Spring Break in Charlotte

[Shotgun Jeremy]

A couple weeks ago, the family and I took a trip to Charlotte! Places we visited included:
NASCAR Hall of Fame
Memory Lane Museum (Easily overlooked, but is a MUST STOP)
Charlotte Motor Speedway (We made it to the pits!)

Joe Gibbs Racing (We met Joe Gibbs! He let my Aunt wear his Superbowl ring for their picture!)
Hendrick Motorsports
Trackhouse Racing (We got a personal tour by Shaun Peet - Lead Pit Crew Coach)
Spire Motorsports (We saw Carson Hocevar and Zane Smith)
Front Row Motorsports (Came out with a Championship race hood)
JR Motorsports (Went for the shop tour - came out with several body panels)
Richard Childress Racing (The RCR Museum is a MUST STOP for any Earnhardt fan)
Sam Hunt Racing
Live Fast Motorsports
23XI Racing (Drive By)
Team Penske (Drive By)
Stewart Haas Racing (Drive By)
Aerodyne Wind Tunnel (Drive By)
Robert Yates Racing Engines (Drive By)
Ray Evernhams personal car collection (Amazing! We got a personal tour!)

Pie in the Sky pizza (Dale Jr Recommended)
Pit Road Bar and Grill (Featured on Dives, Diners, and Drive Ins - you HAVE to try the Concord!)
Lancasters BBQ (looks like a regular BBQ joint on the outside - it's a NASCAR mecca on the inside)
Saeeds Bar and Grill (Used to be a regular party stop for Dale Jr and other drivers when they were single. Still a stop by other NASCAR people)
Carolina Cones (A great throwback to what ice cream parlors used to be)
Bojangles (sponsor of the Dale Jr Bojangles studio!)

Race City Barber Shop (Chastain gave them a shoutout as the shop where a lot of drivers get their hair cut, so I got mine cut there too! Great guys!)
GM Technical Center
NASCAR Research and Development
NASCAR Productions

We also found several very nice Goodwills out there. It was great finding legit NASCAR team gear at the Goodwills! My wife found a nice JR Motorsports embroidered jacket, and I found a 2024 Joe Gibbs Racing jacket. Both were mint, and both were about $5.

I'll post pictures in a little while.

[Shotgun Jeremy]

I didn't know this, but apparently race teams re-use parts a lot. The high level teams (Joe Gibbs, Hendrick, JR Motorsports, etc) will buy a race part and use it for a few races. Then, they will sell the part directly to other teams of their manufacturer, or they will sell them to one of two stores who will re-sell them. Smaller teams (I won't publicly name who I saw out of respect for their struggle but if you know me - hit me up lol) will go to one of these stores and buy used parts for their CUP or Xfinity level cars. It was the craziest thing, but it made sense when you hear about the smaller teams struggling to compete with the larger teams. Not only are they not working with the manufacturers on the same level, but they're literally using used race parts to compete. Y'all - one store even had used complete Cup and Xfinity race cars for sale!

Check them out on Google Maps
2nd Chance Parts (It's like a Goodwill for race parts - very laid back atmosphere)
SRI Performance (They are like a NAPA with new and used race parts - 2 different sections)

[Rick]

Damn, that's pretty cool.

[ExKilleencitizen]

Not the NASCAR fan that I used to be 20 years ago but it sounds like you had a great time. Thanks for sharing

[fchafey]

Glad you had a good trip. My sister lives outside of Charlotte in Mooresville, NC. Her and her husband bought out there in 1989 when MaryAnn finished, her master's in nursing from UNC-Charlotte. Visited her when I went to school at Eustis. Really nice area and the heart of NASCAR, which my dumb a$$ always thought that was Daytona....not cheap these days either to live out there....

[sojourner truth]

Panama City Beach Florida has seen the usual crowd at spring break. My daughter tells me that they go through this every time there is a motorcycle event. Biketoberfest, and 2 Thunder Beaches every year. But she also realizes that she lives in a tourist attraction city and deals with it all.

[Shotgun Jeremy]

Mooresville was my favorite part! It was so nice out there! Friendly people and NASCAR was everywhere!