IN MY OPINION
NASCAR -- Can it stay true to past?
TOM SORENSEN
The groundbreaking for the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Thursday was full of emotion and racing legends and lasted more than an hour, which probably is enough time to build something.
Before the building begins, let's hope NASCAR is true to its past and to its fans.
When I look at a rendering of the building, I see wings, which is fine. But the wings I want to see have chicken on them. Eat `em and throw `em. If NASCAR has a food group, this is it.
H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, president of Lowe's Motor Speedway, once told me that when archeologists stumble upon the site that was his race track, they'll see millions of little bones and conclude that race fans were really, really small.
Before I reach a wing, I want moonshine. NASCAR has the most interesting roots in sports. I love the stories about Junior Johnson and the fellows running away from revenuers on those twisting mountain roads, engines big and courage bigger.
They were good criminals. They'd fill those cars with illegal hooch and deliver it to flatlanders who were tired of light beer, umbrella drinks and chardonnay. When the boys finally came down from the mountains for keeps, they still had those big cars and the ability to drive them.
So they raced. Now that is how you start a sport.
As a testament to the outlaw past, I want the hall to provide a secret concession stand. While everybody else orders light beer, umbrella drinks or chardonnay, I give the bartender the secret code -- "Junior sent me" -- and get a glass of hooch. I don't want a glass. I want a jar. Cover it with a paper bag if you have to. Ever notice drinks covered with a paper bag taste better?
The rendering of the hall is stunning, all sweeping curves and gleaming glass. So, tell me the building created in downtown Charlotte the last decade that doesn't gleam. We need life. We need the hall to be as big and brash and loud as the sport it represents.
When the groundbreaking finally concluded, one fan tilted his head and yelled, "Whooo!" I want him to feel the same when the hall opens in late 2009 or early 2010.
I want controversy. I want to see illegal parts and illegal additives and I want an entire wing devoted to the uncanny success of the Lowe's driver at the Lowe's track.
I want fans to be able to afford to take their family. To help them, I'd offer discounts.
If your driver won the previous week, and you can prove it by wearing his colors and passing a test about him at the door, you get in for half price.
If you can prove you used at least five NASCAR products that day -- ate the right cereal, wore the right jeans, used the right motor oil, nibbled the right candy, wore the right cologne -- you get in for half price.
If you say something nice about Kurt or Kyle Busch, and mean it, you get in for half price.
And if Teresa Earnhardt, CEO of Dale Earnhardt Inc, was spotted at the track that week, everybody gets in free.
GROUNDBREAKING TODAY
NASCAR Hall of Fame enters Turn 1
GREG LACOUR
glacour@charlotteobserver.com
File / The Charlotte Observer
Artist's rendering of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.After months of intense negotiations, planning, the inking of contracts and suggestions from just about everyone, the first tangible evidence of the NASCAR Hall of Fame will appear today.
The city of Charlotte, NASCAR, the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority and the hall's main developer will host a 3 p.m. groundbreaking at the site, bordered by Stonewall, Caldwell and Brevard streets and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The public is invited.
For that matter, the public is actively courted. Organizers, while releasing few details, said they plan an event to accompany the usual officials-with-shovels photo opportunity that will honor NASCAR's storied past.
Such notables as Richard Petty, Ned Jarrett, Bobby Allison and NASCAR President Mike Helton are expected, along with N.C. Gov. Mike Easley and Mayor Pat McCrory. Current stars Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were invited, but are preparing for this weekend's Rolex 24 at Daytona race, said CRVA spokeswoman Molly Hedrick.
"The one message we're trying to send with this is that this is about the history of the sport ...and the ceremony will honor that," Hedrick said. "We're trying not to give too much away, though."
The hall is scheduled to open in early 2010.
Want to Go? What: Groundbreaking for the NASCAR Hall of Fame and NASCAR Plaza. When: 3 p.m. today. Where: The site bordered by Brevard, Caldwell and Stonewall streets and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in uptown. Directions: See www.charlotteconventionctr.com/directions.asp or call the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority at 704-339-6040. Parking: Visitors can park in pay lots uptown, in metered spaces or at the Westin Charlotte hotel next to the Charlotte Convention Center.