Fast Facts: NASCAR Hall of Fame

Credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images for NASCAR

The NASCAR Hall of Fame opened May 11th, 2010 and has been a destination for NASCAR fans visiting Charlotte, North Carolina since. Here’s a little background on the Hall, which will induct its third class in January 2012.

• The NASCAR Hall of Fame is located at 400 East Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in uptown Charlotte, across from the Charlotte Convention Center. Groundbreaking for the Hall of Fame took place January 25th, 2007, with excavation work beginning in May 2007.
• There are seven main sections to the Hall: the Ceremonial Plaza, outside the main entrance; Belk High Octane Theater, a 275-seat state-of-the-art theater; the Great Hall, featuring rotating exhibits and a 14’ x 18’ video board; Glory Road, mimicking various degrees of banking at historic tracks and featuring 18 cars; the Hall of Honor, showcasing the Hall of Fame’s inductees; Race Week, an interactive exhibit for the entire family; and Heritage Speedway, looking back at the history or NASCAR.
• The Hall of Fame also hosts a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant, the NASCAR Hall of Fame Gear Shop and TV and radio studios plus the NASCAR Newsroom.
• The first class of inductees in 2010 were: Bill France Sr. and Bill France Jr., the founding family of NASCAR; Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty, the Cup Series’ only seven-time champs; and Junior Johnson, driver and championship-winning team owner.
• The second class, inducted in 2011, featured: Lee Petty, patriarch of the Petty racing clan; championship drivers David Pearson, Bobby Allison and Ned Jarrett; and championship-winning team owner and WWII infantryman Bud Moore.
• The third class, to be inducted in January 2012, includes: championship-winning drivers Darrell Waltrip and Cale Yarborough; Glen Wood, driver and owner for the renowned Wood Brothers; Dale Inman, championship crew chief for Petty Enterprises; and Richie Evans, nine-time NASCAR Modified champion, who becomes the first non-Cup Series driver inducted in the Hall of Fame.
• Find out more about the NASCAR Hall of Fame at http://www.nascarhall.com/.