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NASCAR Hall of Fame


cityboi

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I'm sure Charlotte would like to overlook the projected attendence figures differences, but 2.5 times is nothing to sniff at. Atlanta has 2.5 times Charlotte's population, has 10 times as many convention attendees, has a destination center being built downtown, is home to the world's busiest airport and is home to more NASCAR corporate sponsors than any other city. To put it out of the running based on "traffic problems" and meaningless "biting off more than it can chew" arguments makes no business sense whatsoever. And, based on the elimination of Richmond and Kansas City, it is a clear indication that the Frances are making a business and historical basis decision.

Yet they are not going to look at the attendence #'s of the local metro. I will point out that Atlanta city has fewer people living in it than Charlotte city and as you have implied, most of the people there choose to live out beyond the perimeter. It's the unfortunate fact that downtown Atlanta has the reputation with much of the Southeast of being dangerous and difficult to get to which may hurt the HOF's chances there. It would be interesting to see how much of the Aquarium traffic is local vs people traveling there to see it. If this were truely a business decision, then Charlotte would win as the proposal here has a lot of private money pouring into it that isn't present in Atlanta.

On the other hand, Charlotte is the defacto capital of NASCAR and the France family may be looking to locate it where there isn't as much a presence and Atlanta would then be the logical candidate for that as Daytona is simply too far away from many of the population centers.

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I don't know how significant this is, but today's print edition of The Observer says that BofA is in talks with Int'l Speedway Corp (the France Family) about a potential sponsorship deal. It's still anybody's guess, obviously, but I don't underestimate the kind of lucrative package/$ that BofA is willing and able to offer. BofA Chief Marketing Officer, Cathy Bessant is a primary recruiter for the Charlotte HOF efforts.

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This was a headline story from today's Bloomberg news:

Nascar Museum Has Atlanta, Charlotte, Daytona Racing for Cash

2006-01-13 08:54 (New York)

Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Chris Bielick sat among a few

hundred Nascar fans sipping beer from a plastic cup on a sun-

drenched afternoon in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Like many in central Florida, Bielick wants Nascar, stock-

car racing's governing body, to locate its planned new Hall of

Fame and Museum in Daytona Beach, home of the renowned Daytona

500 race.

``It makes perfect sense that it should be here,'' said

Bielick, 35, a cook, as he watched drivers test cars at the

Daytona International Speedway in anticipation of next month's

500, which opens the Nextel Cup championship series of races.

``This is the birthplace of speed.''

As fans wait for the season's first green starter's flag to

drop, bankers and community leaders in Daytona Beach, Atlanta,

and Charlotte, North Carolina, are in their own race to become

host city for the Nascar Hall of Fame. City officials say auto

racing galleries and interactive exhibits will pump as much as

$124 million annually into the winning locale's economy as some

of Nascar's 75 million U.S. fans flock to the new shrine.

``Nascar is so far removed from being a redneck sport,''

said George Mirabal, president of the Daytona Beach Chamber of

Commerce. ``It's much more sophisticated now.''

Nascar, based in Daytona Beach and formerly known as the

National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing, is the second-

most watched televised sport in the U.S., after the National

Football League, according to annual audience ratings.

Last week, Kansas City, Kansas, and Richmond, Virginia,

were eliminated from the list of potential Hall sites. Nascar

will pick a winner from the remaining three venues by March.

`Can't Go Wrong'

``I don't think they're going to go wrong putting it in any

of those three cities,'' said Sal Galatioto, former head of the

sports finance unit at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and now

president of Galatioto Sports Partners LLC in New York. ``It

just depends what Nascar wants to get out of it.''

The new Hall will replace a small existing version in

Talladega, Alabama.

Atlanta officials say they'll win -- if Nascar wants to

expose itself to a diverse audience near the corporate

headquarters of many of its sponsors: Home Depot Inc., Coca-Cola

Co. and United Parcel Service Inc.

Charlotte partisans say the city's proximity to about 60

North Carolina-based Nascar teams, and stock-car racing's roots,

gives them the edge.

Officials in Daytona Beach, where the Daytona 500 is often

called the ``Super Bowl of racing,'' say tradition and the

city's 100 percent privately funded bid puts them in the lead.

An undisclosed investment bank is handling financing, local

officials say.

`Strong Funding'

The Daytona speedway is owned by Daytona-based

International Speedway Corp., and tracks at Atlanta and

Charlotte are owned by rival Speedway Motorsports Inc., based in

Concord, North Carolina.

``We're looking for a strong funding and marketing

strategy,'' said Nascar spokesman Kerry Tharp, 48. ``We also

want to have a facility that people will talk about and attracts

repeat visitation.''

Officials at Bank of America Corp. and Wachovia Corp., the

cross-town rivals based in Charlotte, teamed up to oversee the

city's pitch for the Nascar Hall.

Bank of America is sponsoring this year's Nextel Cup race

at the Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, north of Charlotte, and

entertains clients at its corporate suite there.

``We're always fully subscribed at the track,'' said Cathy

Bessant, 45, the bank's chief marketing officer, whose first job

was cleaning the Michigan International Speedway west of

Detroit.

`Racing Built Here'

Charlotte officials estimate that 5,000 local businesses

support the racing industry. The city's slogan for the

attraction is ``Racing Was Built Here. Racing Belongs Here.''

That's a reminder that Nascar's first stock-car race was run in

1949 on a three-quarter-mile (1.2 kilometer) red-clay track in

Charlotte.

The city's $137.5 million building proposal would be funded

partly by $102.5 million from an increase of 2 percentage points

in Mecklenburg County's 6 percent hotel-room tax. The Hall would

generate about $62 million in annual spending in the county,

officials said.

