hit his head, crushing his skull.
Chaotic first years 1969 Talladega 500 A date to christen AIMS was scheduled for September 14, 1969, for the
1969 Talladega 500. The first tire tests for the facility were run by
LeeRoy Yarbrough and
Donnie Allison in early August, with both claiming unofficial world closed circuit speed records. Both drivers complained of "rough places" on the surface of the track during testing. Later in the month,
Bobby Allison in a newly-unveiled
Dodge Charger Daytona ran another test session; Bobby later claimed that the track had "great big holes" in its surface. France Sr. admitted the appearance of three holes due to
Hurricane Camille, but also claimed that the holes were filled before Bobby made testing runs. On race weekend, although the track surface was completed, numerous amenities, including VIP suites, were either unfinished or "barebones" according to longtime motorsports journalist
Dave Despain. The track surface drew complaints from drivers, particularly drivers from the newly-formed Professional Drivers Association (PDA), a drivers' union. PDA drivers
Cale Yarborough,
Buddy Baker, and
Charlie Glotzbach all reported that the surface was "rough" and caused increased tire wear amongst both
Goodyear and
Firestone tires; the two tire suppliers for the race. Baker later added, "they haven’t built a tire out of anything that will stand up if you hit a chuckhole at 200 miles per hour". As a result of the complaints, drivers asked France Sr. if the race to be postponed; he refused, mainly due to the high cost of building the track, which France Sr. feared would bankrupt the track if the race was postponed. After an incident that involved Yarbrough punching France Sr. after France Sr. called Yarbrough too scared to race, After the first race ever ran at the track, a preliminary
NASCAR Grand American Series race won by
Ken Rush, France Sr. decided to seek out non-PDA, Grand American, and PDA
scab drivers to race in the main event; he also let in the smaller Grand American "pony cars", which had less power, run in the event. To appease fans, France Sr. also announced that any fan with a Talladega 500 ticket stub could attend any
Daytona or Talladega race for free in 1970. However, second-place finisher
Jim Vandiver, who was driving an older Dodge model, accused NASCAR of rigging the race; the protests were unsuccessful. In June, reporters stated that AIMS had covered up several parts of grandstands with tarp due to a lack of spectators during races. A series of races held at AIMS in July were described by
Anniston Star writer Tommy Hornsby as "a complete flop". In October 1970, AIMS appointed Don Naman, promoter of the Tennessee-based
Smoky Mountain Speedway, as the track's first general manager. Within the first month, Naman announced an improvement project that aimed to remove track surface bumps along with renovating press boxes and the track's control tower. As part of the project, the track surface was resurfaced by using a mixture that acted as a sealant. The first race under Naman's tenure saw increased attendance, with 63,500 attending despite heavy doubt placed onto the track, leading to hopes of later races having more attending per race. Within 1972, attendance had risen with Naman stated hopes of building new grandstands; the track also had a better reputation in local Alabama media. The next year, attendance had risen to such a point to where one
Anniston Star reporter had described AIMS' future as "all sunshine". Expansions and renovations remained at a slow pace throughout Naman's tenure. In 1975, AIMS officials announced renovations worth over $200,000; among said renovations was the addition of a new press box on the track's frontstretch that costed around $150,000, additional loudspeakers, and additional spectator gates. Further renovations to paddock areas were announced in 1977, along with the addition of a new 2,200-seat grandstand. A second repave was also announced in 1979 due to heavy rain. That same year, Naman stated that officials hoped to expand to accommodate at least 150,000 fans by 1990. The next year, a new, $80,000 scoring stand was added that accommodated around 100 people. In 1985, $200,000 worth of renovations were made to the track's garage area and parts of the grandstands. A new, 2,500-seat tower, the Anniston Tower, was constructed in 1986 and completed the following year, increasing the grandstand capacity of AIMS to 72,000. In November 1986, talks of annexing AIMS into the city of Talladega was proposed by Talladega mayor Larry Barton in order to pay off a $1 million deficit; however, annexation talks died down by early next year.
