Starting Position
NASCAR Hall of Fame is off to the races

By Bea Quirk

During the first week the NASCAR Hall of Fame was open, the most frequently heard comments were “Wow!” and “Gee, I didn’t know that!” and “Where are the restrooms?”

Even diehard fans were amazed by the paraphernalia on display, which includes the pardon from President Ronald Reagan to Junior Johnson for his moonshine conviction and the Presidential Medal of Honor Richard Petty received from the first President Bush.

“Richard Petty said that even though he had been around the sport all his life, he had never seen two-thirds of what was in the building,” commented Buz McKim, the hall’s historian.

But it won’t be a matter of once you’ve been there, you’ve seen it all. McKim said the hall will rotate artifacts annually “so people will have a reason to come back. It’ll never get stale.”

Children especially like the interactive features. Other popular spots are the introductory video and Glory Road, a curved embankment lined with 18 actual cars that people wind their way along to the second story. It’s the first thing they see when they walk into the hall.

“And we are the most technologically sophisticated hall of fame in the country,” McKim said.

Hall spokeswoman Kim Meesters says they were “comfortable with” the first week’s attendance of 10,000 visitors. The CRVA has projected the hall will attract 800,000 in its first year.