Plot
Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) is a NASCAR driver who wants to go fast. While working on the pit crew of Dennit Racing driver Terry Cheveaux (Adam McKay), Ricky replaces him and ends up finishing in third place, despite starting mid-race in last place. Ricky quickly soars to the top of NASCAR by achieving fame and fortune at Dennit Racing and meeting his future wife, Carly (Leslie Bibb). Ricky eventually persuades Dennit to field an additional car and arrange to have his best friend, Cal Naughton, Jr. (John C. Reilly) on his team. While he and Cal are on top of the racing world, Ricky challenges his flamboyant French Formula One arch-rival, Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen), who outperforms him on the track and becomes Dennit Racing's next top driver. Desperate to regain his dominance, Ricky pushes himself too hard during the race at Charlotte Motor Speedway and ends up going airborne. While paramedics attempt to take him to the hospital, Ricky ends up running around on the track in his helmet and underwear to think that he is on fire. While recovering from his accident, Ricky persists in the belief that he is paralyzed, in which that he is not, a fact that he only realizes after intentionally stabbing a knife into his leg in an attempt to prove that he is paralyzed. Ricky's test drives at Rockingham Speedway finds out that he has lost his touch, in which he fails to regain a spot on his team. Desperate to remain married with Ricky, Carly plans to marry Cal and moves to Ricky's old home. Cal invites Ricky to his wedding to Carly, but his invitation was immediately refused by Ricky, who accuses Cal of wrecking his life.

Ricky moves to his new home with his two sons, Walker and Texas Ranger (Houston Tumlin and Grayson Russell) and takes his job as a pizza deliveryman. However, Ricky is reduced to use a bicycle and ride the bus after accidentally losing his license for crashing his pick-up truck into a customer's shopping cart and the Sheriff later writing him a ticket for the previous accident. With Ricky's life at his lowest point, his father, Reese (Gary Cole) teaches him to drive by using unusual methods to help Ricky to overcome his fear of driving fast. With his retraining and the guidance of Reese, Ricky finally regains his confidence, but is forced to take aback after Reese being kicked out of Applebee's due to his obnoxious behavior and later walked out on him. Reese leaves Ricky with the knowledge that the mantra around which he had based on his life and the quote "If you ain't first, you're last!" were in fact meaningless. Ricky runs into his assistant and love interest, Susan (Amy Adams), who convinces him to return to NASCAR not because of his desire to live up to the expectations of those around him, but because it is his nature to drive fast. With Ricky heeding Susan's advice to race in the Talladega 500, he and Susan fall in love with each other.

Ricky manages to make amends with Cal, Girard, and Carly before the start of the race. Ricky is forced to start the race from the back of the starting grid in a car with an engine that his pit crew chief and close friend, Lucius Washington (Michael Clarke Duncan) had rebuilt from spare parts donated by other independent drivers. In no time, Ricky manages to pass all the other drivers except Girard. Heading towards the race's final laps, Dennit orders Cal to knock Ricky out of the race, but Cal refuses and instead pulls ahead of Ricky, which allows Ricky to slingshot around Cal and ends up in the lead with Girard. On lap 182, the replacement driver of Ricky's Wonder Bread car runs into Cal from Dennit's orders, which causes a massive wreck that disables all the other drivers except Ricky and Girard. On the final lap of the race, Ricky and Girard ends up colliding with each other and somersault down the front straightaway heading close towards the finish line. Determined not to give up, Ricky and Girard sprint on foot to the finish line to the tune of the song "We Belong" by Pat Benatar. Although Ricky wins the foot race, he and Girard are disqualified for getting out of their cars and Cal officially wins Talladega 500 by default after finishing in third place during the wrecks. Ricky and Cal finally reconcile their friendship and family. Ricky later meet up with all of his extended family in the parking lot to reunite for a dinner party at Applebee's at the end of the film.

Critical reception
Reviews for the film were positive. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 72% of critics gave the film a positive review, with the consensus being "Though it occasionally stalls, Talladega Nights' mix of satire, clever gags, and excellent ensemble performances put it squarely in the winner's circle." It has a 69 rating at Metacritic. British magazine Total Film gave it a perfect five-star rating, with the following verdict: "Forget the recent blips; Ferrell is back in freewheeling form. More than just the year's funniest film, Talladega Nights is one of the films of the year."

Box office
The film grossed $47,042,215 in its first week, becoming the #1 film at the box office. It is the second-biggest opening weekend ever for an original comedy, after Bruce Almighty, and the biggest opening for a film starring Will Ferrell. As of April 26, 2007, the film had grossed an estimated $162,966,177 worldwide.