Glory Road- NASCAR Hall of Fame’s Nod to the Tracks

This week, the NASCAR Hall of Fame opened in Charlotte. For those of us with the Speed Channel, we got to watch with envy as crowds of race fans stood in the rain and watched some of the legends of our sport arrive to celebrate the celebration of our sport’s history. It is surely time for NASCAR to appreciate the heritage and history of stock car racing that has been left by the wayside for so long.

There has been a great to do about the first class who are about to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, and I am proud that NASCAR is taking steps to immortalize the men that made the sport what it is today. It was so hard to watch the first twenty-five nominees whittled down to five because there are so many! I thought they should really just cram them in all at once! Yes. I know that isn’t how it works. Don’t worry.

For me, I am most excited about

Here's a glimpse of Daytona's banking from this year's Daytona 500. I'm standing in Turn Four, looking towards the frontstretch.

According to the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s Website,

Pictures don’t really do much justice to the banking of the race tracks. Or, perhaps the fact that I am not a Photographer does not do justice to the banking of each track. I always go onto the track in the hours before the race, when they let fans wander about and sign the start finish line and walls, and take pictures of the track itself.

Looking into Turn One at Phoenix, you can see how flat the racing surface is compared to Daytona's. Or even to Rockingham's, below.

I try every single time to capture the banking on film. With some small success, I suppose. It is a part of the race track that is really hard to visualize without seeing it in person. The banking of the tracks comes across on the television broadcast a little better, but not by much. To have the Hall of Fame recreate the experience of visiting almost fifty tracks at once is, to put it bluntly, awesome.

I cannot wait, like all of us, to get over and visit the Hall of Fame. I cannot wait to see what treasure of NASCAR’s history they have on display. Congratulations to all those who have put in years of hard work to finally give NASCAR and the fans a place to celebrate our history.