PHOTO PROVIDED Will Ferrell stars as racecar driver Ricky Bobby in “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.” It is one of his signature roles.

“If you ain’t first, you’re last.”

If you are a fan of Will Ferrell, you know where that movie quote comes from. It’s from the comedy classic, “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.” Ferrell is the star of the 2006 movie, which features a fantastic cast. It can be said that “Talladega Nights” is truly a rags-to-riches-to-rags-to-riches story.

Ricky is born in the backseat of a racing car on a country road. His father, Reese (Gary Cole) actually utters the quote during an event at Ricky’s school. The quote sticks with Ricky into his racing career. Ricky works his way up from a crew member all the way to a successful NASCAR driver. Along the way, he marries a groupie, Carley (Leslie Bibb) after she flashes him at the racetrack. They have a couple of unbelievably bratty children, who provide a lot of laughs.

Ricky has a best friend Cal Naughton, Jr. (John C. Reilly) and a nemesis Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen). Ricky is on top of the world when things begin to quickly fall apart on him. After Girard breaks his arm during a bar fight, Ricky begins a downward spiral. He has a crash, his wife leaves him for Cal and he begins delivering pizzas for a living. Reese returns to help Ricky get his life back on track. He teaches him how to drive — again — by putting a live cougar in his car, making him drive blindfolded and telling him that he has drugs taped to the bottom of his car.

“Talladega Nights” will give you some genuine belly laughs. At one point, Ricky is convinced that he’s paralyzed and sticks a knife into his leg. Of course, he’s not paralyzed and Ferrell sells it as he gets out of his wheelchair with the knife sticking out of his leg. There’s also a classic scene at Applebee’s, where Reese loses his mind because he believes the waitress purposely put onions on his bourbon steak.

Those are just a couple of the great scenes in “Talladega Nights,” which is arguably one of Ferrell’s best films. It’s hard to imagine anyone else pulling off the role of Ricky Bobby and the chemistry between Ferrell and Reilly is undeniable (see: “Stepbrothers”).

There’s a ton of great product placement in “Talladega Nights” as well. NASCAR drivers are literally walking billboards and Ferrell captures that perfectly.

In additon to the cast members already mentioned, look for appearances by Jane Lynch (Lucy Bobby), Amy Adams (Karen), Jack McBrayer (Glenn), Andy Richter (Gregory) and the late Michael Clarke Duncan (Lucius Washington).

There are certainly funnier Ferrell movies, but this is definitely near the top of the list along with the aforementioned “Stepbrothers,” “Old School,” “Elf” and of course, “Anchorman.”

“Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” is rated PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, language, drug references and brief comic violence. It is available on Netflix, Hulu, YouTube and Xfinity OnDemand.

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Chris Morelli is a staff reporter for The Express.