We were in CLT for family event this weekend and managed to sneak out to the Mustang Museum on Saturday for the anniversary show there. Which was great! Drove by CMS and Zmax. Just missed the Hendrick shop as it was closed at 3. Stopped at the HD store too. Yikes they are not inexpensive are they. What do you recommend to the car guy tourist for our next trip? We love it all from vintage to bikes to old trucks to F1.
The NASCAR Hall of Fame is there. You can tour Charlotte Motor Speedway.
penske is in mooresville they have a public viewing area
Almost all the big NASCAR teams have beautiful shops set up for visitors in that general area, with museum car displays, gift shops and all. They even have regular bus tours to visit them.
Roush has a nice museum.
There is a "Dale Trail" in Kannapolis where you can drive around and visit Dale Sr.'s old stomping grounds.
When we were there, Penske was running the NASCAR, Indy and sports car teams out of the same vast shop facility.
Richard Childress has a nice museum and shop up in Welcome. And a beautiful vineyard.
Farther north in Stuart, VA, just over the state line, the Wood Brothers have a wonderful museum, as you might expect of the oldest NASCAR team.
Im about 40 minutes north of there. I was just down that way on Friday (went to a junkyard) and noticed a sign that Ive seen before but never investigated - Ganassi racing is near the Speedway too. Now, maybe it's the NASCAR arm of the organization, would be cooler if it was their IMSA racing, either way it'd be cool to see.
Depending on how long youre down, maybe there will be a Cars and Coffee you can check out
The last time I was at Ganassi was maybe 4 or 5 years ago, I was volunteering for a special event and they had their Ford GT IMSA cars sitting out front and some others in the shop if I remember correctly. So maybe they still are all in the same place.
Roush's museum is pretty cool and literally half a mile down the street from Ganassi's, and they have a massive fabrication facility attached to the museum you can check out too. If you get there at the right time, you might be able to sneak a peek of the pit crew practicing as well. If it's raining, I've seen them practice underneath the roof between the museum and the shop, which was very cool for the fans to see. Just don't get lost, the entrance to the museum is in between the two large buildings where they join at the roof, not in the front. (Source: I used to work in the museum and would regularly see people walk all the way around the perimeter before they found the door. I did it myself the first time too!)
Gopro motorplex
I'd second the NASCAR Hall of Fame. They have something for everyone. If you have kids (and kids at heart), they'll love the interactive exhibits. If you love history, they got plenty of that, too, with plenty of old-school stock cars that were far truer to their showroom roots than they are today.
pushrod36 said:Gopro motorplex
This is the only thing mentioned in this thread that wouldn't bore me to death. Gopro motorplex is a good time.
If you are in town during the week, I may be able to provide a behind the scenes look at a wind tunnel or the Joe Gibbs shop.
Weekends, you could assist with challenge car prep (or autocross if the schedule falls on one).
In reply to stafford1500 :
That is very kind of you! My oldest Son graduated from High School last year and was home by 11PM or so. At 4AM he was on his way across the country to Buttonwillow for a Lemons weekend with one of my best buddies. We told him that he was going to crew. Bill had him suited and strapped in to start the race and he ran several stints in both cars. Such good stuff! This one and the one that is still in High School join me for every car guy thing we can get to. Looking forward to our next adventure to CLT!
In reply to J.A. Ackley :
I work about 30 minutes from the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame in Dawsonville. Once a year they have the Moonshine festival. Such joy. One of my buddies that would know advises that ~every~ one of the early cars there had liquor in it at some point. I really really hope to have our unmarked 84 LTD State Patrol car there for the next show. May even put a little tank in it somewhere just barely out of sight to see if anyone notices.
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