NASCAR playoffs roll into Talladega with cloud of lawsuit hanging over sport [Video]

TALLADEGA, Ala. — It’s most fitting that NASCAR this weekend races at Talladega Superspeedway, sight of one of the first major disputes between drivers and the top stock car series in the United States.

It was at the Alabama track’s 1969 debut race when the NASCAR-despised Professional Driver Association led by Richard Petty deemed the track too dangerous and not ready for competition.

The PDA wanted to postpone the race, NASCAR founder Bill France said no and things quickly turned contentious. So 36 of NASCAR’s regulars boycotted the event, but France made sure the show went on without them.

The two organizations are the only ones among 15 that refused to sign the take-it-or-leave-it agreement NASCAR dropped on the owners 48 hours before last month’s …