This shop is a little out of the way but the folks there are very friendly and its a pretty part of NC.

Formed by Dale and Teresa Earnhardt in February of 1980, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. has certainly grown from its humble beginnings.
In 1983, Teresa became the first person on the payroll assisting Dale in his racing ventures. The first ?corporate headquarters? was a three-bay garage where Dale had an office.

As the need for additional space for race cars and equipment grew, Dale and Teresa moved the offices into a brick house located next door on Coddle Creek Highway. There were five offices for a handful of employees with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. fielding a part-time Busch Series team for its namesake.

To say the team was successful would be an understatement. Dale and his team won 21 races, had 65 top-fives and 76 top-10 finishes.

While racing was a part-time job, the business side of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. was a full-time initiative. The popularity of racing was growing, and Dale was leading the industry in merchandise and sponsorship sales. That little office house was selling some big sponsorships that are still part of the Dale Earnhardt, Inc. corporate structure today.

When Dale and Teresa fielded a full-time Busch Series team and added a Craftsman Truck Series team in 1995, another shop had to be built. Jeff Green was the Busch driver through the 1995 and 1996 seasons. Ron Hornaday drove the truck from ?95-98 with NAPA Auto Stores as the sponsor.

In that second season, Hornaday and NAPA gave Dale Earnhardt, Inc. its first NASCAR Championship and repeated the achievement in 1998. In 1997, a young Modified ace from East Northport, N.Y. was called upon by Dale to drive his Busch car.

Enter Steve Park. But, he almost lost out on his chance when he didn?t believe the phone call from Dale really came from Dale.

?I just got back from the Saturday-night track when there was a message on my machine from someone saying he was Dale Earnhardt and wanted to talk to me,? Steve said. ?Well, I didn?t believe it and thought it was just one of my buddies playing a prank on me.

?Two days later, the phone rang again and in an instant I knew who it was. It was the real deal Dale and I was all ears.?

Steve took over the Busch ride with ACDelco as the sponsor for the 1997 season. He won three races en route to Rookie of the Year honors and finished third in points.

As the need for employees and race cars grew, so did the need for office space. In June of 1999, Dale and Teresa proudly opened the doors to the beautiful headquarters with administration offices, exquisite Trophy Room, showroom, retail store and home of the 1 Pennzoil team.

The golden exterior shines like a symbol of success in the light of day and the black marbled entrance commands respect upon entry. The architectural beauty of the main complex has become a ?must see? for race fans visiting the town called ?Race City USA.? It truly has become a corporate headquarters in every sense.

In 1998, Steve Park was moved to the Winston Cup Series ranks with Pennzoil on board with the 1 Chevrolet. That left the seat for the Busch Series car open for a new driver and Dale didn't have to look far for a replacement.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. spent some years racing in the Street Stock and Late Model ranks at tracks in the Carolinas. In 1996, he made the jump into NASCAR with his inaugural Busch Series start at Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Speedway.

Dale Jr. went on to capture the Busch Rookie of the Year honors in 1997 and Series Championships in 1998 and 1999. It was time for the company to grow once again and that brought forth the expansion of another new building.

Escalating the fact was that Dale Jr. and his Busch team were going Winston Cup racing for the 2000 season.

So, the red brick house that once served as the Dale Earnhardt, Inc. office was sacrificed and bulldozed to make way for Dale Jr. and the 8 Budweiser team. In that complex, the fabrication shop, licensing department, engineering and show car program offices can be found.

While a physical expansion hasn?t taken place since 1999, the company has grown internally. NAPA and Dale Earnhardt, Inc. teamed together to move from Busch racing in 2000 to the Winston Cup ranks for 2001. That same shop now houses the 15 NAPA Chevys for Michael Waltrip.

As one of the premier race teams in NASCAR housed on 14 acres of land and utilizing 200,000 sq. feet of building space, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. serves as the benchmark for success in motorsports.

That is a fantastic and beautiful facility. There are immense windows through which one can view cars being worked on, etc, and a fascinating display of memories of Dale Earnhardt, Sr. There is also a store selling items of interest to fans.

Hall of Fame Racing is in its second season as a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series team owned by Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterbacks Troy Aikman, Roger Staubach and general & managing partner Bill Saunders. The team fields the No. 96 DLP HDTV Chevrolet for veteran Tony Raines. In 2006, the team's first season, Raines and two-time NASCAR Cup champion Terry Labonte split the driving duties and finished 26th in owner points.

Hall of Fame Racing has a viewing window that provides a great perspective to the prep area of our shop. Please stop by for a visit sometime soon.

The Hendrick Motorsports racing complex is located in Charlotte, N.C., very close to Lowe's Motor Speedway. This sophisticated complex provides Hendrick Motorsports with facilities to design, test and make cars and engines for all of our race teams.

