NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
  • Peg It on GarageMonkey
CUP: Charlotte Center Of NASCAR Universe This Weekend
Hall of Fame induction ceremony Friday night begins a full schedule of activities…
Mike Hembree  |  Posted January 16, 2012   Charlotte, NC
(L-R) Darrell Waltrip, Dale Inman, Glen Wood and Cale Yarborough speak to media and fans during the NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Announcement. (Photo: Getty Images)
NASCAR’s old and new will meet in one of the sport’s capitals – Charlotte, NC – this weekend.

A full weekend of racing activities – virtually everything but a race – is scheduled in Charlotte Friday through Sunday as the NASCAR Hall of Fame inducts its third class and the sport officially ushers in the new season with the NASCAR Preview.

Headquarters for the weekend activities will be the downtown Charlotte Convention Center and the adjacent NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Friday night’s Hall induction will honor 2012 class members Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Glen Wood, Dale Inman and the late Richie Evans. The event, which will include a dinner, is scheduled at the convention center ballroom.

On Saturday, attention shifts to the present with the revival of the NASCAR Preview, an event that was held annually in Winston-Salem, NC when Winston cigarettes was the Sprint Cup Series’ primary sponsor.

The Preview, scheduled from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the convention center, will include driver autograph and question-and-answer sessions, show car displays, simulator rides, 2012 souvenir sales and more.

Prior to the start of the Preview, Hall member Junior Johnson is scheduled to appear at a breakfast in the Hall of Fame’s Great Hall from 7 to 9 a.m.

From 1 to 2 p.m. in the Great Hall, Jeff Gordon and Richard Petty will revisit their memories of the final race of the 1992 season, one in which Petty drove his last race and Gordon made his debut.

From 5 to 7 p.m. in the Hall of Fame, several Hall members and other racing notables will be stationed throughout the facility discussing their roles in racing history. Among those scheduled to participate are Cale Yarborough, Donnie Allison, Bobby Allison, Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Hammond, Ned Jarrett, Bondy Long, Junior Johnson, Tom Higgins, Glen Wood, Leonard Wood, Dale Inman and Bud Moore.

On Sunday morning, exhibits featuring items from the careers of the five new Hall inductees will be unveiled in the Great Hall.

The National Motorsports Press Association’s annual convention will be held in Charlotte Sunday. The organization of racing journalists will honor its Driver of the Year.

Next week, from Monday through Thursday, hundreds of motorsports journalists from across the nation and several foreign countries will participate in the annual Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
mike.hembree's avatar

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mike Hembree

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR
Advertising | Jobs | Feedback | FAQ | Terms of Use | NEW Privacy Policy | Ad Choices | Site Map
Fox Sports | FUEL TV | FX Network | National Geographic | IGN | AskMen
The Motor Sports Authority, SPEED and associated logos are registered trademarks of Speed Channel Inc.
All Rights Reserved © Speed Channel, Inc. 2013

All external links will open in a new browser window. SPEED.com does not endorse external sites.