It was the first big plate-race wreck following the untimely passing of Dale Earnhardt. Sterling Marlin was an unwitting participant in that event, and was in this one as well. Bobby Labonte blew over on the backstretch, while Johnny Benson Jr. got hooked head on into the wall. Sterling, as eloquent as always, explains what was needed to make the plate racing safer. The cars now go 200 mph, still wreck, and still go flying through the air — but they’re safer, at least.

by Vito Pugliese
 

OK, so this wasn’t in the plate era, but who could forget the guy who stole the pace car and took it for a hot lap prior to the 1986 Winston 500? And why in the hell wouldn’t we post it regardless of when it happened? Folks, gaze upon the glory of what an all-nighter in the Talladega infield will drive a man to do. Wonder if they got him for grand theft auto and DUI?

by Matt Taliaferro

The one that started the Restrictor Plate Era: Bobby Allison about parked it in the front row at Talladega in 1987 after losing the starter off his car, running over it and puncturing the tire in the process. That blew the quarter panel off the car and allowed gobs of air to pile under it at 210, sending it skyward. Had the catchfence and arrestor cables not done their job, it very well would have been the end of NASCAR. How’s this for irony: Bobby about takes out the flagstand while son Davey wins his first Cup race just a few hours later.

by Vito Pugliese
 

Matt Kenseth about pulled a Tony Stewart here, swerving towards Dale Earnhardt Jr., causing him to go below the yellow line in what was a pretty blatant non-call in advancing your position. The yellow line rule was supposed to stop guys from trying to pull off a pass before the transition from the flat backstretch to the banking in Turn 3 … which is pretty much where Junior pulls off the pass. Replacement valences, duct tape, bent sheet metal … and they still were able to actually race on a plate track. This was plate racing at its best.

by Vito Pugliese
 

As slick and calculating of a move as you’ll ever see at Talladega. In the “pod racing” period at Daytona and ’Dega, the Earnhardt-Childress engines were all but unstoppable. In this classic, Kevin Harvick executes a masterful tri-oval bump ‘n’ run of Jamie McMurray (both equipped with ECR powerplants, of course) to earn the engine shop a sweep of the plate races in 2010. A finer move may never be seen — well, except by the guy that once piloted Harvick's car.

by Matt Taliaferro
 

One of the scariest Talladega crashes, and one that looked fatal at first glance, was this grinding mess in 1996. Ernie Irvan and Sterling Marlin get together, sending Dale Earnhardt head-on into the non-SAFER Barrier frontstretch wall at nearly 200 mph. Earnhardt then suffers a T-bone hit to the roof by Derrike Cope, as an engine goes tumbling down the frontstretch. The toughest SOB in the garage emerged with a broken collarbone, holding true to his “One Tough Customer” persona and, two weeks later, put it on the pole at Watkins Glen. Naturally.

by Vito Pugliese
 

A near-replay of the 1996 crash was this one between Dale Earnhardt and Bill Elliott, the two drivers who pretty much defined both eras of plate and non-plate racing at Talladega. Elliott got banged up pretty good in the crash, while Earnhardt singed his moustache. He ended up shaving it for a little while, which just looked downright awkward. Thankfully, the cookie duster returned a few weeks later. Right, like he’s going to up in a tree stand without it …

by Vito Pugliese
 

I will go on record as saying this is easily the best single race of the restrictor plate era. This was the race that started the advent of running three-wide, 15-rows deep in the field. This race had everything, from Mark Martin’s team having to hot wire his car to get it started, a constant threat of rain, and a ridiculous finish that didn’t need a green-white-checker gimmick to make it happen. Watch as Martin peels the paint off the wall coming to the white, and then as Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett, Ernie Irvan, Jimmy Spencer and Rusty Wallace dice for the win. Earnhardt launches his buddy Rusty skyward, which ushered in the roof flaps we still see today. Rusty ended up with a broken wrist, which the team would Velcro to the shifter for the next week’s race at Sonoma. The early-mid 1990s was the Golden Era of modern NASCAR. If only they could catch lightning in a bottle once again …

by Vito Pugliese
 

Talladega, Darlington ... close enough.

by Matt Taliaferro

The Car of Tomorrow is a pretty hearty beast, but the old car was no slouch either — as Elliott Sadler proves by bouncing it off the pavement several times at Talladega. Sadler executed a similar test at Michigan in 2000. The camera angle used at the 4:08 mark really shows the speed and violence of the wreck, and how much ground they’re actually covering. Wish the networks would use this angle more often. Worst part of this clip? The longing it stirs to hear Benny Parsons in the booth once again.

by Vito Pugliese
 

This one brought to you by Depends. Ricky Craven is likely relishing his new role as an analyst with ESPN after this four-story horror in May 1996. Huntsville Rocket City, USA? It seems Craven went Saturn V in Eastaboga, as five cars pass underneath him as he careens down the banking. Again, the old car held up rather well even in wrecks such as these that look absolutely lethal. Interesting to see how much faster and unstable these cars are going at 195 mph versus 205 mph today. They’re barely turning 7,000 rpm and making less horsepower than the GT500 Mustang pace car was at the race this Sunday.

