Stock car racing

Last updated on September 28, 2013

On this page:

Introduction
Stock car racers
Stock car racing teams
Stock car parts manufacturers
Stock car racing associations
More stock car racing sites

Some related pages on Roadsters.com:

Race car insurance
Race car trailers
Safety equipment
Speed equipment directory
Sprint car racing
Vintage racing

Introduction

When I emigrated to the States from Canada in 1992, I could have gone anywhere on the continent. I decided to move to Harrisburg, North Carolina, the world center of stock car racing. Most of the NASCAR Winston Cup and Busch Series teams are located near Charlotte, with many of them within a short drive from the Charlotte Motor Speedway, which I lived across the highway from for a year. It's a different world there. Every day was like being at the movies. If you like racing, there's no place like Charlotte.

The Charlotte Motor Speedway is located on the east side of Highway 29, about halfway between Charlotte and Concord, which are roughly twenty miles apart. The corner of Highway 29 and Morehead Road could be considered Stock Car Central. Here's a quick tour.

The building on the northeast corner is home to a Goodyear racing tire warehouse, Simpson Race Products, illustrator Sam Bass, and Darrell Waltrip's Busch Series and ASA race shop. Directly north lies the Charlotte Motor Speedway, which is almost its own city.

To the east, you'll find the race shops for Geoff Bodine, Sabco Racing, Bobby Allison, Dave Rezindes and Andy Hillenberg, Jr. Southeast of the corner is Darrell Waltrip's Winston Cup shop. On the way there, going east on Hudspeth Road, the first building you'll see on your right was Dale Earnhardt's very first race shop back in the Seventies.

On the west side of Highway 29, right across from the speedway, lies a complex that houses numerous racing-related businesses.

Right on northwest the corner is one of the most important stops you can make when you're in North Carolina: the Speedway Restaurant. You'll have a chance to sample some real Southern hospitality, thanks to Bill and all of the staff. The cooking's good too — I call it "simple, honest food for simple, honest people". The other thing you'll enjoy about the place is its racing atmosphere. There's usually someone in the place that's either on a team or in some way involved in racing. But the pictures and postcards all over the walls are a thirty-year collection of ways people have thanked Bill and everyone there for providing good food and a good atmosphere.

Going west on Morehead road, it's about a mile to the turnoff on the right that goes down the hill to the ten-acre Hendrick Motorsports complex. This is one of the few race shops you'll find that's really equipped to give tours. Inside the main entrance you'll see one of their race cars, like their IMSA Corvette. A glass case houses some souvenirs donated by the family of the late Tim Richmond, including his famous hat. Behind the wall lies the engine shop, with four dynos and as many as twenty dry-sump NASCAR small-block Chevy engines on stands all lined up waiting for their customers. The complex also has a big fab shop, a well-equipped machine shop and an area for each of their race teams. That Gordon kid was a Yankee, so they stuck his butt out back.

When you're at the Hendrick Motorsports shop, look at the buildings directly to the west. The first one you see is where Harry Hyde lived for many years. You may know that in the movie Days of Thunder, Robert DuVall played the part of Harry Hyde (and Tom Cruise played Tim Richmond). Beside Harry's is his cousin Tommy Johnson's race car fabrication shop. But don't get too close to these buildings. The stray dogs that Harry and Tommy adopted have assumed the roles of race shop guardians. They're sort of like rednecks. They bark a lot, but they're good dogs.

To find other race shops in the area, just ask around. Just keep in mind that racing is a business, and although they appreciate your interest and would like to show you around, most race shops just aren't able to give tours to people.

If you love stock car racing, you've got to experience North Carolina.

