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The Dale Trail is the perfect activity for a group tour, and if you’re looking for exclusive stories, first-hand knowledge of Dale’s family history, and intimate understanding of Kannapolis history, you can look no further than Adventures in Motorsports, a local tour provider that offers a guided group tour of The Dale Trail. They provide step-on guide service and exclusive receptions with appearances by Martha Earnhardt (Dale’s mother) and Sam Bass, motorsports artist (based on availability). 

Adventures in Motorsports is a complete destination management service for group tours in the Charlotte, North Carolina surrounding area. They are a full service receptive operator offering a full line of motorsports products as well as a wide range of other venues for group needs. Whether it’s a group tour, race package or meeting activity, they can customize a tour package for all groups, including Lowe’s Motor Speedway packages with exclusive tour options.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of visiting Hendrick Motorsports, home of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the #88 car. I was attending a luncheon for Team USA Baseball, who was in town for a game against Chinese Taipei at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium, home to the Kannapolis Intimidators. (Team USA later won the game!) Each guest at the luncheon received a hat for one of Hendricks’ NASCAR teams, and we noticed that Dale Jr.’s Amp hats were the most popular with the Taipei team.

Anyway, while there, I had the opportunity to speak with some Hendrick staff, and to see the newly renovated museum and gift shop. Hendrick completed these renovations shortly before the May races at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, just in time for the huge crowds that came out to support their favorite drivers and buy their merchandise. Hendrick staff noted that the crowds were noticeably larger this year, partly due to the addition of Dale Jr. to the roster.

The staff also showed us the Team Center, a large meeting space perfect for corporate and special events. In fact, they were preparing for a wedding reception to be held there this weekend. The new museum and gift shop is gorgeous - I wish I had had my camera with me. Beautiful cars and displays shine as if they are cleaned every day, and the merchandise tantalizes you into wanting to buy something. I encourage any NASCAR fan to visit it - you may not walk in a fan of Hendricks’ teams, but you may walk out a fan - at least of this wonderful facility!

While you’re driving The Dale Trail through Kannapolis, you just might see Dale’s Mother, Martha (pictured at far left) sporting a new Dale Jr. #88 license plate that reads “GMAW” for “Grandma.” This from WCNC, the Charlotte-area NBC Affiliate:

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — If you spot a NASCAR license plate that reads “GMAW,” you may very well be following racing royalty. Martha Earnhardt is the late great Dale Earnhardt’s mother, and proud grandmother to his son, Dale, Jr.

On the family’s legacy, she says, “My husband started driving, then my son, and now my grandson. It’s been in our family since I was 18.”

The state Department of Motor Vehicles offers 25 specialty NASCAR plates, including one with Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s number 88.

On Monday at a license plate bureau in Kannapolis, Martha Earnhardt joined Dale Jr.’s mother Brenda Jackson, and his sister Kelley Earnhardt Elledge to show off their specialized plates.

On the honor, Martha says, “I never thought I’d have a license plate for my grandson.”

Hers reads, “GMAW,” short for Grandma. Jackson’s reads “MOMA” and Elledge’s “1SIS.”

It was a charity that got the Earnhardt family involved in this effort. Part of the proceeds from the sale of the plates goes to the North Carolina Motorsports Foundation, which then funds programs and scholarships for students who want to work in the industry.

Jackson hopes NASCAR fans get behind the effort, saying, “The whole thing is a win, win situation. You’ve got a nice looking tag that you can put your mark on and help a lot of kids out. So, I’m very excited about it.”

The special plates add $30 to your yearly registration fee — more if you want them personalized. Of that, $20 is sent to the foundation.

In all, there are 25 drivers to choose from. The plates are on sale now through the state DMV website at www.ncdot.org/dmv.

I came across this great video slide show on YouTube. It chronicles one visitor’s trip to several race shops last December - including Richard Childress, Hendrick, Roush, Yates, Ganassi, Rusty Wallace, and JR Motorsports. Dale Earnhardt cars are prominently featured in the early part of the video, shot at Childress.

