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CUP: Hall Has Major Wow Factor
The new NASCAR Hall Of Fame will be something to see...
Jonathan Ingram  | http://www.RacinToday.com  |  Posted January 21, 2010   Charlotte, NC
Ricky Craven has donated the No. 32 Pontiac in which he beat Kurt Busch at Darlington to the new NASCAR Hall of Fame. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Scheduled to open on May 11, the new NASCAR Hall of Fame in downtown Charlotte will combine new methods of presentation with over 60 years of the sanctioning body’s history. The facility in downtown is still under construction, but a tour given to media equipped with souvenir hard hats revealed a state-of-the-art approach to combining artifacts such as historic racecars with electronic and other interactive presentations.

“The Hall exceeds my expectations,” said Ricky Craven, who has provided to the Hall the Pontiac he drove to the closest finish in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup history. “I think that will be the response of the people who come here.”

The first induction ceremony for the inaugural class of Bill France Sr., Bill France Jr., Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Junior Johnson is scheduled for May 23, the afternoon following the Sprint All-Star race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. But it remains undecided whether the ceremony will take place outdoors at the Hall’s ceremonial plaza, in the ballroom or elsewhere in the city of Charlotte. Season ticket holders at the Hall will have priority when it comes to tickets for the induction ceremony.

Designed by the architectural firm of I.M. Pei, the Hall’s largely completed exterior features a signature, swirled facade that suggests the high banks that became the signature of NASCAR competition. In the Great Hall inside, a ramp that has banking from 33 degrees down to a flat surface will display historic racecars from all eras next to the walkway leading to the upstairs exhibits.

The Hall of Honor will have an electronic “spire” for each inductee to display information and videos about their careers as well as a 360-degree video presentation.

The Hall’s staff anticipates occupying the building in mid-April, when construction of the interior areas is scheduled to be finished. As part of the initial media preview, the Modified Ford first driven by Louise Smith in the 1940’s, a replica of a Chrysler C300 from the 1950’s, and the Grand Prix driven by Craven in 2003 were on display.

The acquisition of the cars and artifacts has taken many different turns, said the Hall’s director, Winston Kelly. But the most help has come from the sport’s participants themselves, such as Richard Petty’s offer of his 1967 Plymouth from the season when he won 10 straight races and 27 events over-all. “We have found through this process many of the folks that have these things have gone out to get them appraised,” said Kelly. “Petty Enterprises was a different situation. Richard would always tell me he doesn’t have a collection, he has an accumulation.”


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