That's Racin'! NASCAR in Charlotte.

Some of you may have noticed that in my previous entry on the sports scene in Charlotte, I conspicuously omitted discussion of NASCAR. That's because it's so big down here it needs its own post!

I was never much of a racing fan when we lived up north. It seemed boring to me--cars going round and round for hours. But since I've been down here I've started to follow NASCAR more (it's hard to avoid) and I'm starting to like it. I'm still not ready to commit four hours on a Sunday afternoon to watch a whole race, but I definitely flip over to check out what's going on, and I usually try to catch the last 25 laps if I can.

If you're not that familiar with it, NASCAR has its roots here in the South, and the Charlotte area is home to many race teams. Some of the larger tourist draws to Charlotte are the tours of the race shops. You'll find a lot of shops up in the Mooresville area, and also down towards Concord, near the Lowes Motor Speedway.

The Speedway hosts two major NASCAR races every year. The Coca-Cola 600 in May, and the Bank of America 500 in October. The All-Star race also runs at the Speedway the week before the Coca-Cola 600, and that creates a festival of motor sports called Race Week. People come from all over the country to spend the week here, many of them traveling in motor homes and camping at the Speedway for the week. If you're a fan of Jeff Foxworthy or Larry the Cable Guy you have an idea of what that week is like!

Besides the major races, you'll find things going on at the Speedway all year. Car shows, truck races, even school bus races! The fact that the track sits right across I-85 from the Concord Mills Mall doesn't hurt either. The mall is actually the largest tourist attraction in the whole state of NC (which is a little sad if you ask me.)

Charlotte was recently chosen to be the home of the NASCAR Hall of Fame and construction of the site is underway in Uptown. It will supposedly be a spectacular facility when it's finished in late 2009 or early 2010, and will be a big boost to the economy of the city.

NASCAR is a huge part of the culture here and you'll see plenty of hats and bumper stickers with 3 (the late Dale Earnhardt), 88 (Dale Jr.) and others all over the place.

It'll grow on y'all!