The NASCAR Hall of Fame opened Tuesday May 11.  It is located in downtown (sorry, uptown) Charlotte, NC.

While we were in the Charlotte area Memorial Day weekend, Penni & I decided to go to the NASCAR HoF.  We were there for well over 2 hours and didn’t even feel like we had seen it all.

The first 5 inductees into the NASCAR Hall of Fame were…

Bill France Sr

Bill France Jr

Junior Johnson

“The King” – Richard Petty

“The Intimidator” – Dale Earnhardt Sr

A blogger Penni & I met at the Coca-Cola tweet-up named Valli posted a great recap on her blog of the NASCAR Hall of Fame and all it has to offer.  Instead of trying to do the same, I thought I’d share a link to her post and then show some of my photos.  I will say that the NASCAR Hall of Fame is a must for a NASCAR fan and even sports fans when they are in the Charlotte area.

You Have to Visit the NASCAR Hall of Fame – Valli

Click here to view all of the pictures I took on my vacation.

The NASCAR race last Sunday was in Talladega, Alabama.  Talladega is a track that always has a lot of action.  Sunday’s race did not disappoint in this area.  Although, I’m pretty sure Carl Edwards & some unexpectant fans may be now wishing they saw a little less action.  Here is a replay of the last 4 race laps and the aftermath/celebration.

Carl decided to pull a Ricky Bobby and run to the start/finish line after his car was left unable to do so after its wild ride.

Congratulations to Brad Keselowski on his 1st NASCAR Sprint Cup series win (in just 5 tries).

Dale Earnhardt Jr finished second.  Based on his excitement in Victory Lane with Brad, I think he was very happy with 2nd and ecstatic to see Brad win the race.

Finally, my condolenses go out to the family & friends of David Poole (longtime NASCAR journalist).  I always enjoyed reading the articles he wrote for the Charlotte Observer.  One of my favorite articles I’ve read about Dale Earnhardt Sr was one he wrote about Sr’s lucky penny.

I hope everyone’s holiday weekend is going well so far.  We made cupcake bites to take to Easter dinner tomorrow.  They are so cute!

While I’m waiting on supper to finish cooking, I thought I’d share a couple of pieces of news from this past week that interested me.

No More No. 8

It was annnounced this week that, because of lack of sponsorship, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing shut down the No. 8 team (driven by Aric Almirola).  This leaves the No. 1 car (driven by Martin Truex Jr) as the only remaining original car from Dale Earnhardt’s original DEI stable.  On one hand, I saw this coming the minute Junior announced he was leaving DEI.  On the other hand, I find it very sad.  Dale Sr’s team is slipping farther and farther away.

We’re No. 1?

The University of Arkansas baseball team is having a great 2009 season so far.  After last weekend, the hogs and Arizona St were splitting the no. 1 ranking in various polls.  Arizona St just happened to visit Baum Stadium Tuesday & Wednesday.  Arkansas came up victorious in both games.  Go Hogs!

Update:  Arkansas lost to Vanderbilt last night and this afternoon.  I’m hoping they can pull out a win tomorrow and still manage to come out with a great ranking Monday.  I guess we’ll see.