The buzz in the Nextel Cup garage says the search for a NASCAR Hall of Fame has boiled down to two scenarios. The first would have the hall located in Kansas City, where Lesa France Kennedy spearheaded construction of Kansas Speedway. Kennedy is president of International Speedway Corp., which is majority owned by her father, Bill France, Jr., and other family members, including her brother, NASCAR Chairman Brian France. Kennedy is seen as her brothers ultimate successor at NASCAR at some as-yet-undefined point in the future.
The other scenario is that the battle will be between Atlanta, which first approached NASCAR about housing the hall last year, and Charlotte, whose metro area is home to most of the NASCAR Nextel Cup, Busch and Craftsman Truck Series teams. Atlanta has a deep war chest with corporate support from Home Depot, Coca-Cola and UPS, among others, while Charlotte has strong grass-roots community support and is launching a massive marketing push. The Charlotte Chamber of Commerce has launched a website, www.belongshere.com , which prominently features the NASCAR bar logo, one of the most closely guarded trademarks in sports merchandising. NASCAR officials said although the Charlotte Chamber was not given formal permission to use the NASCAR logo and is not paying a licensing fee to display it, NASCAR has no objections to its use on the website or other hall of fame promotional material.(Speed Channel)(5-22-2005)
