A Brief History Of Car Racing In Charlotte North Carolina

Thanks to the Charlotte area’s Piedmont red clay, a natural surface that suited the needs of car racing quite well, auto racing popped up in the area. These early tracks led first to the Charlotte Speedway, which hosted the first-ever professional stock car race in 1949. Ten years later, the Charlotte Motor Speedway was built and quickly earned acclaim for being the only speedway in the U.S. to have an all-concrete, four-lane drag strip.

The importance of Prohibition in Charlotte’s roots as a racing town must also be mentioned. Bootleggers would soup up Ford coupes for their runs across the state delivering adult beverages. These early adrenaline junkies shared the same need for speed as modern day race car drivers, earning the nickname whiskey trippers, and many Carolinians took part in the enterprise.

As the site of several major NASCAR races each year – including the Coca-Cola 600, Bank of America 500, and the All-Star Open – Charlotte has become the home base for 90% of auto racing teams. In fact, many famous drivers own homes on upscale Lake Norman, home to 520-miles of shoreline and million-dollar lake mansions.

Charlotte was also selected as the site of NASCAR’s Hall of Fame, which opened its doors in 2010 and was designed by the same architectural firm that built the Grand Louvre in Paris. The state-of-the-art, interactive museum greets guests with a row of retired cars and their history and also has a 200-item timeline exhibit dubbed the Heritage Speedway as it divides the sports 71-year history into decades. There, you’ll learn that Charlottean Buddy Shuman was elected to NASCAR’s first Board of Directors, and the sport’s importance to the state is also celebrated as its been dubbed the city’s official state sport.

Being a racing hub has also attracted the eyes of Hollywood, serving as the location for both Days of Thunder starring Tom Cruise as well as Talladega Nights: The Tale of Ricky Bobby. Besides utilizing the Charlotte Motor Speedway, filming also happened on Lake Norman, for scenes inside and out of Ricky Bobby’s dream home.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.