Continuity mistake: During the first "Grace" scene at his mansion, the drink level moves up and down in Will Ferrell's glass.
Continuity mistake: When Ricky Bobby is playing basketball with the people in wheelchairs, at the end of one quick shot, he's about to stand up from the wheelchair, then the camera cuts closer and he is sitting down.
Factual error: When Jean and Ricky get ready for their one-on-one showdown at the Talladega 500 (which is completely unrealistic in and of itself), they are side-by-side at the restart. In NASCAR, all lead lap cars start single file in the outside line on restarts, with lapped cars to the inside. Since they were both on the lead lap, Ricky would have started behind Jean, not next to him.
Factual error: When Ricky puts the car in reverse when he makes contact with Jamie McMurray's 42 car you can see that the gear lever has 5 gears plus reverse. In reality a NASCAR race car only has 4 gears plus reverse.
Continuity mistake: In the beginning when Ricky Bobby is praying, his glass moves left to right a few times, and then disappears when his wife is making out with him.
Factual error: When Ricky goes to race Talladega the last time and they lift the hood of his (now) Ford race car, the engine is obviously a street engine and not a race one. A chrome GM alternator with standard drive pulley, chrome air filter with K&N element and a host of other items on the engine simply aren't used. The motor pictured is a 302 with alum. heads.
Factual error: Neither Ricky nor Jean would have been DQ'd for their footrace to the checkers. Carl Edwards did the exact same thing at Talladega in 2009 and wasn't punished in any way for it. It wouldn't count (no one won the final race, it was incomplete and would remain so until one of the 43 teams fixed their car enough that it could limp around the track one more time), but they would still be scored as the front two for the time being.
Factual error: The movie is set in 2002 (based on the license issued mid-film) yet in the bar, the bar-goers are drinking from the red aluminium Budweiser bottle, which was not yet distributed in 2002.
Continuity mistake: When the cougar is by himself in the car, the exterior shots show him standing, while the interior shots show him sitting.
Continuity mistake: In one race scene, Mike Joy says that Jamie McMurry is in the lead. The shot changes to a blimp shot that CLEARLY shows that Matt Kenseth (17) is in the lead.
Factual error: In the first scene at the Lowe's Motor Speedway at the Nextel Cup Qualifier the time is shown as 11:39 a.m. but the shadows cast by the car and people are too long. At noon during Nascar season the sun is directly overhead. It is impossible on a flat surface for a shadow to be that long at that time of day.
Continuity mistake: When Ricky Bobby is pinned to the snooker table by Jean Girrard someone hands Ricky a beer. The camera cuts to Jean and back to Ricky and on return the beer has disappeared.
Factual error: When Ricky Bobby gets his license re-issued in the middle of the film and it is shown, the word race is misspelled as 'rave.'
Deliberate mistake: Some of the same crash scene footage is used before and after the Applebee's commercial break.
Revealing mistake: As Ricky Bobby drives a test lap, one crew member tells another that Ricky Bobby is going only 26 miles an hour. In three close-ups of the vehicle, the reflection of the bleachers can be seen on the windshield. The reflection does not change. The vehicle is not moving.
Other mistake: When Ricky is in the hospital, asleep in the bed, his heart rate stays at a constant "69" beats per minute. The number doesn't even spike when Cal tries to smother him with a pillow.
Continuity mistake: At the beginning of the movie when Ricky takes over, he is already wearing his wonder bread outfit when it was still the laughing clown.
Other mistake: At the beginning of the first race when Ricky takes over, he puts his suit on, and the helmet he puts on already has his name on it.