Rising speeds, breaking records ' car driven in 1988 at Talladega to break the women's closed circuit speed record.|alt=Refer to caption Within the track's early years, the track oversaw increasing speeds, with multiple world records being broken; some records were more than once were broken at the track. In March 1970,
Buddy Baker became the first person to break on a closed course, setting an average speed of . Seven months later,
Bobby Isaac broke Baker's record, setting a lap of . In 1971, Paula Murphy broke the women's world record for the closed-circuit speed record, setting a lap of . In August 1974,
A. J. Foyt took the overall closed-circuit speed record from
Mario Andretti, setting a speed of an average speed of . Foyt's record was broken a year later by
Mark Donohue, with Donohue setting an average speed of . In the 1980s, the women's world record for the closed-circuit speed record was broken numerous times. Over the course of two days,
Lyn St. James broke the women's record and became the first women to break over 200 mph, setting a lap of on the second day of testing. The women's world record was broken three times within the next five years; St. James broke her own record in October 1988, and
Patty Moise broke the record soon after St. James' attempt the following year in December. Moise proceeded to break her own record a month later, setting a lap of .
Injury and chaos-riddled period, alleged Talladega Curse In the track's early years, numerous deadly, injurious, or unusual occurred on and off the track. Jim Hunter, a publicity director for the track, encouraged a belief in a "Talladega Curse" stemming from an
urban legend that the speedway's construction on indigenous American land taken as part of the
Trail of Tears; according to Superspeedway general manager Grant Lynch, the idea was a marketing tactic to "build the mystique of Talladega".
Wendell Scott's injuries effectively ended his racing career. That same year at the
Talladega 500, driver
Larry Smith became the first to die at the track when he blew a tire and hit the wall, suffering major head injuries. In the same race, longtime driver
Bobby Isaac retired abruptly from the race and full-time racing; he said he heard voices in his head telling him to quit. At the
1974 Winston 500, ten of the top 11 qualified cars reported that their cars had been "sabotaged", with various mechanical failures; the culprit was never found. In 1975, pit crew member Randy Owens and driver
Tiny Lund were killed in separate races. Unusual incidents continued into the 1980s. At the
1982 Winston 500,
L. W. Wright, a
confidence trickster, was able to
launder thousands of dollars' worth of equipment from multiple organizations, including
Sterling Marlin,
Goodyear, and
NASCAR themselves. After attempting to race and subsequently being parked during the race for being too slow, he vanished without a trace despite a manhunt, and was only found in 2022 when he agreed to reveal himself for a podcast. At the
1986 Winston 500, spectator Darren Crowder broke into the race's
safety car and took it for a
joyride in what longtime NASCAR journalist Steve Waid called as "Talladega’s most bizarre incident". At the
1987 Winston 500,
Bobby Allison blew a tire in the track's frontstretch at high speeds, causing his car to go airborne and crash into a protective catchfence, injuring four spectators. Considered one of the most influential moments in NASCAR's history, Allison's crash led NASCAR to introduce the restrictor plate to reduce speeds; a requirement that lasted until 2019. One year after Allison's 1987 crash at AIMS, a renovated and heavier catchfence replaced the original. On January 30, 1989, Helton became the president of the track; on the same day, the track was renamed Talladega Superspeedway, with publicity director Jim Freeman stating in a press release that "it's shorter, and everybody called it 'Talladega' anyway". Helton made numerous renovations to the Superspeedway. In 1990, upgrades to all of the frontstretch grandstands were made so they could withstand a double-tiered system; 2,000 seats were also added to the Birmingham Tower, along with a new media center. A new infield campground was added in May 1992; it was met with praise. Further additions to the Birmingham Tower were announced later that year, with around 3,000 seats being constructed. At the end of 1993, Helton left to become the vice president of competition for
NASCAR, with general manager Grant Lynch taking Helton's position. Lynch expanded Talladega Superspeedway due to fears that the track was falling behind the amenities of rival tracks, particularly ones built by
Bruton Smith's
Speedway Motorsports. Seats were added in 1994 and 1995, with 3,100 and 5,000 seats being added in each year, respectively. A new grandstand, the 7,800-seat Gadsden Tower, was added in 1997; by this point, temporary stands were also added to accommodate more fans for its NASCAR races. Another 11,000-seat tower was announced the following year, increasing the total capacity of the track's grandstands to 120,000; the project was the track's ninth expansion in the last decade. Within the same year, the track also received a makeover; landscaping was done to make the track visible from
Interstate 20 and the seats were colored red and blue to replace the "historically grey and dull" aesthetic of the track. A second phase of expansion following the 1998 renovation was also announced that same year, with hopes of the track eventually hosting "well above 200,000" within its grandstands. A 22,000-seat backstretch grandstand, the Allison Grandstand, was announced in April 1999 and completed in October of that year. Another expansion to the O. V. Hill Grandstands was made in 2001, with 5,200 seats being added. By 2003, according to the
Montgomery Advertiser, the track hosted a grandstand seating capacity of 143,000. Construction on the repave started on May 2, 2006, a day later than expected due to rain. The repave was met with positive reactions from drivers, including
Tony Stewart and
Dennis Setzer. It was eventually completed by September 25 of that year, in time for
ARCA Re/Max Series testing. The next year, Lynch was replaced by general manager Rick Humphrey, with Lynch being transferred to work at the corporate ISC offices. A $13 million, two-phase renovation project was announced in 2009, which aimed to renovate outdated seating and improve accessibility. Lynch came back to his old position the following year when Humphrey was transferred to ISC. The early 2010s saw steep attendance declines due to the effects of the
Great Recession; a peak of approximately 190,000 in the
2003 Aaron's 499 had fallen to 108,500 by the 2012 iteration of the same event. In 2013, track officials announced that grandstand capacity would be decreased to 80,000, demolishing the backstretch Allison Grandstands. In lieu of the Allison Grandstands, officials decided to honor the
Alabama Gang by renaming the backstretch.