From The Globe & Mail, Nov. 2007: “Unlike the short-lived “mancation,” an idea created by marketing people a few years back to exploit the emergence of the metrosexual, the unambiguous buddy trip seems more in line with the return of hirsute men in popular culture … the buddy trip - duderlude? heholiday? sabrotical? - doesn’t always need a refined approach. Maybe the best way to describe a men’s vacation might be to just mumble: ‘I’m gonna spend some time with my buddies and, you know, do stuff.’”

With manly attractions like The Dale Trail, NASCAR Race Shops, and driving schools or ride-alongs at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Cabarrus County is the perfect buddy trip destination - heck, we even have kayaking/canoeing, a huge Bass Pro Shops with fishing instruction and a fully stocked pond, and adventure tours! So go to VisitCabarrus.com and request a free Vacation Planner with Race Shop Map, or just browse the site to see all we have to offer for your next men’s-only trip. And if you have to drag the ladies along, we have plenty of shopping, spas and wine tours to keep them busy!

Curb Motorsports is a rare find and a trasure trove of racing and music history. The museum represents two business interests and passions of Mike Curb, the museum’s owner. A long-time motorsports enthusiast, Curb is the owner and founder of the leading country music record label in the country. Current recording artists under the Curb label include Wynonna Judd, Tim McGraw, LeeAnn Rimes, Hank Williams, Jr. and Lyle Lovett, as well as a host of stars of tomorrow. Over the years, Curb has owned cars driven by NASCAR legends including Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty, Dale Jarrett, Ron Bouchard and Johnny Sauter. This star-studded blend of auto racing and country music is well represented at the museum.

The exhibits – once crowded at the old museum site several blocks away – now command their new 20,000-square-foot home. The museum showcases NASCAR, Indy and modified race cars, as well as LeeAnn Rimes’ very first car, a 1995 black Dodge Viper. Two rare glimpses of NASCAR history are on display front and center in the new museum’s street-side windows – the #2 car Dale Earnhardt drove in his first Winston Cup Championship and the #43 car Richard Petty drove in his 199th Winston Cup win – sister-car to the one Petty drove in his 200th Winston Cup win that now resides at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC. Images of popular recording artists cover the museum’s walls, stand on life-sized cardboard cut-outs and even appear on the hoods of a few race cars. Displayed among the auto racing memorabilia are gold record awards, autographed posters from country and pop superstars and tons of photos of recording artists.

Arranging the museum’s priceless memorabilia has been a very hands-on project for Mike Curb, according to Jerry Spurgeon, museum manager. “Mike Curb and his wife came here and set up all the photos on the walls themselves,” Spurgeon explains. “We hope we can get Mike back here for an official opening after the holidays.”

Curb Museum of Motorsports & Music will welcome the public Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm at the new museum at 600 Dale Earnhardt Blvd. in Kannapolis. The museum’s phone number is 704-938-6121.

Just up Hwy 29 from Lowe’s Motor Speedway is Backing Up Classics, a treasure trove of automotive (and cultural) history. Backing Up Classics not only celebrates cars, it celebrates American culture and how is has both influenced and been influenced by the development of the automobile. Backing Up Classics has more than 50 vehicles on display in 18,000 feet. It features classics, antiques, 50s, 60s, muscle cars and a gift shop fully stocked with NASCAR merchandise and automotive collectibles. I was lucky enough to get a tour from Lindsey Morrison-Hartman, the proprietor’s daughter, who enhanced the tour with stories of her childhood growing up and playing among the cars in the collection.

For Dale fans, there are a few gems not to be missed:

Mural featuring Dale (Readers: feel free to reply to this post with the names of these other drivers and make fun of me for not knowing their names offhand!)

McDonald’s Billboard featuring Dale

Dale Collectibles for sale in the Gift Shop

Dale Sr. and Dale Jr. collectible hood

An autographed window net from one of Dale’s cars.

A new pull-out map featuring all of North Carolina’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race shops is now available from the Cabarrus County Convention & Visitors Bureau as part of its newly released annual Visitors Guide. The map contains directions to the race shops, a description of each, and the times they are open to visitors. Also included on the map are descriptions of major stops along The Dale Trail, a self-guided tour of landmarks relating to Dale Earnhardt’s life and NASCAR career in and around Kannapolis, the NASCAR legend’s hometown. Click here to order a free guide.

