"It's going to be a place our fans can come and celebrate, and look back at the history of the sport," Brian France said according to Autosport. "For us not to have that in a formal way for all these years was not really the best approach. This is going to change that overnight."
The NASCAR Hall of Fame building covers 150,000-square feet and is dedicated to the 60 years of NASCAR history. According to the Hall's officials, some 800,000 visitors are expected in the first year of operation. In the opening day, 1,000 people were present. The new Hall is the only one licensed by NASCAR.
"This is to help keep the fans we have and to help get new fans into the sport as well," Richard Petty said. "This is just like baseball history or football, or any history for that matter. It gives you a background of why you see things the way they are today. Without the history behind it, there would be no today."
"I think having the new fans learn, having them appreciate where we came from, will help them understand a little bit more about what's going on today."
"I just think if you don't hold on to history in anything, that it doesn't mean much," Rick Hendrick said. "The fact that we can showcase our history in such a great setting is going to pay us huge dividends down the road because new fans ought to know about Junior Johnson and they ought to know Buck Baker and those kind of guys."
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