Will New NASCAR HOF Be a Repeat Winner?

NASCAR Hall will be hit; Will it be repeat winner?

ThatsRacin.com Opinion
By Scott Fowler - sfowler@charlotteobserver.com

Tuesday, May. 04, 2010

According to the the Hall of Fame website "Opening May 11, 2010 in Uptown Charlotte, the 150,000-square-foot NASCAR Hall of Fame is an interactive, entertainment attraction honoring the history and heritage of NASCAR."

Prepare to be wowed by the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte.

Prepare to be thrilled. Touched. Dazzled.

The first time, anyway.

There’s no doubt that NASCAR’s showcase – which officially will open May 11 and held a media day Tuesday – is spectacular. I can personally vouch for that. I went Tuesday with a NASCAR-loving colleague who basically taught me the sport’s intricacies 15 years ago and wrote one of the best books ever about stock-car racing.

“Don’t be too reverent,” I warned my friend before we entered the hall. “I may want to be out of there in an hour.”

Instead, my friend had to leave for a dentist appointment after 75 minutes and left me there, lost in thought near Junior Johnson’s old moonshine still.

I’m one of those people who has a pretty good inner clock. I don’t wear a watch but generally can tell you what time it is within about five minutes.

But for one of the few times during my adult life, I literally lost track of time. After 2 hours, 15 minutes, I wasn’t finished but suddenly saw a clock. Ohmigosh! It’s that late?! I had to scramble to make an appointment.

That’s the good news. Now here’s the bad – I’m hardly dying to go back today.

So there’s one big question in my mind about this opulent attraction honoring the history of NASCAR.

How much repeat business will there really be?

Seeing “Glory Road” – where 18 historic race cars are anchored to a track that mimics the banking of various speedways – is mesmerizing the first time. The second time? Not so much.

A museum is not a restaurant with 20 entrees you’re dying to try. NASCAR’s hall (www.nascarhall.com; general-admission tickets are $19.95) certainly can rotate exhibits. But it can’t build a new “Glory Road” every week.

I can see some diehard fans coming over and over – buying a yearly pass (they start at $50 for adults, $25 for children), bringing different friends to ooh and aah over the “Fabulous Hudson Hornet” and the Hall of Honor’s 360-degree videos.

But to others, “once a year” or “once every five years” or just plain once is going to be enough.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m very glad the Hall of Fame is in Charlotte. This is where it belonged – we deserve to be the epicenter of the sport. I applaud the interactive exhibits and the way it got the history – especially the happy parts – right.

(The dark side of the sport is glossed over. A number of the best drivers in history died in their race cars, and that fact is downplayed. The 12-minute orientation film that will begin many visitors’ experience at the High Octane Theater is a blast, but it’s a well-made infomercial. We see plenty of car crashes without consequences).

Of course, a hall of fame is by nature a feel-good experience. Most people don’t go to Cooperstown, N.Y., to learn about steroids or the Black Sox.

So the stock-car simulators are great fun. There are “gee-whiz” historical items around almost every bend (and there are bends, not corners – much of the Hall of Fame is cleverly arranged so you keep walking in circles, much like a race car on a track).

The Hall of Fame will succeed in its first challenge – attracting first-time customers. The place is simply too darn good not to.

But the second challenge – attracting those customers to come again and again, and getting them to bring a lot of their friends – will be the true test.