Charlotte Gets Greenlight For NASCAR Hall of Fame

After a yearlong race for NASCAR's first Hall of Fame, Charlotte finally appears ready arrive in Victory Lane.

The official announcement came Monday afternoon at the Charlotte Convention Center, which is near the site of the shrine to stock-car racing.

Felix Sabates, who with fellow team owner Rick Hendrick helped spearhead the city's campaign, said the deal was completed Friday after negotiations between the city and NASCAR that went late into the night Wednesday and Thursday.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., one of the series most popular drivers and a resident of suburban Charlotte, has said he wants the hall near his home.

"Because I am sure NASCAR is going to ask the drivers to make a few appearances over there and I wouldn't have to go too far," Earnhardt said.

Sabates reiterated Earnhardt's point over the weekend when he told the NASCAR.com Web site that the proximity of many racing teams and drivers to Charlotte -- more than 90 percent of teams are headquartered within 60 miles of North Carolina's largest city -- helped boost Charlotte's bid.

"The most important factor was all the drivers are there," Sabates said. "To make a Hall of Fame successful they need drivers to make appearances."

Sports marketing experts have described the hall as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to spur tourism among NASCAR's famously loyal fan base. Five cities -- Charlotte, Atlanta, Daytona Beach, Fla., Richmond, Va., and Kansas City, Kan. -- submitted bids for the hall; the field was cut to three this year.

When Charlotte submitted its bid last May, it valued the package at $137.5 million. Under the proposal, the city would build and operate the facility, financing it with a 2 percentage point increase in the city's hotel/motel occupancy tax and corporate donations. The state would pay to reconfigure a nearby highway interchange.

It is not clear how NASCAR would share in proceeds from the hall or what additional concessions the city might have made to the sanctioning body during negotiations, which have taken place in secret.

The city touted its proposal with architectural drawings by I.M. Pei, noted designer of the famous pyramid addition to the Louvre in Paris and the east wing of Washington's National Gallery. Those drawings are dominated by a banked curve that encircles the building, evoking the shape of a speedway. Over the main plaza entrance to the museum, the curve twists over on itself, in the manner of a Mobius strip.

From one corner of the building, a latticework tower emblazoned with the NASCAR logo rises, reminiscent of the towers that display race standings from the infield of most speedways.

The Hall of Fame will be built between Brevard and Caldwell streets next to Interstate 277.

The Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority said they expect the Hall of Fame to attract a minimum of 400,000 visitors each year.