NASCAR Cup Series

Shake and bake! 'Talladega Nights' premiered eight years ago

Published Aug. 4, 2014 3:00 p.m. ET

foxsports

Shake and bake!

Eight years ago today -- on Aug. 4, 2006 -- "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" was released in theaters nationwide. The comical tale of NASCAR drivers Ricky Bobby and Cal Naughton Jr. is a staple in any NASCAR fan's movie collection.

Sure, it's a funny flick ... and successful (it made almost $150M in the United States alone). But -- believe it or not -- the Will Ferrell comedy has also had a lasting effect on the sport.

Let's take a trip down memory lane.

Kurt Busch has brought Ricky Bobby to life ... twice. In 2012, Busch ran the "Me" paint scheme at Talladega Superspeedway. Last season, he showed up to 'Dega with a Wonder Bread-inspired scheme.

It's the movie that inspired one of the greatest prerace invocations that we've ever seen.

It's the movie that allowed Carl Edwards to cross the finish line at Talladega ... without his car (see moment No. 1).

So happy eighth birthday to "Talladega Nights!" We don't know where we'd be without you ... and we still don't know what to do with our hands, either.