All HMS racecars are constructed start-to-finish at the 70+ acre complex, and more than 700 engines are built on-site each year, with the organization leasing some of those engines to other NASCAR teams. More than 400 employees can be found working at Hendrick Motorsports on any given day of the week.

Presently, we do not give guided tours of the complex, however visitors are welcome to view our race shops during normal hours of operation. Currently, site visitors are welcome to view Terry Labonte's Kellogg's/got milk? Race Shop, Jeff Gordon's DuPont Race Shop, Jimmie Johnson's Lowes Motorsports Race Shop, Joe Nemechek's UAW-Delphi Motorsports Race Shop, Brian Vicker's GMAC Racing Shop, and the Hendrick Motorsports Chassis building facility.

Visitors are also welcome to view the 15,000-square-foot Hendrick Museum and Speed Shop that showcase almost two decades of HMS racing. The clearing of land adjoining the complex is a vision of the Hendrick Motorsports racing future - with space for additional shops and a proposed wind tunnel for testing.

A large viewing area of the shop floor is available. In this area there is a video tape showing a complete tour of the shop. A number of window cases showing trophies and other items from the various JGR teams. A gift shop is also available. No charge for admission.

This is a great shop to visit. The shop has over 130,000 square feet with a platform over the work space so fans can see the working of the shop without being in the way of the team. There is a video to watch that describes some of the areas of the shop that are not open to fans. It also includes a 100 seat auditorium.

JR Motorsports was established in 1999 as the management company for NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. and is now a full-fledged racing operation with three late model teams, a USAR Hooters Pro Cup team, and a full-time NASCAR Busch Series program.

JR Motorsports first foray into racing came in the form of a street stock car that raced at Concord Motorsports Park in Concord, N.C., during the summer of 2002. During the next three years the team progressed through the late model stock car and Pro Cup ranks, collecting numerous wins and pole awards along the way. With support from the U.S. Navy, Earnhardt Jr. launched the JR Motorsports NASCAR Busch Series program in 2006.

The JR Motorsports team has come a long way from its start in 2002. Once housed in a building on Earnhardt Jr.?s property, the team operated out of a small shop in Mooresville, N.C., in 2006 before moving into a large 66,000-square-foot facility that serves as the nucleus of Earnhardt Jr.?s racing operation and business interests at the start of 2007. All of the teams are housed in this facility along with the business operations of JR Motorsports, allowing them to share resources and personnel in an effort to continue the team?s successful growth into the future.

Nearly a decade ago, Michael Waltrip established a modest family-owned NASCAR Busch Series team in Sherrills Ford (N.C.) called Michael Waltrip Racing. It didn?t take long for Waltrip?s team to develop into a top-notch winning organization.

Today, the four-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series and 11-time NASCAR Busch Series winner takes his company to the next level. During Toyota?s NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series inaugural year in 2007, Michael Waltrip Racing plans to enter multiple full-time Toyota entries. Waltrip looks forward to a long lasting relationship between Michael Waltrip Racing and his new manufacturer.

To prepare for the future of Michael Waltrip Racing, Waltrip devised a plan to achieve his goal of becoming a successful owner in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series. Setting the stage in August of 2005, Waltrip announced his plans to design and create Waltrip Racing World, an interactive high-tech race shop designed for the ultimate fan experience encompassing over 11 acres and more than 125,000 square feet of buildings.

Looking back, Waltrip has been a prominent NASCAR Busch Series competitor since 1988. He began his career as a car owner/driver in the series in 1996 making 13 starts that season. Since then, Waltrip has won multiple NASCAR Busch Series events and five NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races including the prestigious Daytona 500 twice and the sports? All-Star event.

After overseeing a winning NASCAR Busch Series team, Waltrip raised the bar for Michael Waltrip Racing and began fielding cars in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series on a limited basis. With his trial run as a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series owner, Waltrip commenced laying the groundwork for his Waltrip Racing World project.

The tour at Waltrip Racing World includes the following areas:
Machine Shop
Engineering
Gears and Transmission shop
Shocks and suspensions
Main garage and shop
Fabrication
Pit practice area
Movie Theater

Penske Racing's state-of-the-art facility in Mooresville, N.C., was constructed for performance but with style. Equipped with the first-class, corporate sheen indicative of Penske Corporation, the two buildings totaling 424,697 square feet are nestled on 105 acres.

Penske's three NASCAR teams ? two NEXTEL Cup and one Busch - occupy 240,781 square feet ? 8 acres - of the complex. Fans can stroll through a 4,986-square-foot gift shop, where they may purchase souvenirs of their favorite Penske drivers or Penske Racing merchandise, and then watch the crews prepare for upcoming NASCAR races from a 330-foot fan walk.

One million pounds of Italian floor tile ? 250,000 pieces ? provide the flooring in the administrative and NASCAR shop areas, while more than 1,000 linear feet of Kodak graphics give a special glimpse into the team's history.

