Nascar Hall of Fame

Nascar Hall of Fame

As most everyone knows by now, Charlotte, NC has been named the location for the new Nascar Hall of Fame. I feel that this is an excellent location based on todays demographics. Based on the history of Nascar, I'm not that comfortable with it.

You see, back in the "40's" when Bill France, Sr. was running at various dirt tracks, he got the idea for better organized racing. He wanted an organization that would set the rules and anyone who entered an event had to abide by those rules. He came to the upstate and visited with a number of fellow drivers about his ideas. One of those meetings was held right here in Spartanburg. Joe Littlejohn of Spartanburg was one of those present. My understanding from my Dad was that the deciding factors for originating Nascar happened here. This is really getting into another series of stories so I'll move on.

The three finalists, Charlotte, Daytona, and Atlanta, all have a rich history in Nascar. When the Daytona Speedway was built, the Nascar offices were operated from there. Charlotte Motor Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway were soon to follow. Since it wasn't in the running for the Hall of Fame, I didn't mention Darlington Raceway. But Darlington is another story.

An interesting tid-bit about Spartanburg was this. When the folks that planned and developed Talledega Speedway first started looking for a place to put their "dream speedway", the little town of Spartanburg was one of the locations being considered. Why you may ask? Because, at that time, more car builders and drivers hailed from the Spartanburg area (Cotton Owens, Bud Moore, Mario Rossi, David Pearson, Billy Wade, Dick Brooks, Rex White, and Joe Frasson to name a few) than anywhere else in the nation. The next closest area of car builders and drivers was in Hueytown, AL, The Alabama gang of the Allisons (Bobby and Donnie), Red Farmer, and Niel Bonnet to name a few. Oddly enough, at that time Bobby was driving for Mario Rossi whose shop was in, you guessed it, Spartanburg. Then enters the idiots that represented our city and county councils at the time in Spartanburg and Spartanburg county. They felt like there was no money in organized racing and giving concessions to a bunch of lunatics wanting to build a 2 1/2 mile super-speedway in Spartanburg county was just plain crazy. Talledaga said "bring it on" and the Talledega Speedway was born. Of course, Spartanburg wasn't on the Hall of Fame list, but a lot of Nascar history started right here.

For the demographics of drivers and car builders, for the visions of Humpy Wheeler along with the whole state of North Carolina, and lets not forget the fans that fuel this wonderful sport, Charlotte is best suited for the National Association of Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame. For me, if I were planning a vacation to visit the Hall of Fame, I would have prefered Daytona. After all, I love the beach.

Thanks for reading. Any comments are certainly welcome.
Larryjack