Travel Log: Talladega

This is just one of those weekends. Daytona, Bristol, Martinsville, Darlington, Charlotte -- they capture the race fan's eye in a special way when they pop up on the schedule.

And Talladega does, too.

The reason? Racing on the superspeedway is like none other. Sure, Daytona has the high-speed, restrictor-plate racing on high banks also. But the speeds at Talladega are faster. The banking at Talladega is steeper. And the risk vs. reward is something that becomes tough to measure.

This part of Alabama is focused on racing. The state as a whole, however, has long been full of trailblazers -- individuals who carved a path for a future generation.

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• Huntsville is known as the rocket capital of the world. The city's Redstone Arsenal, a U.S. Army post, was the development site of the first rocket to carry humans to the moon. Its team of scientists helped develop the rocket that orbited the United States' first satellite, and sent the first American into space. Today, Huntsville is home of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.

• Dr. Luther Leonidas Hill became the first American physician to perform a successful open-heart surgery on a human when he sutured a wound in the patient's heart. The procedure was done in Montgomery in 1902 on a man who had been stabbed in the chest.

• Heather Whitestone became the first person with a disability to be selected as Miss America in 1995. Whitestone, who is hearing impaired, was born in Dothan, Ala.

• Alabama has been known as the Yellowhammer State since the Civil War. A Yellowhammer is a type of woodpecker with a yellowish-colored head and chest. Alabama's Confederate soldiers were known as Yellowhammers because of a yellow cloth on the company's sleeves, collars and coats.

• Alabama was home to several influential people throughout history, including:

Best Burger: Hamburger Heaven
Best Barbecue: Shack BBQ
Best Restaurant: Highlands Bar and Grill

Admitted as a State: Dec. 14, 1819, as 22nd state
Capital: Montgomery
Nickname: Yellowhammer State
Population Rank: 23rd
Largest City: Birmingham

The massive structure of asphalt just north of Talladega, Ala., is the central focus of this rural community about an hour east of booming Birmingham. Racing is the lifeblood, with the International Motorsports Hall of Fame located at the race track.

Getting there is quite simple. It just matters where you're coming from. Atlanta is to the east. Birmingham is to the west. And everything between is Southern country.

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But Talladega Superspeedway does a good job in providing a fan guide for all things that must be known before getting to the race track.
• Talladega Superspeedway

The trucks head to Kansas Speedway this weekend in the heartland of the United States. The track location was designed by a genius, as it sits directly beside the Kansas Turnpike (I-70) and I-435 junction. Headed there? The track also produces a spectacular fan guide.
• Kansas Speedway

Weekend Schedules: Cup Series | Nationwide Series | Truck Series