Sights and sounds from Talladega Superspeedway’s GEICO 500

TALLADEGA — On Sunday, Penske Motorsports’ Joey Logano won the 96th Cup series race at the Talladega Superspeedway and capped off a weekend of festivities held at Alabama’s biggest venue.

Talladega Superspeedway opened for its first race in 1969. It was the brainchild of former NASCAR head Bill France and was built in Alabama at the behest of former Gov. George Wallace.

Since that first race, the track not only offers the spectacle of engineering and physics for which most people know it, but also an atmosphere that offers visitors from elsewhere an offering of the best of the state of Alabama.

? Follow me, everything is alright ?

So much fun out here with @unclekracker! pic.twitter.com/3gDS3FvePz

— Talladega Superspeedway (@TalladegaSuperS) April 29, 2018

Beyond the motorsports events at and around the track, others come for the nightlife held at the makeshift venues at what is called Talladega Boulevard in the track’s infield.

This year’s marquee entertainer was top 40 country and rock musician Uncle Kracker.

Earlier that day at the Talladega Superspeedway, driver Spencer Gallagher won his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race.

Also, veteran NASCAR driver Eliott Sadler of Emporia, Va. took home $100,000 in that series’ “Dash for Cash” incentive program.

Despite it being an election year in Alabama, there weren’t much politics on display at the track over the weekend, with an exception here and there.

Former Cup series champion Kevin Harvick started Sunday’s race from the pole, which he secured during qualifying on Saturday.

Harvick, eyeing 4th win of year, to start on Talladega pole https://t.co/AQaYtkgvh1 pic.twitter.com/dC9zOgYp5d

— Nascar World (@NascarWorldNews) April 29, 2018

Logano’s prize for winning Sunday’s event was trophy modeled after Vulcan, the statue that sits on Red Mountain overlooking the nearby city of Birmingham.

The prize in all its glory.

Let’s do this. FIRE THE ENGINES!#GEICO500 #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/HIy6kwkKkY

— Talladega Superspeedway (@TalladegaSuperS) April 29, 2018