Belle Island Village – along with three-time Cup Champion and FOX Sports analyst Darrell Waltrip and fellow motor sports veteran Jeff Hammond – announced key components of the Darrell Waltrip Racing Experience, scheduled to open in fall 2008 at Belle Island’s themed development, located in the heart of Pigeon Forge, TN. The new $5 million, 27,000-square-foot racing-themed attraction promises to place visitors in the driver’s seat with diverse and highly interactive components to showcase the racing experience from all vantage points of today’s motor speedway. Included in the Darrell Waltrip Racing Experience, visitors will find: * a variety of racecar simulators integrating virtual reality * competition remote-controlled cars that race around a mini-Bristol Motor Speedway replica * an interactive theater and a soundstage with an actual studio-quality media set, hardwired to allow either live television production with editing capabilities or guests’ interactive fun, such as seeing what it is like to sit in Darrell Waltrip’s studio chair on race day * interactive pit crew area with images of Darrell Waltrip and his former Crew Chief Jeff Hammond * both permanent and rotating exhibits, such as a variety of actual stock cars that have won racing events * an exhibit that commemorates the history of stock car racing * an “Infield Experience” * a gift shop and a Victory Lane arcade with the latest in NASCAR and racing-related games “Anyone who isn’t a die-hard racing fan when they get here will be when they leave,” Waltrip said. “We’re making sure this place is a true ‘experience,’ including the sights, sounds, smells, atmosphere, motion and intensity of racing that give people an opportunity to know what it feels like to be part of a real stock car race, from a lot of different perspectives.” According to Waltrip, it will take the average guest approximately two and a half hours to see all of the attraction, given the range of components within the facility. More info at belleisland.com/dwre.htm.(PR)(5-8-2008)
