I just got back from a week-long trip to North Carolina. Had a very productive and successful week at our sister plant in Albemarle. I found out that I really really really like NC style BBQ. I bought a couple of sauces and brought home with me. I also had some free time to take in some NASCAR stuff as well. Went to the NASCAR Hall of Fame during its first week open. Really cool stuff. Also went on a tour of Charlotte Motor Speedway, got to do 90 mph around the track in a 13 passenger van. Really cool. Even got out and walked around on pit road and victory lane. I went through the Hendrick Motorsports visitors center and museum. Really cool stuff in there. Here are a few pictures I took....
I took all of these with my phone, so the quality is not great. Also, some are blurry. Click the pictures to open a full-size view in a new window.
First, the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte. Opening week.
A few pictures of Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, NC.
The garage area. The bays are assigned according to the top 20 finishes in the previous year cup standing. So, Jimmie Johnson will have this #1 for the Coca Cola 600. Here are some pics of the pits too.
We also took the van down the ZMax drag strip. They run 4 wide here. Our guide said another guide there didn't stop the van in time and buried up in that sand. They had to get a tractor to pull them out. Wish I would have had that tour guide!
Here's a couple of neat pictures I took outside the Hendrick Motorsports Corporate Offices. I'm such a tourist...
I became a NASCAR fan around 1993 or 1994. I had friends that watched it and cheered for #3. It was ok. I really got into it when Jeff Gordon came on and did well his rookie season. Me and Allison watched a bunch of races with her brother Jeff when he came home from the Navy. We instanly became Gordon, Terry Labonte, and Ken Schraeder fans. We've always followed the Hendrick drivers. We even liked Mark Martin back when he drove a Ford. I would not call us Die Hard, but we follow it and the boys have started liking it as well. Carson likes Jimmie Johnson like his momma. Carter likes Dale Jr. and Jeff Gordon. I really enjoyed the Hendrick complex in Concord.
Here is the inaugural Brickyard 400 Winner. I think this is the first race i watched Start to Finish!
Another memorable race from when I first started watching was when Ken Schrader had that huge wreck at Talladega in '95. We watched this race live as it happened.
The coolest car I saw at the Hendrick Museum was this Daytona 500 winning Jeff Gordon 24 car. Me and Allison watched the end of this race as Gordon held off the Intimidator for the win. I distinctly remember how nerve wrecking it was on those final laps with that Black #3 chasing down Gordon. Gordon held off to win, and Dale "marked" his car on the victory lap. Allison was mad that Dale did that knowing that car would go to Daytona USA, but i thought it was cool. It was really neat seeing this car. I think this single race is what has made so many people hate Jeff Gordon. The door picture is bad blurry, stupid Iphone!
Here is one of Johnson's #48 Chevrolets...
This is in the #24 / #48 shop. You could also see through to their shop where they were working on several cars.
The Dale JR #88 and Mark Martin shop.
Oh, check out this gigantic burrito I had at some restaurant in Concord before I got on the plane. It was yummy!
