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National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum facts for kids
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| Established | 1992 |
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| Location | One Sprint Capital Place Knoxville, Iowa, USA |
| Type | Automotive |
The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum is a special place that celebrates the exciting sport of sprint car racing. It's a hall of fame and a museum all in one! Here, you can learn about the amazing drivers, car builders, mechanics, and everyone else who made sprint car racing famous.
This museum is located in Knoxville, Iowa. This city is known as the "Sprint Car Capital of the World." It's home to the Knoxville Nationals at Knoxville Raceway, a huge sprint car race.
The museum is run by a non-profit group called the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum Foundation. This group was started in 1986. Their main goal is to save the history of sprint car racing. They also want to honor the people who achieved great things in the sport. The museum building cost $1.7 million to build. It officially opened its doors on January 4, 1992.
Contents
What You'll Find Inside
The museum building has four floors. The first floor is home to the Donald Lamberti National Sprint Car Museum. This area has many cool things to see. You'll find a museum store where you can buy souvenirs. There are also offices for the museum staff.
Amazing Exhibits
The museum has a large exhibit space, about 8,000 square feet. It's filled with awesome displays! You can see about 25 restored "big cars," supermodifieds, and sprint cars. These cars are on loan from different owners. The exhibits also show off trophies, paintings, photos, and special plaques. You can even see helmets and other cool items from sprint car racing history.
Honoring Sprint Car Heroes
The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame honors the best people in sprint car racing. This includes drivers, car owners, mechanics, and even people who promote the races. A special group of 72 people decides who gets into the Hall of Fame. These people are historians, media members, and former racers.
Other Cool Features
The museum building has more than just exhibits. It also has a library where you can research sprint car history. There's a theater that seats 40 people. You can watch films about the sport there. The museum also has a large room for events and banquets. Plus, there's a clubhouse with 150 seats. From here, you can watch races on certain nights!
Bryan Clauson Suite Tower
In 2018, the Bryan Clauson Suite Tower opened. This is a five-story building right next to the museum. It has 12 new suites, with four suites on each of the top three floors. There's also an observation deck on the roof. This deck is just for people staying in the suites. It offers a great view of the raceway.
How People Get Into the Hall of Fame
To be considered for the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, people must be nominated. Nominations happen by September 1st each year. A panel of 72 experts reviews the nominations. These experts include media members, historians, and researchers.
Who Can Be Nominated?
People can be nominated if they have been involved in sprint car racing for at least five seasons. This includes drivers, owners, builders, sponsors, mechanics, and officials. Sometimes, exceptions are made for people who moved to other types of racing. For example, if they raced Indy Cars or Stock Cars.
A nominee must also meet one of these rules:
- They must have been retired from racing for at least five years.
- They must be 50 years old by January 1st of the nomination year.
- They must have passed away at least six months before the nomination.
Nomination Categories
The nominations are split into four main groups:
- Driver-Oriented: This is for the drivers themselves.
- Vehicle-Oriented: This includes owners, mechanics, builders, and car manufacturers.
- Event-Oriented: This group is for promoters, officials, and media members.
- Pre-1945: This category is for people whose main careers were before World War II.
The experts vote on the nominees. The top people in each category are then inducted into the Hall of Fame.
See also
- Sprint car racing
- World of Outlaws