NASCAR's Hall of Fame is located in one of stockcar's racing capitals of the world, Charlette, North Carolina.
We started our visit to the Hall of Fame by watching a movie about auto racing in the High Octane Movie Theater, which was equipped with high-volume-surround sound. The large screen and surround sound allowed us to not only see the large format movie, but it also allowed us to feel the sound.
The movie gave a history of how and why NASCAR was formed and how it became the organization that is is today. Early NASCAR races were held on the sands of Daytona Beach, combined with sections of a beachfront asphalt-paved road. After the movie, there were three levels of the museum to explore.
For an extra fee, visitors could sit in race cars that were equipped with video equipment and participate in simulated races. From the balcony it was possible to watch the race on a large video screen above the cars. When a driver was involved in a crash, they were not eliminated from the race, they were able to just start the race over again from the pits. Cars not involved in the crash just kept racing and the cars that started over from the pits had to catch the rest of the pack, or wait for the pack to catch them.
The famous Cars movie star Lighting McQueen, sponsored by Rust-eze Medicated Bumper Ointment, was also on display.
The Toyota Holidays for Heroes vehicle was located in the NASCAR Hall of Fame lobby to honor all military veterans. Donners were allowed to write messages on the truck. I'm not sure who left us the message, but it was there when we arrived.
After an exciting day at the NASCAR Museum, we stopped at the highly recommend Amelie's for something to eat. Not only was the food great, but the desserts were even better. The unusual décor was an added benefit.
Charlotte Motor Speedway is a 1.5-mile-quad-oval racetrack built in 1959, northeast of Charlotte. Also included at the property is state-of-the-art ZMAX Dragway.
When the speedway was first constructed, it was not a profitable venture and went bankrupt within two years. In 1963 the track emerged from bankruptcy and under better management the speedway's mortgage was paid in full by 1967.
The speedway has 24-degree banked turns, which is far less than more modern track that contain banks of over 35 degrees. Grandstand seating capacity at the track is 89,000 and total seating is 146,000.
Tours of the racetrack were not available on the day we visited the facility, so I just photographed the track seating chart.
Before going to Ashley's basketball game at the University of North Carolina Charlotte, we drove up to Kannapolis (population 53,114) to visit a memorial for hometown hero Dale Earnhardt. Earnhardt died February 18, 2001, when he hit a wall at 180 miles-per-hour and his seat belt broke. Before the accident, the seatbelt manufacturer had tried to convince Earnhardt that he installed his seatbelts incorrectly, but Earnhardt did not listen and just installed them "his way."
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