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| - Do NASCAR fans Yelp? Well, this one does.
My wife and I visited the NASCAR Hall of Fame on May 15, 2010, the first Saturday since it opened.
We loved it. I doubt that anyone who does not have at least a little appreciation for motor racing would enjoy it. But I think it nevertheless deserves good marks, not just because it is NASCAR, but because it is very well done.
There is plenty enough here to fill a day. The main floor has eighteen authentic race cars representing different eras of NASCAR racing, on a progressively banked curved ramp that itself demonstrates (and is marked by) the different degrees of banking found at different NASCAR tracks. Richard Petty's 43 and Dale Earnhardt's 3 are of course included.
The second floor features demonstrations of a racing team's week, including a full-sized hauler, a clever hands-on pit stop demonstration, and a bevy of racing simulators.
The third floor is full of historical artifacts, enough to resonate with the long-time fan or to educate the more recent fans.
Staff and equipment still have bugs to work out. From the parking garage, we got into an elevator with HOF Exec. Director Winston Kelley, who was pushing an empty cart of some sort and was tentative in giving us directions as to how to get into the Hall. At the ticket booth we were told an equipment failure precluded them from taking credit cards. Several requests for information or directions inside revealed a staff still learning how the place works.
But those problems did not distract from our having a good time. As a local and a NASCAR fan, I am thrilled with our new NASCAR Hall of Fame.
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