by Vito Pugliese
 

Sorry, couldn't help ourselves.

by Matt Taliaferro

You knew this one was going to top the charts. This race was significant for a number of reasons. Many didn’t think the original CoT could get airborne, ungainly sled that it was. Turns out that wings create a lot of lift (who knew?), and that, as Tony Stewart found out the hard way on Sunday, blocking on the last lap when leading usually turns out bad. Brad Keselowski got his first career win in James Finch’s ride, which would propel him to his current position of leading the points leaving Talladega just three and a half years later. Ryan Newman gets a windshield full of Cousin Carl, which could have ended much worse. And not everybody escaped unscathed; a fan sitting in the grandstands had her jaw shattered when a PA speaker mounted on the fence was jettisoned free as 3,500 pounds of Ford Fusion clobbered it at 190 mph. Edwards, ever the classy guy he is, visited with the young fan before the fall race.

by Vito Pugliese
 

Dale Earnhardt had quite a reputation for doing whatever it took to win a race. And although he didn’t make it to Victory Lane in the 1993 Fram Filters 500K Busch Series race at Talladega, he called a spade a spade. “Intensive” research (read: a trip to racing-reference.info) shows that Tracy Leslie was “that boy in the 72.” I’d hate to have been Tracy Leslie that day.

by Matt Taliaferro
 

2:10 mark
“I guess we’ll do what we dun again at Daytona 'n wreck ‘em all again.” Sterling Marlin was never one to mince words, so I won’t either: Sterling was mad about restrictor plate racing and opened up a can on NASCAR in this post-race interview from 2001. For all the things Sterling brought to NASCAR—Tennessee drawl, chest hair, rugs—he is missed.

by Matt Taliaferro
 

6:00 mark
For Ryan Newman, racing with restrictor plates is about as enjoyable as taking out the garbage. Maybe that’s because, more often than not, his racecar becomes garbage. But perhaps the scariest of all his incidents occurred in 2009, when the Car of Tomorrow came oh-too-close to losing its perfect safety record. That caused this classic tirade—one of the stronger criticisms from a package that draws constant negativity from drivers inside the garage. A lack of control over his own outcome? That’s the perfect inspiration for a driver to spout off about lack of respect. And, for NASCAR, the perfect opportunity to hit him in the wallet for 50 large.

by Tom Bowles
 

:50 mark
With Talladega’s big, windy packs that keep all 43 cars superglued together, a “Big One” involving multiple drivers is almost inevitable. And the other scary sidelight that seems to come with those crashes? One car, if not more, flipping faster than flapjacks at a Sunday morning diner. In this race in 2005, it was Michael Waltrip that was the innocent victim, getting dizzy in a wreck that didn’t sap the fun out of his day–but it certainly injected some fear into competitors wary of high speeds and high impact that could cause a serious injury at any time.

by Tom Bowles
 

8:20 mark
For Mark Martin, his Charlie Brown-esque championship history (five runner-up finishes) also applies to many of his results at Talladega. It hasn’t always been pretty, with the driver flipping as recently as 2009, but perhaps the worst hit of all came in 1994. Back then, the focus on brake failure wasn’t quite so severe, so Martin was more relieved—even jovial—to come out of this incident feeling OK … except for one specific body part we fellas feel pretty sensitive about.

by Tom Bowles
 

With his win in the 2004 EA Sports 500, Dale Earnhardt Jr. drafted into the points lead and looked like a title favorite as the calendar turned from September to October. However, a 25-point penalty levied against him for using a certain four-letter word on national television in Victory Lane dropped him 12 points behind Kurt Busch in NASCAR’s inaugural Chase. Although Junior won again five weeks later, he never fully recovered in the championship standings. Sidenote: A fun game has spawned from this. Instead of using your preferred four-letter word, substitute the words “25 points” in its place. You’ll be amazed at how funny it remains and how many people will instantly know what you’re referring to.

by Matt Taliaferro
 

In this clip from May, Tony Stewart looked to be a mental disaster just moments after his No. 14 car wound up in the garage area. After years of drivers complaining about the plate package, Stewart decided to make his point by switching gears and doing the opposite: embracing its pitfalls. One of the more fascinating moments throughout this clip is the way in which the media seems baffled by Stewart’s responses, continuing to ask serious questions when the driver was anything but. Give him this: Dude can stay in character.

by Tom Bowles
 

Perhaps the most frightening incident seen at any NASCAR track in the recent past (naturally) spawned some of the most epic reactions. The Carl Edwards/Brad Keselowski battle royale of 2009 launched the former into the fence and the latter onto everyone’s radar. From the first-time winners' exuberance to Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s James Finch-chuckle to Edwards’ genius sponsor plug—and bone-chilling description of his in-wreck concerns—this post-race summary has it all.

by Tom Bowles