Acting on a suggestion from Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory

that the destination be billed as the starting point for

excursions into ``Nascar Valley,'' tourism officials are

planning to arrange bus tours of local Nascar team headquarters.

Mirabal, of the Daytona Beach Chamber, says 53 million

visitors come to central Florida each year, creating an annual

economic impact of $957 million.

G-Force

Daytona Beach's proposal includes a roller coaster-like

ride that will simulate the G-force drivers experience during

races where cars can average as much as 188 miles per hour (303

kilometers per hour), as well as a ``Tower of Champions''

featuring the cars of famous drivers.

Atlanta's $100 million proposal, which includes about $30

million in state and city funds, would generate $124 million a

year for the city's economy, officials estimate.

The complex would occupy a three-acre (1.2 hectare) lot on

the southwest corner of downtown's Centennial Olympic Park. The

area also boasts the new $290 million Georgia Aquarium, CNN

Center, Philips Arena, and a children's museum.

The three-story design would include a grassy ``living

roof'' to reduce urban heat and provide the feel of a track's

infield area. The rooftop will serve as the stage for induction

ceremonies.

With about 4.6 million residents, the Atlanta metropolitan

area has the largest population of the three finalists.

Charlotte's metro population is 1.4 million and Daytona Beach's

is 469,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

``We're in a sweet spot here,'' said A.J. Robinson, 40,

president of Atlanta Central Progress, the business group that

helped put together the city's bid. ``This should be about

growing your fan base and helping grow the brand to the next

level. We can do that.''

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``This is the birthplace of speed.''

As fans wait for the season's first green starter's flag to

drop, bankers and community leaders in Daytona Beach, Atlanta,

How is Daytona the birthpace of speed? Someone from Florida tell me how that is possible. I think it should've been built in N. Wilkesboro. That was really where racing started until big money eliminated both of the races that use to occur there.

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``This is the birthplace of speed.''

As fans wait for the season's first green starter's flag to

drop, bankers and community leaders in Daytona Beach, Atlanta,

How is Daytona the birthpace of speed? Someone from Florida tell me how that is possible. I think it should've been built in N. Wilkesboro. That was really where racing started until big money eliminated both of the races that use to occur there.

Daytona is home to the Daytona 500,"the "Super Bowl" of Motor Sports. It is also one of the oldest races out there, and it is the highest rated race on TV.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daytona_500

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Daytona is home to the Daytona 500,"the "Super Bowl" of Motor Sports. It is also one of the oldest races out there, and it is the highest rated race on TV.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daytona_500

But see that is more "current" events that have been organized in the past decade. What i'm talking about is the history of stock car racing started with dirt tracks and good ole' boys from the mountains and the Piedmont of Carolina. When I think of Daytona I don't think of that, I think of Ron Jon, beaches, and an overrated tourist town that acts like it was the town that NASCAR was founded in. NEXTEL really screwed up NASCAR when they moved the Preview to Daytona from Winston-Salem. Our local children's hospital (Brenner's Childrens Hospital) depended heavily on the Preview because every cent of money that was collected at the Preview went directly to the children't hospital. The sport has gotten too commercialized and I would have prefered if it had stayed a "redneck" sport.

Pardon my ignorance, but where exactly was this

It was located at the beginning of the third paragraph.

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But see that is more "current" events that have been organized in the past decade. What i'm talking about is the history of stock car racing started with dirt tracks and good ole' boys from the mountains and the Piedmont of Carolina. When I think of Daytona I don't think of that, I think of Ron Jon, beaches, and an overrated tourist town that acts like it was the town that NASCAR was founded in. NEXTEL really screwed up NASCAR when they moved the Preview to Daytona from Winston-Salem. Our local children's hospital (Brenner's Childrens Hospital) depended heavily on the Preview because every cent of money that was collected at the Preview went directly to the children't hospital. The sport has gotten too commercialized and I would have prefered if it had stayed a "redneck" sport.

Actually, Daytona is even more steeped in the history of the sport of NASCAR and racing in general than that...

here's another good read with a more detailed history of it (and the Indy 500). The page is a little cartoony, but it serves its purpose. Check out the bit about Daytona International Speedway.

http://www.brownielocks.com/daytona-indianapolis.html

This has a bit more info on Daytona Speedway's History:

http://www.bookrags.com/history/popculture...na-500-sjpc-01/

I myself am more pro-Daytona than any other city. :) (even though I have become more or less indifferemt about it).

Honestly, I must say I started out wanting it in Atlanta, but I changed after a while. Let someone else have it. Atlanta may have the companies; but Charlotte's got the teams; Daytona's got the France's; and they both have the history. Let them duke it out.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'll throw this out there....a good source of a lot of my info says his source claims to have inside info and we are guaranteed the NHOF.....I don't usually like throwing out double-hearsay, but he just seemed so damn confident and smug about this one.....and he is an eternal naysayer, so.....

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I'll throw this out there....a good source of a lot of my info says his source claims to have inside info and we are guaranteed the NHOF.....I don't usually like throwing out double-hearsay, but he just seemed so damn confident and smug about this one.....and he is an eternal naysayer, so.....

Well the day of the annoucement is getting closer. As an Atlantan (and this is not a knock at NASCAR), I hope your source's claims are right. This is one time I hope Atlanta does not win. My reasons as to why I feel this way are given in detail on the page 1 of the NASCAR thread on the South section.

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I'll throw this out there....a good source of a lot of my info says his source claims to have inside info and we are guaranteed the NHOF.....I don't usually like throwing out double-hearsay, but he just seemed so damn confident and smug about this one.....and he is an eternal naysayer, so.....

I don't see how Charlotte won't get this. I do realize Atlanta's sincere effort to get it with the tax exemption though.

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