Cabarrus County is home to the world’s largest concentration of motorsports attractions, including Lowe’s Motor Speedway, the superspeedway most drivers call home. Sprint Cup teams based in Cabarrus County or nearby include Roush Fenway Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Yates Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sebates, Haas CNC Racing, Wood Brothers Racing, Dale Earnhardt Inc. (right), Joe Gibbs Racing, Michael Waltrip’s Raceworld USA, Team Red Bull, Penske Racing and BAM Racing. Still within North Carolina and within an hour’s drive are even more – Richard Childress Racing, Bill Davis Racing, Richard Petty Museum and Gillett Evernham Motorsports.

The area’s rich racing heritage draws increasing numbers of visitors every year to see what goes on behind the scenes between the races. Visitors watch the cars being built at the race shops, tour legendary Lowe’s Motor Speedway, explore the area’s many motorsports museums and ride shotgun in a NASCAR racecar around the speedway track with a professional driver at speeds up to 165 miles an hour. Where else can fans get so close and personal with restrictor plates and valve covers? Watch a pit crew train? Lunch with members of a race team dining at the next table? Maybe, even, run into a NASCAR superstar for an autograph and a handshake?
“When it comes to NASCAR, we have the real deal, but many of our greatest NASCAR treasures are off the beaten path,” explains DeSales Wagster, president and CEO of the Cabarrus County Convention & Visitors Bureau. ”Our destination guide with its comprehensive race shop map is the one tool fans must have to plan their ultimate racing experience here.” 
For more information or a free copy of the new Cabarrus County NC visitors guide and pull-out map to the race shops, phone 800-848-3740 or visit www.visitcabarrus.com

As part of its National Tourism Week celebration, the Cabarrus County Convention & Visitors Bureau will host two of NASCAR’s brightest shooting stars, Joey Logano (below left) and Chrissy Wallace (right), for a FREE autograph event at the Cabarrus County Visitor Center at I-85 Exit 60 on Friday, May 16, 2008, from 11am to 1pm. Local author Anita Rich will also be present for a book signing, and copies of her new book, Portraits of NASCAR(below right), will be available for purchase. The Cabarrus CVB will also be collecting memorabilia and stories related to racing, and specifically Dale Earnhardt, during the event.

Logano, a 17-year-old racing sensation, turns 18 on May 24, and one week later on May 31 he makes his Nationwide Series debut in Dover, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Mark Martin calls Joey Logano “the real deal.” In fact, Martin says at 17 Joey already has more talent than some of the drivers he regularly competes against in the big leagues of NASCAR. At 17 Logano already has more than a dozen years of driving experience. Logano also did the Cabarrus CVB’s holiday video last year.

Wallace, daughter and niece of the popular Wallace family of NASCAR racers, is another local racing sensation who has been receiving national media attention. The 20-year-old Wallace made her NASCAR debut March 29 in the Craftsman Truck Series Kroger 250 and will drive five Truck races and five ARCA races this season for Germain Racing. Wallace is determined to continue her ground-breaking career as a successful driver and role model for women who want to compete in any environment.

Rich’s new book, Portraits of NASCAR, offers a rare glimpse into the private lives of nearly 35 NASCAR drivers in their dens, kitchens and living rooms. The book’s stunning black-and-white photographs and accompanying text invite readers to share in the lives of drivers beyond the track.

“The theme of this year’s National Tourism Week is Discover Great American Traditions,” notes CCVB President/CEO DeSales Wagster. “With this event we are celebrating not only our area’s traditional ties to racing, but also future traditions represented by these stars of tomorrow.”

Stop #19 on The Dale Trail is Sam Bass Gallery, a gallery of motorsports art by Sam Bass showcasing more than 300 pieces of art, including originals, limited-edition prints and fine art posters. Bass is on the trail not only because of his status as one of the greatest motorsports artists of all time, but because of his many iconic portrayals of Dale Earnhardt and Dale Jr.

On his website, Bass has 56 limited edition prints of Dale and 28 of Dale Jr. Prints like these are priceless for fans, and there is no shortage to choose from. A tour of the gallery is a don’t-miss opportunity, so we always encourage folks to come, see, ad browse. But, if after your visit you have second thoughts about that print you almost bought but didn’t you have the opportunity to visit and buy online as well.