Randy Ayers Nascar Modeling Forums

dawgvet · Joined: 29 Dec 2018 Posts: 43

So I am finally going to be able to take my teenage son to Charlotte over Memorial Day weekend and would love some suggestions of places to see. We are going to try to go to PettyFest on Saturday. He is a racing history buff as well so old-school places are cool along with the current HMS/Gibbs/Penske locations. I’d love to find the old Holman-Moody shop (is that Lee Holman’s current shop?). Any other cool/historic places to see would be appreciated. Also, any NASCAR memorabilia shops around Charlotte?
Any help appreciated.

Gary66 · Posted: Thu May 27, 2021 2:23 am Post subject:

Holman Moody original shop is under Charlotte Douglass airport now.

The North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame in Mooresville is a good stop.

Memory Lane Museum in Mooresville is a good stop too, has a lot of old vehicles and a lot of automotive related stuff.

DaveVan · Joined: 27 Jan 2018 Posts: 1578

Charlotte and history do not go together. Penske is a great stop. Dale Jr shop is near too. Action/Lionel if you like die cast race cars or trains. Mustang museum is across from the speedway. They have a number of events this w/e.

Henryjint · Posted: Thu May 27, 2021 8:27 am Post subject:

With this Covid stuff are the race shops up in Mooresville open to visitors?
Don't forget Lancaster's Barb-b-que up in Mooresville. Went there a few years ago, they had some great memorabilia there.
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Pat Redmond · Board Moderator Joined: 28 Jan 2018 Posts: 304

Hendrick MotorSports is CLOSED.
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jpaul7 · Joined: 29 Jan 2018 Posts: 104 Location: Salisbury, MD

Stewart-Haas is closed also. Jr motorsports is open.

hillybilly · Joined: 14 Mar 2018 Posts: 31

Pretty much anything to visit anymore is in Mooresville with a few shops spread around from Statesville to Huntersville to Concord.

Might I also suggest the dipped chicken or dipped pork chops at Lancasters if you do go there.

There is a Hobbytown, but meh...

The DoT barn is at the intersection of River Hwy (NC 150) and Magnolia Plantation but you can't go inside it.

If you are into beer or wine, you will have a much better time. Can name a few recommendations. If you want a really nice place to eat a steak, Epic Chophouse.

Most of the drivers live either out Perth Rd, in the Pointe (Trump golf course), or down off some of the roads on 150. You would never know as most are way behind gates.

Unfortunately, the air museum is closed at the airport right now as they are renovating.

CRANMAN1 · Joined: 31 Jan 2018 Posts: 218 Location: Clemmons, NC

Petty fest @ level cross shop Kyle and Richard be there. wristbands@ 8am. Sat 29th https://www.facebook.com/PettyMuseum/

dawgvet · Joined: 29 Dec 2018 Posts: 43

Yes sir! We’re already headed to Peggy fast. Driving up tonight to get to level cross really early

DaveVan · Joined: 27 Jan 2018 Posts: 1578

dawgvet · Joined: 29 Dec 2018 Posts: 43

Danged ol’ Siri changed that one! Not sure who Peggy even is!😂 Thanks for all the tips on places to go. Had a blast! Went by Hendricks (size of a college campus!), Gibbs, Penske, Roush, SHR, KBM, Wood Brothers, and Evernham’s SRX. Dale Jr’s was the only shop open to the public but still only let folks stand in a door and look in. The Lionel Racing store was closed for the holiday weekend.

MarkJ · Joined: 29 Jan 2018 Posts: 1303

Last time we went to Charlotte was 21 years ago so I cant be much help. We stopped at Bill Davis shop where I missed Ward by one day. Got to talk to Tommy Baldwin for a while. Super nice guy. He said we could tour the shop even though the guys were hard at work preparing Ward and Blaney's cars for the next race. Ward had just won the mall 400 at Darlington.

DaveVan · Joined: 27 Jan 2018 Posts: 1578

The old days.......
Back in the 1990's we heard that Kranefuss Haas was building a Lincoln for Cup. Loaded up the kids and headed for the shop. (kids help!) They allowed us to walk the shop and take photos of the Lincoln.
Try that today!!!

Tom M. · Board Moderator Joined: 01 Feb 2018 Posts: 602

Henryjint · Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2021 8:56 am Post subject:

757flyer · Joined: 29 Jul 2022 Posts: 8

I stumbled on this thread while cruising the site this evening. I had a similar incredibly friendly experience at Bill Davis Racing's shop back in 2006. Most of the shop crew were leaving for lunch, and they told my friend and I to head on into the shop and look around, just don't mess with anything. It was eye-opening to say the least to be able to literally look at anything we wanted to in there. It was just before Indy, and they had those cars ready to roll onto the haulers. The most instructive thing was to see just how different the cars were between the various track types (short track, road course, restrictor plate, etc) I got a great shot of the front of one of Michael Waltrip's cars with no nose on it. Seeing how much the wheels were canted to the left really opened my eyes.

The fact that the shop literally let total strangers nose around every inch of their work area and cars just blew me away. Really a testament to how much that organization cared enough about the fans to let them really see how the sport works.

LastoftheV8 · Joined: 05 Feb 2018 Posts: 127

Depends on what you are looking for.

Me personally I like race cars. So the two museums in mooresville were fantastic. Kyle Busch Motorsports had about a late, model, xfnity, truck, cup cars in its lobby to look at

Penske, stewart haas, jr motorports ganassi had little to no cars to look at but have gift shops if you want swag. DWs shop is great cars but very wonky hours and has not visible entrance or hours posted. I walked in to some guys office and he walked us back to the shop where there was mt dew buick, gateroade camaro, 72 merciury, and some other gems

the hall of fame is worth it too

Be very very careful of team race shops. they have flucuating hours and so call or check internet before planning a visit. Hendrick gift shop is full of swag and race cars but I hear its been closed for sometime.

Petty and RCR are awesome but over an hour from charlotte

MG Brown · Joined: 14 Aug 2018 Posts: 22

I am shocked that no one mentioned the NASCAR hall of fame museum in downtown Charlotte. Plan a full day to see everything.