Goofs

In one of the races, Ricky Bobby has a "Fig Newton" sticker on his windshield, taking up practically the entire windshield. During his crash sequence, there is no sticker on his windshield.

When Cal is whispering "Shake and Bake" into Girard's ear, a wedding ring is on his finger, but at this moment he is not married. This happens during the fight between Girard and Ricky when Ricky shows up at the track with a broken arm.

During Ricky Bobby's first crash, he's shown shifting gears in an effort to catch up to the Frenchman. He's wearing Silver shoes with a blue Puma symbol and after the crash, while he's running around "on fire," he's wearing blue shoes with a yellow Puma symbol.

At the school when Ricky's dad comes in, he is wearing sunglasses. They disappear and then reappear in the next two camera angle changes.

During the final crash at Talladega, Ricky Bobby's car is upside down, but on the laptop screen from which Lucius is tracking the race the car is right side up.

NASCAR did not implement the double file restarts for lead lap cars until midway through the 2009 season. Since Ricky Bobby and Jean Girard were both still on the lead lap, Ricky Bobby would have had to line up behind Girard since he was in second place when the caution flag came out. Ricky would have been black flagged for lining up that way, meaning he could not have won the race, even if he had crossed the line before Girard.

When Bobby tries to win the race while driving in reverse his car's roof flaps should have been up. Every NASCAR car has flaps that open up on the roof to prevent them from flying into the air when in a crash. They only open when the car is moving in reverse with sufficient wind speed.

Ricky Bobby's car is shown to have a 5 speed transmission with a reverse gear. However NASCAR only allows a 4 speed transmission with a reverse gear.

During the restart when both Jean Girard and Ricky Bobby are the only 2 remaining cars with 6 laps left, they start side-by-side. In NASCAR, all lead-lap cars restart single-file, and with 10 or fewer laps left, all cars restart single-file, regardless of being on the same lap or not.

When Reese goes to pick up the two Talladega tickets, the sign at the vendor window says "Saturday Tickets." In reality, a NASCAR Cup Series race (the circuit Ricky would have been racing in) would only take place on Sunday, especially at Talladega.

Ricky was fired from Dennit Racing but before the last race it looks like his uniform still has Dennit Racing on it. However, a closer look shows that the wording has been at least partially removed, but that the stitching is still visible.

Twice in Ricky's mother's kitchen, Texas Ranger mouths Walker's words. Although this is a common actor's mistake, it makes sense in this particular context. These two are always planning and thinking together, so the idea that they can anticipate each other's every word is quite fitting.

The quote attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt in the opening credits was not actually spoken by her. As the film is a comedy, the film makers meant for it to be a joke.

Marrying Cal Naughton Jr. would not make Carly's name Carly Naughton Jr. (as she claims in some alternate versions), but simply Carly Naughton as the Jr. is a personal appellation of him.

Ricky Bobby said that he is "El Diablo" and explains that "El Diablo" is a fighting chicken. In Spanish, "El Diablo" means The Devil. It shows Ricky Bobby doesn't know Spanish. As the film is a comedy, the film makers meant for it to be a joke.

When Ricky Bobby is being interviewed by a news crew, one of them is holding a Panaflex 35mm motion picture film camera - obviously, the film's cinematographer. Panaflex cameras are not, nor have they ever been, used to film news.

After Reese Bobby was thrown out of Applebee's, he is wearing knee pads while talking to Ricky in the street.

When Ricky and Susan are talking in the bar, in the close-up shots Susan's glasses have no lenses in them.

When Ricky is shifting after he crashes with Jamie Mcmurray at the beginning, it is clearly visible that the shifter has five gears, when Nascar cars only have four.

As Ricky's parents are driving to the hospital, the shift lever is in the Park position.

When Ricky wins the race in reverse, in the shot after crossing the finish line everybody in the crowd is sitting down with nobody cheering.

When they race at Texas Motor Speedway, the track in most of the small scenes afterwards is Talladega.

Around 01:51:16, when Reese comes down off the car, a boom mic is visible on the car's roof.

After the race where Ricky wins in reverse, when he is talking to the Dennit racing president, a boom visible in the car window.

Reese says that he was high when he told Ricky "If you're not first, you're last," and that it doesn't make sense, but when he is driving away from the school he has a bumper sticker that has the quote on it.

Ricky's father tells him at the motel that he was conceived when he was only 17, putting Ricky's father 18 years older, at most, than Ricky. Later that day (in the kitchen), Ricky's father tells Ricky that he is 55 years old, which would make Ricky either 37 or 38. When Ricky gets his drivers license, it shows his DOB is 7/16/71 and the date issued is 7/16/02, which would make him only 31.

When Bobby checks under his car after thinking he has drugs under his vehicle, he says it's "Lucky Charms" when in fact the cereal is Malt-O-Meal's "Marshmallow Mateys."

At school in the beginning, Ricky can clearly be seen writing on his desk with his right hand, but later he is shown signing autographs with his left hand.

When Ricky and Cal are naming various foreign foods that they believe America gave to the world, Cal mentions the Chimichanga... a deep-fried burrito... which Jean insists is from Mexico. While the chimichanga is rooted in Mexican cuisine (and the exact origins are still debated), most culinary experts agree that it first appeared in Arizona between 1922 and 1946, technically making it an American dish.