Hall's Kelley helps bring history of NASCAR to life

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The NASCAR Hall of Fame that opens its doors to the public at 9 a.m. ET Tuesday belongs to everyone who has ever had anything to do with the sport.

But more than any other individual, it has been Winston Kelley's baby up to this point. Kelley, executive director of the Hall, can't wait to share his newborn with the entire racing world and even those who may not know much about it.

First look at HOF

Anticipation was heavy as the NASCAR Hall of Fame opened its doors to the media for a sneak preview of what the general public will get to see after the Hall opens for real on May 11. The Hall did not disappoint.

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About the Hall

The Hall of Fame will bring NASCAR's history to life and preserves that history in the appropriate environments. The facility will allow fans to have the opportunity to relive the sport's greatest moments.

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Must-see attraction

The NASCAR Hall of Fame opens Tuesday, and the 150,000-square-foot facility should have no problem attracting people during the first year. And that's the challenge -- to make people want to come back.

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He spoke last week with a small group of reporters about the Hall, what it means to him personally, and how excited he was to get one of the inductees of the original Hall class to come down and do a little construction work on it for him.

Q: After all the time spent wondering how it would be when the Hall finally opened, what has been your personal reaction to this facility opening its doors?

Kelley: I guess I've been going through it for weeks and weeks and weeks, but when it finally hit me was after we got our [Certificate of Occupancy from the city of Charlotte] on April 16. We came in the next day and were going to do some run-throughs with our staff for the soft opening [two days later]. I went up to the Skybox and I sat down and looked at Glory Road and literally came to tears. Because you see such history of the sport, and you remember the people. I'm getting to work with my childhood heroes -- the Richard Pettys and David Pearsons. So that part of it, that historical part, literally brought tears to my eyes.

Then me going up and seeing the interactive [displays] and seeing kids come through here and just have a great time, it just showed me that there really is something for everyone. Whether you're a die-hard NASCAR fan or whether you've never been around the sport, whether you're 5 years old or 80 years old, whether you want to see the history or take part in the interactives. ... The videos are absolutely incredible. I don't know what else to say.

Q: What feedback have you heard from those involved in the sport?

Kelley: Junior Johnson was here when we started our soft opening and he got about a two-minute standing ovation from the group -- and he said, 'This is the biggest thing that's ever hit North Carolina.' When Darrell Waltrip was through here when we dedicated his car, he said, 'Not only is this the real deal, it has exceeded my expectations.'

Q: What can you do to keep it fresh and keep people coming back year after year?

Kelley: I think there are a couple of perspectives on that. One is, unless you stay for a couple or three days, you will not have done everything. But even once people come through and they've done absolutely everything, we'll keep changing exhibits out. Glory Road will change out every couple of years, probably; the Great Hall space will change out at least twice a year, so people who come during May and October race weeks will get to see something different there. The artifacts up in Heritage Race Week, some of those will change out every three or four months. ... and we'll have new Hall of Honor exhibits on an annual basis. So we'll just continue to rotate things out and put in new exhibits and artifacts.

Q: We noticed that at least until the inaugural class is inducted here shortly, there are four cars in the Hall of Honor under wraps. Is the plan in that room to have new cars each year that identify with the latest inductees?

Kelley: We'll have a different display for each of the inductees, and it'll depend on who they are or what they are. Like Bill France Jr. will not have a car [in this class], but the others will. If there is a car associated with that person's history, you will have a car and then there is a case of artifacts that will explain a little bit about that person.

So in Dale Earnhardt's exhibit, for example, you will know that he was an outdoorsman. Because you want to tell his personal story as well as the race track story. And then there be a spire there that explains more about the person. That will then stay there and eventually be positioned around the outside of the Hall of Honor, and those will stay in there forever. (Continued)