Stock car racers

Marcos Ambrose
http://www.marcosambrose.com/

Johnny Benson
http://www.johnnybenson.com

Clint Bowyer
http://www.clintbowyer.com/

Trevor Boys
http://www.boyswillbeboysracing.com/

Jeff Burton
http://www.jeffburton.com/

Derrike Cope
http://www.derrikecope.com/

Ricky Craven
http://www.rickycraven.com/

Dale Earnhardt
http://www.thedaleearnhardtfoundation.org/

Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
http://www.daleearnhardtinc.com/

Bill Elliott
http://www.billelliott.com/

Ron Fellows
http://www.ronfellows.com/

Jeff Gordon
http://www.jeffgordon.com/

Scott Grissom
http://www.scottgrissom.com/

Kevin Harvick
http://www.kevinharvick.com/

Dale Jarrett
http://www.dalejarrettfans.com/

Matt Kenseth
http://www.mattkenseth.com/

Brad Keselowski
http://www.bradracing.com/

Mark Martin
http://www.markmartin.com/

Casey Mears
http://www.mearsgang.com/

Joe Nemechek
http://www.joenemechek.com/

Ryan Newman
http://www.ryannewmanonline.com/

The Ryan Newman Foundation
http://www.ryannewmanfoundation.org/

Steve Park
http://www.steve-park.com/

Richard Petty
http://www.richardpettymotorsports.com/

David Reutimann
http://www.davidreutimann.com/

Ricky Rudd
http://www.rickyrudd.com/

Elliott Sadler
http://www.elliottsadler.com/

Peyton Sellers
http://www.peytonsellers.com/

Morgan Shepard
http://www.morganshepherd.com/

David Starr
http://www.davidstarr.com/

Tony Stewart
http://www.tonystewart.com/

Martin Truex
http://www.martintruexjr.com/

Kenny Wallace
http://www.kennywallace.com/

Rusty Wallace
http://www.rustywallace.com/

Michael Waltrip
http://www.michaelwaltrip.com/

Stock car racing teams

Bobby Allison Racing
http://www.bobbyallison.com/

Bill Davis Racing
http://www.billdavisracing.com/

Earnhardt Ganassi Racing
http://www.earnhardtganassi.com/

Joe Gibbs Racing
http://www.joegibbsracing.com/

Ford Racing
http://racing.ford.com/

Hendrick Motorsports
http://www.hendrickmotorsports.com/

Mattei Motorsports
http://www.matteimotorsports.com/

MCI Racing
http://www.mciracing.com/

Menards Racing
http://www.teammenard.com/

Bud Moore Engineering
http://www.budmoore.com/

Morgan-McLure Motorsports, Inc.
http://www.morgan-mcclure.com/

Pennzoil
http://www.pennzoil.com/

Raybestos Racing
http://www.raybestosracing.com/

RCR — Richard Childress Racing
http://www.rcrracing.com/

Roush Fenway Racing
http://www.roushfenway.com/

Skittles Racing Team
http://www.skittles.com/

Valvoline Racing
http://www.valvoline.com/racing/

Wood Brothers Racing Team
http://www.woodbrothersracing.com/

Yates Racing
http://www.yatesracing.com/

Stock car parts manufacturers

There are hundreds of links to racing parts manufacturers in the Speed equipment directory. Only companies that specialize in stock car parts are listed here.

A&A Manufacturing — chassis components
http://www.aa-mfg.com/

BSR Products
http://www.bsrproducts.com/

Childress Race Cars — chassis builder
http://www.childressracecars.com/

Circle Racing Wheels
http://www.circleracing.com/

GRT Race Cars — chassis builder
http://www.grteam.com/

Hutcherson Pagan — stock car chassis builder
http://www.hutch-pagan.com/

Performance Bodies — aluminum stock car bodies
http://www.performancebodies.com/

Port City Racing
http://www.portcityracing.com/

Racescan — scanners
http://www.racingelectronics.com/

Roush Industries — race car engineering and design
http://www.roushind.com/

Speedway Engineering — rear ends and sway bars
http://www.1speedway.com/

Stock Car Products — stock car parts
http://www.stockcarproducts.com/