NASCAR and Guitars: Charlotte Rocks!

A little too close to the wall! The thought disappears quickly, and I mean quickly, when you're in a race car roaring around the oval at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina (the Charlotte area.) One second you're up the track's high bank, the next second you're swooping down low for that left hand curve. Yes, I have done it. I've shed my civilian clothes and donned a racing suit. I've climbed in the window of the car because they have no doors. I've fastened multiple seat belts and the head retainer attached to my helmet. And baby, I've torn up that track at close to 180 M.P.H.! There's just one thing…I wasn't driving. 

Indulging in the Richard Petty Driving Experience is about as close to being a race car driver as you can get. To actually be able to walk out onto pit row is thrilling enough but to roll on the actual pavement where the big boys of NASCAR earn their living and their reputation is quite another. Those in-car camera shots you've seen on TV on race day? Nope, that's not going to prepare you. There simply is nothing like it. The standard run is 4 times around the track, so just about the time that you start relaxing a little bit, it's over. But this one has a long afterglow---stripping out of your race suit and grabbing a bottle of water gives you a chance to catch your breath. But it takes a few moments after that before you realize what you've just experienced. WOW! And anyone can do it. If you're 14 or over and physically able to crawl in the window, you're racing! For pricing information, go to www.1800bepetty.com And oh yeah, hotshot, if you want to drive the car, you can. This of course is more expensive and you have to meet additional requirements and go through hours of training. And you can't do any burn-outs out of the pit. Either way, driving or taking the ride-along, you're in for the time of your life!

To say that racing is important to the Charlotte area is an understatement. Besides all the fun that NASCAR brings to the speedway every year, the area is rich in race history. Nearby Kannapolis is the home town of Dale Earnhardt and the city has established the "Dale Trail" in tribute to the late legend. The Trail is a great way for fans to be able to feel close to Earnhardt and learn more about him. You can find maps of the Trail all over town, but the best place to get one is at the Cabarrus County Visitors Center (3003 Dale Earnhardt Blvd.) because it is at the beginning of the 20-stop tribute. Some of the places you can visit include the gravesite of Dale's dad, Ralph Earnhardt, and Car Town, where the streets have names like "Chrysler," "Ford," "V-8" and "Plymouth." At Dale Earnhardt plaza there is a granite monument to the racer as well as a bronze statue that portrays Dale the man as opposed to just Dale the racer---the art depicts him in street clothes and wearing a broad grin. One place you won't want to miss is Punchy's Diner at 550 Concord Parkway in Concord. The joint serves a variety of burgers and sandwiches including a tomato sandwich made just the way Dale liked them. Another stop on the tour that is an absolute must is Curb Motorsports (218 Chestnut Ave.) The blue and yellow Chevy that Earnhardt drove to the Winston Cup Championship in 1980 is on display here, and that's just the beginning. The place is packed with rows of cars and racing memorabilia. There's also lots of music memorabilia here as owner Mike Curb has a vast history as a musician, producer, promoter and record label owner. So amongst the driver's gear you'll also find plenty of gold record awards, autographed posters from country and pop superstars and tons of photos of singers and musicians. Another stop on the Trail that is of interest to racing fans and music fans alike is the Sam Bass Gallery (6104 Performance Dr. S.W., Concord). Bass produces fine art here and much of it is tied in to racing. There are posters and prints and even originals for sale; Bass has been fine tuning his craft for over 25 years. So if there's a particular driver or moment in racing history that you favor, chances are you'll find a salute to it somewhere in the gallery. Bass is also a guitar enthusiast and he has dozens of guitars throughout the shop. Some are not for sale, like his personal collection of axes that were owned by Eddie Van Halen, Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Those are neat, but the coolest guitars here are ones that Bass has custom painted---many in tribute to Dale Earnhardt. You can just browse the gallery if you like or you can take a short but informative tour. And if you're real lucky you may just bump into the man himself and get to spend a few minutes chatting. Everything you want to know about the Dale Trail can be found at www.daletrail.com

The Charlotte area does have a life away from the racetrack, of course. The Levine Museum of the New South (200 E. 7th St.) is a fun way to bone up on your area history---the museum takes a look at life in the south starting at the end of the civil war and ending in the present. The museum does portray such sad things as war, racial intolerance and deep poverty but mostly the focus is on ideas and inventions and how they were put to work to benefit everyone. You can watch films, see vintage clothing and literally step into each decade as you progress through the building. Music fans will want to linger in the interactive area where the touch of a button plays samples of various types of "hill music"---the earthy folk and bluegrass that is more popular today than ever. To see some modern art, some of it in the avant-garde category, visit The Mint Museum of Craft + Design (220 N. Tryon Street). Here you'll find art done in a wide variety of media, much of it breathtaking and some of it extremely thought provoking (sometimes puzzling!) There are plenty of outdoorsy things to do also, like take in a Kannapolis Intimidators baseball game (2888 Moose Rd.) or visit the brand new U.S. National Whitewater Center (820 Hawfield Rd.) The center has the world's only multi-channel re-circulating whitewater river as well as indoor and outdoor climbing facilities. Some of the areas in this complex are for the pros to train and practice in while some areas can be used by the general public. Anyone can enjoy the hiking and biking trails and camping area set amid a lush landscape of Carolina pine. If you'd just as soon be dropped off at the mall, you'll find plenty to do at Concord Mills (8111 Concord Mills Blvd.) There are well over a hundred shops in this huge mall and one of them is the perennial favorite, Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World. And about that ride-along at the Richard Petty Driving Experience at the speedway? Well if that's too much for you, visit the NASCAR Speed Park at Concord Mills. They have three go-kart tracks where the vehicles go considerably slower than 180 M.P.H.!

For more info on the Concord/Kannapolis area visit www.cabarruscvb.com and for Charlotte go to www.visitcharlotte.com

...end