Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is a 2006 American sports comedy film directed by Adam McKay and starring Will Ferrell, written by both McKay and Ferrell.[2] Other actors include John C. Reilly, Sacha Baron Cohen, Gary Cole, Michael Clarke Duncan, Leslie Bibb, Jane Lynch, and Amy Adams, and appearances by Saturday Night Live alumni. NASCAR drivers Jamie McMurray and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have cameos, as do broadcasting teams from NASCAR on Fox (Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip) and NASCAR on NBC (Bill Weber, Wally Dallenbach Jr. and Benny Parsons)

DETAILED PLOT

In West River, North Carolina, Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) is a man who dreams of going fast. The origin of him wanting to go fast was when he was born in the backseat of a 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle on country roads when his father, Reese (Gary Cole), accidentally missed the turnoff for the hospital due to driving too fast. Ricky grows up not knowing Reese, only seeing him once in ten years when he was kicked out of Ricky's school for inappropriate behavior during career day. Before leaving, Reese tells Ricky that in life, “If you ain't first, you're last.” The phrase sticks with him into adulthood, during which he works on the pit crew of Dennit Racing driver Terry Cheveaux (Adam McKay). At the Talladega Superspeedway when a caution flag came out, Ricky acts as a replacement driver after Terry decides to take a bathroom break, order a chicken sandwich, and make a phone call while in last place. After finishing third in the race, Ricky continues to race in NASCAR and gains fame and fortune by winning many races. Later, the owner of Dennit Racing, Larry Dennit Sr (Pat Hingle), announces they will field a second car with Ricky's best friend Cal Naughton Jr. (John C. Reilly) as the driver. Ricky and Cal become an unstoppable duo on the track, at their first race as teammates, Ricky meets his future wife Carley (Leslie Bibb), after she flashes her breasts.

More years later, Ricky now lives in a large mansion with Carley, her father Chip (Ted Manson), and Ricky's two incredibly disrespectful and trash-talking sons Walker (Houston Tumlin) and Texas Ranger (Grayson Russell). After a race at Texas Motor Speedway that Ricky wins by driving in reverse (it cost him 100 championship points, as pointed out by Larry Dennit Jr. (Greg Germann), the new team owner), Ricky and Cal are in a bar where they are introduced to their new teammate, openly gay French Formula One driver Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen), whom Dennit hired to win a championship as Ricky is too concerned with individual races and also breaks Ricky's arm when he refuses to say "I love crepes". At the Lowe's Motor Speedway, Jean outperforms both Ricky and Cal, with Cal blowing his engine, and Ricky exceeding his limitations, causing him to crash and roll during the race, traumatizing himself into thinking he is on fire and then runs around in his underwear and helmet. After Ricky recovers from catatonic shock and psychosomatic paralysis (he stabs himself in the leg after believing he was paralyzed but then realizes he was not), he discovers that Jean has won many races, becoming Dennit Racing's latest success story. When Ricky's declining performance becomes apparent at Rockingham Speedway during testing (he maxed out at 26 miles an hour), Dennit subsequently fires him from the team as a result, and convinces Carley to divorce Ricky and leave him for Cal, who has been promised to be put in the spotlight, causing Ricky to fall into depression and dislike for Cal, despite the latter still calling Ricky his best friend, frequently asking to do social activities with him, including attending his wedding.

Ricky moves in with his mother Lucy (Jane Lynch), and brings his sons with him while taking a job as a pizza delivery man. Ricky then loses his driver's license after hitting a shopping cart pushed by a woman and then a police officer who wrote him a ticket for the former, reducing Ricky to riding a child-sized bicycle to deliver pizzas. After unwittingly delivering pizzas to Reese, Lucy reveals that she called him in order to help Ricky be brave enough to drive again. Ricky reluctantly agrees to let Reese show him how to drive again, who then uses unorthodox methods such as forcing Ricky to drive with a live cougar in his car (which results in him getting attacked by the cougar), driving down his street while blindfolded, and taping cocaine (Lucky Charms) to the underside of the Chevelle, forcing him to outrun the police. Meanwhile, Lucy is determined to reform both Walker and Texas Ranger.

