{"id":7670,"date":"2010-12-22T22:14:29","date_gmt":"2010-12-23T03:14:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.albany.com\/i-heart-ny\/2010\/12\/post.html"},"modified":"2017-11-08T11:46:00","modified_gmt":"2017-11-08T16:46:00","slug":"post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.albany.com\/i-heart-ny\/2010\/12\/post\/","title":{"rendered":"Knee Deep at the NASCAR Hall of Fame"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are certain
\nthings that the South lays claim to…we love big hair, fried catfish, Paula
\nDeen and NASCAR just to name a few.
\nSoutherners take great pride in their heritage, history and high
\ncholesterol. It’s not good, it’s not
\nbad…it’s just the way it is and who we are.<\/p>\n

New York and NASCAR
\nsound like they go together about as well as oil and water do, but you might be
\nsurprised that Yankees think rubbin’ is racin’ too. Nielson Media reports that in 2010, New York
\nCity came in behind Atlanta as the second
\nbiggest<\/i> market for network broadcasts of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
\nraces. That’s a stat I would have never<\/u>
\nguessed. With the push to get a track built in NYC, there’s a chance New Yorkers won’t have to settle for watching cars make laps on television, they can see it in person.<\/p>\n

My & Brett’s television
\ncareers have put us in the path of several NASCAR drivers. Brett interviewed Tony Stewart and Mark
\nMartin and I’ve talked with Mark Martin, Jack Roush and Matt Kenseth before. (Mark is a good ol’ Arkansas boy…he’s from Batesville
\nand is a real sweet guy!)<\/p>\n

\n\"mark<\/p>\n

Me & Mark bck in the day…2003 I think.<\/b><\/p>\n

The only NASCAR race
\nI have ever been to turned out to be a memorable one…I was in Pit Row at the
\nDaytona 500 in 2001 when Dale Earnhardt crashed on the last lap. I wasn’t real familiar with NASCAR or the
\nenvironment then, but it didn’t take much to understand the loss that the sport
\nsuffered.<\/p>\n

\"CIMG2237.JPG\"<\/p>\n

When Brett and I were
\nin Charlotte visiting his parents for the holidays, we knew we had to check out
\nthe new NASCAR Hall of Fame. The
\nmarketing department generously allowed us to come tour the new
\nfacilities…thanks y’all! Since
\napparently there are so many<\/i> New
\nYorkers that are into NASCAR, we knew we had to share our experiences.<\/p>\n

\"CIMG2236.JPG\"<\/p>\n

The Hall of Fame
\nopened in May and is housed in a new 390,000 square foot building in downtown
\nCharlotte. From the street, it sort of looks
\nlike the side of a giant tire! No one
\nneeded to tell me to start my engines…Brett and I hit the ground running as
\nsoon as we were in the door!<\/p>\n

Our first pit stop
\nwas to check out Glory Road. Located
\nnear the front of the entrance, Glory Road is a collection of 18 historic cars
\nand shows how automobiles have developed and advanced over time. The cool thing is that they’re all set on a
\nstrip of track that mimics the various degrees of banking found in NASCAR. Glory Road actually starts out flat (like the
\nbeaches the cars raced on) and ends at an impressive 33 degree incline (just
\nlike Talladega). The exhibit also
\nfeatured information on 46 current and historic tracks, so Brett had a lot to
\nread!<\/p>\n

\n\"CIMG2246.JPG\"<\/p>\n

\n\"CIMG2255.JPG\"<\/p>\n

\n\"CIMG2268.JPG\"<\/p>\n

\n\"CIMG2275.JPG\"<\/p>\n

\n\"CIMG2288.JPG\"<\/p>\n

\n\"CIMG2276.JPG\"<\/p>\n

\n\"CIMG2292.JPG\"<\/div>\n
The actual Hall of
\nFame is just around the curve from Glory Road and there’s quite a collection of
\nmemorabilia for those inducted. The Inaugural
\nClass of 2010 honored Junior Johnson, Bill France Jr., Bill France Sr., Richard
\nPetty and Dale Earnhardt. Seeing
\nEarnhardt’s #3 car reminded me of that February afternoon in Florida nearly 10
\nyears ago. The Hall of Fame has screens above each inductee that show highlights of their careers.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n\"CIMG2298.JPG\"<\/div>\n
\n

\n\"CIMG2317.JPG\" The second floor of
\nthe Hall of Fame is where things start to get fun! Almost all of it is completely interactive so it’s a great
\nplace for kids (and grown men!) We got
\ntake a look at how NASCAR operates behind the scenes during a race week…everything
\nfrom touring a car hauler (pic on left) to how cars get ready to race. There were some pretty cool exhibits featuring some of the original timing devices used in the early racing days in Daytona.<\/p>\n

We even got to practice our broadcasting skills by calling a race! All I could think to say was “Hit the Pace Car, Cole! Hit the Pace Car!” Kisses to Jerry Bruckheimer for that golden nugget! My husband would have been mortified of my commentary, except that he was bustin’ out a few lines of his own with outburst of “Shake ‘n Bake!” every 5 seconds. Yes, we were those<\/i> adults.<\/p>\n

\"CIMG2335.JPG\"<\/p>\n

There were some cool qualifying simulators and lots of Hall of Fame volunteers around to help us figure out what to do and which direction to go next.<\/p>\n

Brett even had his chance to polish his pit
\ncrew skills! He managed to jack up the car,
\n“change” the tire and refuel in about 29 seconds. Funny how he’s never that fast in real life? The staff at the HoF told us they have a guy who comes nearly every day on his lunch break and practices the routine…he’s down to 19 seconds! Not too shabby, considering a NASCAR pit stop crew does it in about 12-13 seconds.<\/p>\n

\n\"CIMG2332.JPG\"<\/p>\n

The third floor of the Hall of Fame features tons of artifacts from NASCAR’s 60+ year history. The museum had a great collection of items from the early NASCAR drivers, but I really enjoyed looking at the stuff from drivers I recognized from today. We saw everything from a piece of the start\/finish line from the Bristol Motor Speedway, as presented to Terry Labonte, to Ryan Newman’s 2008 Daytona 500 trophy.<\/p>\n

\n\"CIMG2350.JPG\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"CIMG2348.JPG\"<\/p>\n

If you’re a NASCAR fan in the least, you don’t need a green flag to head to the Hall of Fame. It takes about three hours to check out everything in the Hall of Fame and they’re open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Tickets run $19.95 for adults and $12.95 for kids 5-12. Be sure to ask about Senior and Military discounts. Simulator experiences are $5 and you can purchase those tickets at the box office. The Hall of Fame also offers a variety of membership packages which offer unlimited admission. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n

\"NHOFLogo.jpg\"<\/p>\n

For more information about visiting the NASCAR Hall of Fame, check out their website at nascarhall(dot)com. You’ll find some great tips on planning your trip to Charlotte, plus you can buy tickets online. Brett and I thought we sure were knee deep in some tall cotton at the NASCAR Hall of Fame and we figure y’all will be too…even if you are from New York! <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n\"hall<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n

*Special thanks to the NASCAR Hall of Fame for generously providing admission. Thanks y’all…we loved it! <\/i><\/p>\n


\n<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/i>Photography image credits: Heather Flanigan, Brett Garrett. Graphic image credit: NASCAR Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are certain things that the South lays claim to…we love big hair, fried catfish, Paula Deen and NASCAR just to name a few. 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