|
How Charlotte won the Hall of Fame Because of stock car racing's roots in and wealth of famous drivers from North Carolina, many NASCAR offices in the area and many teams in the three major series NASCAR competes in (NEXTEL Cup, Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series) totaling over 73% of motorsports employees in the United States working in what the committee called "NASCAR Valley", Charlotte was considered the favorite by many fans and commentators. The proposed site is a few miles west of Charlotte Speedway, the site of NASCAR's first race. Another factor that helped in the winning bid was the fact that over half of the total population of the USA was living within a 500-mile radius of the greater Charlotte region. The bid was led by NASCAR car owner Rick Hendrick and was endorsed and supported by Governor Michael Easley, while Charlotte mayor Pat McCrory enlisted the work of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners for the complex's design, which will be located at the new Convention Center in the downtown area. While most information on the Charlotte bid has been released voluntarily, the Charlotte Observer has asked the state attorney general for an opinion requiring full disclosure of the financial details. Other locations The other two cities at the time of the announcement that were in the running were Atlanta, Georgia and Daytona Beach, Florida. Atlanta NASCAR legend Bill Elliott had campaigned for Atlanta, Georgia to be the NASCAR HOF site, which would have been adjacent to Centennial Olympic Park. Atlanta's argument was that with the World of Coca-Cola, CNN Center, the Georgia Aquarium and the Children's Museum of Atlanta nearby, more visitors would come to town to visit the city. However, legal issues with the state's attorney general kept the bid secret violated the Georgia Open Records Act after a request from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. At least $25 million (US) in state money plus an extra $5 million from Atlanta and Fulton County taxpayers would have been committed to the project. Daytona Beach Although Daytona Beach, Florida is home to NASCAR headquarters and is another city rich in racing history, the city had difficulty in procuring funds to support the endeavor. Florida state legislature defeated a bill that would have given $30 million to Daytona's efforts to win the site, but subsequently approved a specialty license plate, proceeds from which would help fund the attraction. However, Daytona USA and the Daytona International Speedway are already located there, and thus they lost. Other candidates The state of Alabama had also been mentioned as a potential candidate city, and was no longer seen as a contender, possibly because Talladega currently is home to the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, which is not affiliated with NASCAR. The only northern area that considered bidding was in the state of Michigan. Detroit, Michigan prepared bids, but state officials decided not to submit the proposals. The cities of Richmond and Kansas City were actually among the five finalists, but on January 5, 2006, NASCAR announced they had been eliminated from the running, leaving just Daytona, Atlanta and Charlotte as the remaining cities. |