Ricky eventually regains his courage, and his life begins to stabilize after quitting his job at the pizza parlor and getting a new driver's license. When the family has dinner at an Applebee's restaurant to celebrate Ricky's courage returning, and Walker and Texas Ranger both being fully disciplined by Lucy, Reese suddenly causes trouble and is kicked out so that he has an excuse to leave his son again, claiming that he himself is no good. Ricky then tells him that he won the races for him, living his life based on what Reese told him as a child at his school. Reese reveals that he was actually on drugs when he told Ricky what he said, and admits that he what he said does not make sense, despite Ricky following the quote his whole life, and then leaves. Ricky starts to lose faith in himself once again then meets his former assistant Susan (Amy Adams) at a bar who has gotten a marketing job at NASCAR following Ricky's firing. When Ricky tells her that he is officially done with racing and has decided to become a drug dealer, Susan persuades him to return to NASCAR, since it is what he likes to do. They quickly develop romantic feelings, and Ricky decides to take Susan's advice and race at Talladega Superspeedway. Ricky calls his pit crew, who were working at a car wash, to rejoin him, and then meets with Jean before the day of the race. Jean informs Ricky that he joined NASCAR to be beaten by a driver who is truly better than him so that he can retire, and suspects that Ricky may be the one to do so, however Jean will not purposely lose.

On race day at Talladega, Ricky reunites with his pit crew, including crew chief and close friend Lucius Washington (Michael Clarke Duncan). With limited sponsors, Ricky's new car is painted by Susan with a cougar to remind him of his passion and the word "ME" in place of large sponsors. He sees Cal before the race, and apologizes to him for previously taking him for granted as a friend and making him only finish second, but this only makes Cal confused. Meanwhile, Dennit has a meeting with other owners that will result in him owning half the teams in NASCAR. Throughout the race, Ricky is able to climb from last place to pass almost all of the other drivers. In the closing laps, Dennit, fearing Ricky winning would hurt his chances at owning more teams, orders Cal to take Ricky out of the race with the threat of firing him. Cal however decides to help Ricky, and uses a slingshot technique to help him contend with Jean for the win.

Then, Brian Wavecrest, the replacement driver of Ricky's original car hits Cal, causing The Big One, which takes out the whole field, except for Ricky and Jean thanks to Dennit, telling his crew chief to take out Cal when he refused to listen to Dennit. Ricky and Jean begin the final laps of the race side by side with neither one having an advantage, then on the final lap, Ricky and Jean collide, doing barrel rolls, causing what the commentators described as "the longest-lasting crash in the history of the track", destroying their vehicles. Then the two exit their cars and run towards the finish line on foot. Ricky's hand crosses the line first, finally defeating Jean. Jean thanks Ricky for beating him, as it allows him to retire, and offers Ricky a handshake, but Ricky tells Jean he would never shake his hand, and kisses him on the lips instead. At the victory lane, it is explained that Ricky and Jean were both disqualified for leaving their cars, and Cal, who was in third place when the crash occurred, is awarded his first-ever win. Ricky and Cal reconcile further, with Cal apologizing about Carley, solidifying their friendship again. Carley comes to Ricky at victory lane and asks him to come back to her and start all over again, but Ricky wants to stay with Susan. While Ricky and his family along with Susan are leaving the event, Ricky is congratulated in the parking lot by Reese; Ricky declares that it was no longer about winning for someone, and he knew that he has a family who loves him no matter what happened. When Reese notes that things are becoming too perfect again, Ricky suggests the family goes to an Applebee's to get thrown out, which everyone happily agrees to.

In a post-credits scene, Lucy is shown reading a story to Walker and Texas Ranger; both are now presented as polite, respectful children.