LINCOLN, Ala. — It was a routine interview for Tyler Ankrum, who is making his first career NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series start on Saturday (April 25) at Talladega Superspeedway. But when Michael Massie of Frontstretch asked him about the Talladega Boulevard, he pondered his response before noticing his PR manager shaking his head.
“The PR guy just shook his head no,” Ankrum laughed.
In fact, if you ask any NASCAR regular, the answer will mostly be the same:
“No comment.”
Twice a year, NASCAR travels to the 2.67-mile behemoth of a circuit and, more often than not, the NASCAR Cup Series puts on a thrilling show over the course of 500 miles. The on-track action that the Alabama track is well-known for has made it a staple of NASCAR culture.
But it’s not only what happens on the track that makes the race so appealing, it’s also what happens within it.
A long stretch of road that spans from the infield of turn 2 to the center of the backstretch, Talladega Boulevard is a home for many race fans who camp out with recreational vehicles and trailers alike. During the day, it appears to be a normal NASCAR track infield. However, according to the lore, once the checkered flag flies and the speedway lights turn on, the party begins.
And with it comes a code that many Talladega fans and the drivers themselves adhere to.
What happens at the Boulevard, stays at the Boulevard.
“I don’t know if I really knew the true meaning of freedom until I set foot on the Talladega boulevard,” ARCA Menards Series driver and YouTube sensation Garrett “Cleetus McFarland” Mitchell said. “I mean we’re parked up, and there’s just action happening. … I would say that if I posted some of the things we saw, my [YouTube] channel would be deleted. You just don’t know until you know. You go on the Talladega boulevard, you’re seeing pure bread Americans enjoying life to the absolute maximum, and they love two things. That’s boobs and turning left.
“I can’t get into the details, because honestly, it’s not cool man. Whatever happens on the Talladega boulevard has to stay there.”
The sentiment is the same with the Cup regulars, as well.
“Oof, I got some stories there,” 2021 fall Talladega winner Bubba Wallace said. “I haven’t been in maybe four or six years. The schedule doesn’t really allow it anymore. … Yeah, I got a couple.
“But I’m not going to share anything.”
“No comment,” reigning Talladega spring winner Tyler Reddick said to the laughter of many in the media center.
“I probably can’t talk about that,” a smiling 2018 Daytona 500 champion Austin Dillon told Frontstretch. “[The boulevard] is probably where it needs to stay. It lives there.”
Not everyone was pleading the fifth, however. There were a few that were able to give a taste of what they couldn’t say.
“I’ve seen things that I’ve only seen here,” O’Reilly Series regular Anthony Alfredo said. “I’ve seen some crazy stuff. I’ve seen people wrestle in barbecue sauce in an inflatable pool. You name it, I’ve probably seen it.”
Despite what you may have expected, however, it’s not all alcohol and red meat stories. While NASCAR Most Popular Driver Chase Elliott admittedly doesn’t visit the Boulevard as much as he used to, he once had a fun lifelong experience with country music star Bailey Zimmerman.
“[Zimmerman] was just kind of getting started,” Elliott told Frontstretch. “I can’t remember if it was [Cole] Swindell or another musician that was hanging out, and we were walking around, and somebody had karaoke set up, and those guys went up there and basically just started playing, singing with the band that was out there, which I thought was really cool. Obviously, all those guys have become huge stars, so it was really cool for all the people that were standing there to watch some of those guys sing because where else would you see that? They were unprompted. Nobody was paying them to be there. They were just having a good time.
“So, I guess the moral of that story is you never know what you’re going to see. It’s not all craziness. It can be really cool.”
Indeed, it’s not all partying. O’Reilly Series regular and points leader Justin Allgaier shared his experience from when he walked down the street with his newborn daughter.
“In 2013, my daughter was born in August, we came in October for the fall race,” Allgaier recalled to Frontstretch. “I actually put my daughter in a little baby carrier, and we walked the boulevard with my daughter on the carrier. It was kind of funny, because nobody realized that it was me walking down the boulevard. They were just like, ‘Who is this idiot carrying the baby down in the Boulevard?'”
But despite what each driver’s experience may have been, all agree the boulevard is a bucket list item for diehard race fans.
“I went out there one time,” O’Reilly Series driver Brandon Jones told Frontstretch. “For me, I was like, ‘I got to see it one time to believe it.’ And now we just hear the rumors and stuff. I don’t go over there every race weekend and then see all the stuff going on and all that, but it’s unique to go check out.”
Jones isn’t alone in not visiting the Boulevard as often nowadays. As many of the experienced drivers get older and start families, they can’t join the party as much as they used to. However, that doesn’t change their opinions on its uniqueness.
“I wouldn’t say I’ve had a big night out there in probably three or four years,” Ryan Blaney told Frontstretch. “Can’t do that stuff anymore as hard as I’d like to go, but I think it’s always all my buddies who are like, ‘Hey, man, what’s a race we should go to?’ I always tell them Talladega. And you got to rent a bus, and you got to stay on the boulevard.”
Perhaps above most other drivers in Boulevard experience is that of Noah Gragson, who has seen his fair share of Boulevard visits in recent years. One included just this weekend, when he shared a ride on a “NASCooler” with ARCA star Cleetus McFarland.
What better person to describe the Boulevard scene?
“I mean, you can see as much and as little as you want down there. It depends on what you want,” Gragson told Frontstretch. “You’re creative, everybody’s creative in their own way. So, it’s as much creativity as they want to use down there that they can see. I guarantee you there’s something for everybody down there.”
Dalton Hopkins began writing for Frontstretch in April 2021. Currently, he is the lead writer for the weekly Thinkin' Out Loud column, co-host of the Frontstretch Happy Hour podcast, and one of our lead reporters. Beforehand, he wrote for IMSA shortly after graduating from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2019. Simultaneously, he also serves as a Captain in the US Army.
Follow Dalton on Twitter @PitLaneCPT