Charlotte unveils vision of NASCAR hall

06:51 AM EDT on Wednesday, June 1, 2005

By MARK BOONE / 6NEWS

6NEWS

Charlotte's vision of its proposed NASCAR Hall of Fame.

All bids for NASCAR's Hall of Fame have been delivered. The Charlotte office for NASCAR will be the first to review those bids from their office in the Wachovia building in Uptown.

While most of the plans are being kept under lock and key we found several reasons why Charlotte may not have the home field advantage.

Charlotte's hall of fame plans were delivered Tuesday by uniformed police officers and locked away in a craftsman tool chest. City leaders unveiled sketches of a 130,000 square foot complex. The first glimpse of what would be Charlotte's NASCAR Hall of Fame.

“It will be the greatest building this city, this state, and this nation have ever seen,” said Mayor Pat McCrory.

Charlotte's competition also unveiled sketches Tuesday. Daytona Beach provided an interior view of their building. Richmond also showed off their sketches Tuesday. Two other cities are keeping their plans under wraps.

“Atlanta just has the money and the corporate sponsorship that really no other city can match,” said Charlotte Observer reporter Scott Dodd.

Dodd said Kansas City, which brought in the National Guard to help deliver its bid earlier this month, could be one of NASCAR's favorite finalists.

“The folks in Kansas City who I've talked to are very fond of saying Charlotte and Daytona are NASCAR's past, we're its future,” Dodd said.

Charlotte's design team argued its hall of fame would be close to dozens of race teams and a short drive to Lowe’s Motor Speedway which already brings hundreds of thousands of race fans to the Carolinas.

“There's a sense among some people that NASCAR might be worried that there's already too much NASCAR stuff here,” Dodd said.

NASCAR is expected to take the next two months to consider all of the variables and then visit all five cities. The winning city could be announced by the end of the year.