Herschel Walker Cites Ricky Bobby in GA Senate Race Speech

Herschel Walker sees his race for the U.S. Senate ending like a Talladega night -- and it just might -- but right now it's way too close to tell who's first or who's last.

The ex-football great opted for a NASCAR metaphor late Tuesday night as election results were still trickling in ... he told supporters in the critical Georgia race he's feeling like Will Ferrell's character in 'Talladega Nights' -- "I'm like Ricky Bobby. I don't come to lose."

As of Wednesday morning, though, Herschel and incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock are in a virtual tie, with neither candidate holding 50 percent of the votes -- and that would mean the race goes into overtime, if you will.

Walker had trailed for a majority of the evening, but as the night went on ... he began to pull within a point or so of Warnock -- and at varying moments, was even ahead for a bit.

He confidently said he'll eventually be "the new Senator for the great state of Georgia" ... but it hasn't happened yet.

Nearly the entire state has reported their tallies, and election officials estimate this is going to slip into a run-off race on Dec. 6.