Over the years, there have been several Hollywood films about NASCAR. The ones that pop out are, Days of Thunder, the Herbie series, Logan Lucky, the Cars trilogy, and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Truthfully, that last one was more for comedic purposes, but it certainly inspired Carl Edwards at Talladega Superspeedway.

During the movie’s climax, Ricky Bobby and his rival Jean Girard crashed on the last lap at Talladega. However, the two decided to finish off their grudge match with a foot race. Everything ended with a dramatic leap for the finish line, with Ricky Bobby’s hand touching the line.

Carl Edwards did the same stunt at Talladega Superspeedway

Obviously, Edwards’ circumstances were far different from Ricky Bobby’s. As it turned out, Carl Edwards got tagged into a spin and another car hit him, sending him airborne. He flew into the catch fence and totaled his car, ensuring that he would not reach the chequered flag.

However, the #99 driver had other ideas, as he clambered out of the car and sprinted to the line. This incident took place during the 2009 season at the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. Meanwhile, the movie hit theatres in 2006, and it had ‘shades of Ricky Bobby’.

The best part was that Carl Edwards certainly did his job of entertaining the fans, as he received a standing ovation after reaching the finish line anyhow.

“NASCAR puts us in this box [restrictor-plate racing] and will race this way until they kill somebody,” Edwards said. “Then they’ll change it. We’re very lucky nobody got [seriously] hurt today.”

In the end, it was Brad Keselowski who triumphed at Talladega. Admittedly, nobody expected him to win the race, because he was not a Cup Series regular at the time.

He was followed home by Dale Earnhardt Jr and Ryan Newman. Meanwhile, Marcos Ambrose and Scott Speed ended their races in the Top 5.