The Indy Car and ALMS teams occupy 55,843 square feet. They share a 3,811-square-foot administrative area, a 16,903-square-foot transporter area and a 6,857-square-foot support area. The Indy Car shop and engineering have a 14,089-square-foot home, while 14,183 square feet is dedicated to the ALMS shop and engineering.

The Childress team has opened a new shop. You are able to view a good bit of the shop area.

Jack Roush has always been interested in finding out why and how things work. If there was anything mechanical in the house, he would take it apart to see how it worked and reassemble it. He was fascinated with engines and was determined to become an innovator.

Born in Covington, Ky., in 1942, Roush was raised in Manchester, Ohio, a town of 2,500 people. He attended Berea College and received a mathematics degree with a minor in physics in 1964. He was recruited by Ford Motor Company that year and moved to Detroit to work on the processing of car assembling and tooling. Roush had always been fascinated with engines and was determined to work in that area. He then went on to obtain a Master?s Degree in Scientific Mathematics from Eastern Michigan University in 1970, which he felt was needed in order to move into the engine research and development area.

While working for Ford, Roush was drawn to the company?s extensive motorsports activities. Always the organizer, he soon surrounded himself with others who shared his enthusiasm for going fast in a drag racer. Roush joined a group called "The Fastbacks" in 1966.

Working for Ford provided steady income, but security and professional accomplishments were no substitute for going faster than the last time, and faster than anybody else at the racetrack. Roush left Ford in May of 1969 and began buying his own equipment to improve the racing performance of "The Fastbacks." It was not long before he was doing development work for other teams.

Roush worked at Chrysler as an engineer for one year before leaving in 1970 to start his own engineering business. As "The Fastbacks" disbanded that year, Roush began his next venture into racing by forming a partnership with Wayne Gapp. For the next five years, the duo attracted national attention by winning events and one championship each in NHRA, IHRA and AHRA with their Pro Stock racer.

Roush also spent some time teaching in between his racing ventures. He taught mathematics, physics and a variety of automotive subjects at Monroe Community College in Monroe, Mich., in 1971 and 1972.

Roush was involved exclusively in drag racing until 1978, and advanced in power classes to the NHRA Pro Stock division. He also managed to find time to provide engines for race teams in other sports, such as the Pike?s Peak Hill Climb and various powerboat and oval track series.

In 1976, Roush ended his partnership with Gapp and formed Jack Roush Performance Engineering. Roush?s success at the track and his reputation as a performance engineer helped deliver project after project to his doorstep. He stopped operating the drag racing team, but kept doing race business for other teams. Roush primarily built engines for other teams throughout the early 1980?s.

In 1982 Roush formed a partnership with Zakspeed Racing to run GTX and GTP cars for Ford in the United States. Zakspeed had much success racing in Europe and wanted to partner with Roush for the US races. Some of their drivers included Kevin Cogan, Bobby Rahal and European superstar Klaus Ludwig.

In 1984, Roush returned to competition in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) road racing series and a legend was born. In the first year, he won the manufacturer's title for Lincoln-Mercury. Since then, Roush Racing has claimed 24 national championships and titles in the two series, including 12 manufacturer?s championships. Some of the drivers who helped Roush achieve his 119 road racing victories are Tommy Kendall, Wally Dallenbach, Jr., Scott Pruett, Willy T. Ribbs and former Craftsman Truck team general manager, Max Jones.

Roush has also earned 10 consecutive 24 Hours of Daytona sedan class championships. Some of the drivers who competed for Roush are Kendall, Dallenbach, Pruett, Mark Martin, Bill Elliott, Ricky Rudd, Kyle Petty, Ken Schrader, Robby Gordon, Pete Halsmer, Lyn St. James, as well as actor Paul Newman and Olympian Bruce Jenner.

In 1988, Roush moved south and expanded his racing business to include a NASCAR Winston Cup team with driver Mark Martin. During the team?s inaugural season, Martin won one pole and earned 10 top-10 finishes. In October 1989, Roush and Martin claimed their first NASCAR Winston Cup victory at North Carolina Motor Speedway.

Today, Roush has expanded his racing operations to include five Nextel Cup teams, one full season and two limited-schedule Busch Series teams and two Craftsman Truck Series teams. In October of 2004, Roush earned his 300th career win in the post-drag racing era as a team owner with Kenseth?s Busch victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway. His engine facilities in Livonia, Mich., and Mooresville, N.C., also supply the horsepower for several other teams in Nextel Cup and Busch Series racing, including Wood Brothers Racing.

Do you know how friendly a town called Stuart, VA sounds? Well this shop is just that - friendly! A great place to visit to see what's up with the current team and a great museum learn about NASCAR's oldest current team.