NASCAR Race Hub airs Monday-Thursday on SPEED. (Image: SPEED)

Customers will walk the ramp next to the authentic race cars, and the ramp also will be the place where tracks are highlighted going from the flat tracks to those with the most banking. The third floor will be where the hall of honor will be, where inductees will each be recognized with a spire that is 7 to 8 feet tall, and will include a facial likeness, a video of the honoree’s history and an area at the bottom where kids can create a rubbing.

Also on that floor will be the race week experience exhibit, which hall officials hope is one of the most interactive areas. That is where the racing simulators will be located as well as the area where people can change tires. That area will take a fan through the race week.

On the top level, NASCAR’s history will be chronicled, including a vault of artifacts. It will include a legacy area to honor those who spent their lives contributing to the sport and also will have a “great finishes” theater where fans can call up the best finishes in NASCAR history.

Kelley said the projection is for 800,000 visitors in the first year.

“We have something, we believe, for everyone – the avid die-hard NASCAR fan, for the novice with little or no knowledge of the sport, for kids of all ages and adults from all walks of life,” Kelley says. “While our mission is to honor the history and heritage of NASCAR, our vision and day-to-day objectives will be to focus on our guests.”

Ralph Appelbaum Associates is the hall’s exhibit designer. Its previous projects have included the National Constitution Center, the World Golf Hall of Fame and Museum and the London Transport Museum.

Kubik Maltbie is the primary fabricator and installer of all exhibits. The firm’s past work includes projects at the Smithsonian Institution and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Electrosonic Inc. will do all of the audio-visual components. Electrosonic, which has collaborated with Kubik Maltbie on numerous projects, has a long list of clients, including The Weather Channel sets, the Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center and the World of Coca-Cola.

The Hall of Fame also includes a 2,700-seat ballroom, and adjacent to the hall is a 19-story office tower, which includes NASCAR’s Charlotte offices as well as three floors for the NASCAR Media Group.

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