NASCAR Hall of Fame

The modernistic "swirl" of the NASCAR Hall of Fame buidling is due to a race track-styled oval housed within to show off stock cars from throughout the sport's storied past.

The race oval within the main lobby of the NASCAR Hall of Fame shows off a variety of stock car models. On the lower right you can see a replica of Dale Earnhardt's famous #3 car.

Many of the safety features of today's modern-day stock car are largely hidden from view, such as the foam cushioning inside the body panels.

These are actually racing simulators, lined up for visitors to "test drive" in a virtual race. The NASCAR Hall of Fame contains some 50 "interactive" exhibits, though the simulators are by far the most popular.

This is an actual copy of the crash report filed after the death of Dale Earnhardt at the Daytona 500 on February 18, 2001.

On a lighter note, these are the front ends of the stock cars raced by Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison during the 1979 Daytona 500. They crashed on the last lap and got into a now-famously televised fistfight on the infield. Richard Petty ended up the winner.

On the second floor of the museum is a corner dedicated to the big rigs that haul each team's stock cars from race to race. This is a schematic showing what goes inside the "transporter" as it's called.

A larger display provides more details on how transporters are used in the sport of stock car racing.

Here a stock car is set in the "up" position on a transporter -- keeping it out of the way the crew can use the work space inside the transporter's trailer.

A side view of the transporter's trailer.

All stock cars are put through over 140 different inspections by NASCAR officials prior to each race to insure no unauthorized modifications or safety violations occur.

The old time vehicles from NASCAR's past are not forgotten within the Hall of Fame.

Think that 350 cubic inch V-8 in the plexiglass case looks small? Well it can crank out 850 horsepower at 9,000 rpms. Talk about get up and go!

One section of museum breaks down all the components that goes into the making of a Cup Series race car: a vehicle designed to cover 650 to 750 miles per weekend (time trials, qualifying, and race day combined) at top speeds exceeding 168 mph.

The NASCAR Hall of Fame just wouldn't be a true hall of fame without one of Richard Petty's rides on display.