Continued reputation of wild, crash-riddled track leads the field during the
2012 Aaron's 499. Due to the introduction of the
restrictor plate, cars raced in big packs, with the frequency of multi-car crashes increasing.|alt=Refer to caption The track oversaw continued major crashes as part of the introduction of the
restrictor plate mandated in the wake of
Bobby Allison's crash in the 1987 Winston 500, cars were made drastically slower; an unintended consequence due to slower speeds was the introduction of pack racing. As part of restrictor plate racing, major accidents involving numerous cars, often called the "
Big One", occurred often. At the
1993 DieHard 500, two separate major accidents occurred. Early in the race, multiple drivers were involved in a seven-car crash; one of them,
Stanley Smith, suffered a
basilar skull fracture that affected Smith for the rest of his life. In the same accident,
Jimmy Horton's car went over the protective wall; the first of its kind since 1969 in the NASCAR Cup Series. Later in the race,
Neil Bonnett's car went airborne and hit the catchfence on the track's frontstretch, tearing a 20-foot gap. The next year at the
1994 Winston Select 500, a multi-car accident involving
Mark Martin sent Martin through the infield of the track, with Martin breaking through an infield guardrail. At the
1996 Winston Select 500,
Ricky Craven was involved in a 14-car accident that sent Craven's car airborne at nearly the same spot during Horton's crash in 1993; however, due to a newly-added catchfence that was added in the turn in the wake of Horton's crash, Craven's car was able to stay within the track confines. Heading into the new millennium, major accidents continued, with incidents involving at least 20 cars occurring frequently. At the
2002 Aaron's 312, a 27-car pileup occurred, breaking an all-time record for the most cars involved in an incident in any of NASCAR's top three series in the modern era. At the
Aaron's 499 that same year, an incident late in the race involved two dozen cars. The record was tied at the
2003 Aaron's 499, where the accident set a new all-time NASCAR Cup Series record for most cars involved in a single incident. Another catchfence incident occurred at the
2009 Aaron's 499, when
Carl Edwards' car went airborne on the final lap, crashing into the catchfence and injuring seven spectators. Three years later at the
2012 Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500, a 25-car accident occurred on the final lap of the race.
Brian Crichton era In 2018, ISC announced a $50 million renovation to the track's infield which aimed to completely revamp the garage and media center along with the additions of several amenities, including additional suites and a new infield tunnel. Work on the project started in October of that year, and was completed in September 2019. Also in 2018, Lynch announced his retirement from the track, ending a 25-year reign. It took effect after the
2019 1000Bulbs.com 500, with vice president of marketing and sales Brian Crichton replacing Lynch. The next year, the track came under controversy when a member of
Bubba Wallace's crew reported a potential
noose in the midst of the
George Floyd protests and the
Black Lives Matter movement. A
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigation later determined that Wallace had not been a victim of a
hate crime; the noose was a garage door pull rope that had existed since October 2019, although it was the only one shaped like a noose across NASCAR-owned tracks. To further modernize the track, a scoring pylon was removed in 2024 to get spectators to look at modern video screens for live scoring. In February 2026, Crichton announced to the Talladega County Commission his departure as president on February 16, with
Darlington Raceway president Josh Harris replacing Crichton as a temporary replacement. == Events ==