Let the fact about this museum be unfurled
It is the only museum dedicated to preserve the history of "big car" and sprint racing in the world
The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum, which is located on Iowa Highway 14 near Iowa Highways 5 & 92, is nearing its twenty-fifth full year of operation in 2016. The $1.7-million facility, situated on the Marion County Fairgrounds in Knoxville, officially opened on January 4, 1992. The educational museum is open seven days a week, year-round, with the following hours: 10 am – 6 pm, Monday through Friday; Noon – 5 pm, Saturday; and Noon – 5 pm, Sunday. Admission is four dollars per adult, three dollars per student or senior citizen, with children under the age of five being free. Group discounts are also available.
The first floor of the four-story structure features the Donald Lamberti National Sprint Car Museum, a museum store and the administrative offices. The museum currently has twenty-five (25) restored ‘big cars’, supermodifieds and sprint cars on loan. The 8,000-square-foot exhibit space also contains displays of trophies, paintings, photos, plaques, helmets and other memorabilia of the sport of sprint car racing.
The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum’s “Salute to Champion Doug Wolfgang” special exhibition, featuring seven of his actual race cars, is on display through November 15. This special exhibition, which follows similar ones honoring Tony Stewart (2011), Jeff Gordon (2012), Mario Andretti (2013) and Steve Kinser (2014), features an exclusive line of apparel in the on-line museum store at www.sprintcarstuff.com.
The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame presented by the Pella Rolscreen Foundation is located on the second floor. The Hall of Fame honors outstanding achievers in the sport of ‘big car’ and sprint car racing, including those in the driver, owner/mechanic and promoter/sanctioning official/media member categories. The entire nomination and election process is carried out by a 72-member National Induction Committee, which consists of media members, historians and representatives of the major oldtimers organizations from across the United States. The twenty-seventh National Sprint Car Hall of Fame induction weekend takes place on June 4-5, 2016, with the NSCHoF induction banquet to be held on Saturday afternoon on the Marion County Fairgrounds.
Also located on the museum’s second floor are a Library & Research Center and a 40-seat Theater, made possible by a gift from U.S. Smokeless Tobacco, an Altria company. In addition, the second floor contains a catering kitchen, an administrative office, a large conference and banquet facility, and a 150-seat Clubhouse overlooking the half-mile Knoxville Raceway dirt track.
The top two floors of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum facility provide outstanding views from turn number two of the legendary oval. The twenty skyboxes offer 400 patrons a unique setting in which to view the weekly sprint car racing action at Knoxville Raceway.
On-going funding has come from admissions, the museum store and its on-line web site, the leasing of the suites, and a series of grass-roots donor programs. Some of the more successful museum-benefit fundraising programs have included the “A Brick at a Time” program, the annual and lifetime membership programs, large biennial sprint car raffles, auctions, and golf tournaments. 2015 marks the continuation of the successful “Hall of Fame Night at the Races” series around the country, featuring the museum’s United traveling cargo trailer pulled by the Karl Chevrolet pick-up truck. This year the foundation participated in seven “Museum Madness” events in seven states, in conjunction with the brand-new National Sprint League (NSL).
In September of 2011, the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum Foundation launched a 3-5 year campaign entitled “Expand the Dream. Donald F. Lamberti, founder and chairman emeritus of Casey’s General Stores, is serving as “Expand the Dream” chairman. Mr. Lamberti’s explanation of the campaign describes it best:
“Expand the Dream is the first step of ‘second generation growth’ for the NSCHoF&M. A new Staging and Storage facility will help us keep and preserve the significant racing treasures we know to be coming our way. A larger endowment will ensure we have the operating strength to stage new exhibits and begin new programs.”
The facility expansion will give museum staff the space it needs to store sprint car racing treasures, prepare bigger and better displays, and rotate more items through the museum annually. Growth of the endowment will hasten the creation of new programs to reach more sprint car fans. A special incentive, in the form of a significant state income tax credit exists for those living in Iowa and making a commitment to the endowment.
For further information on the 501(c)(3) non-profit museum foundation, please contact:
One Sprint Capital Place - P.O. Box 542
Knoxville, Iowa 50138
641-842-6176;
641-842-6177 (FAX);
sprintcarhof@sprintcarhof.com
http://www.sprintcarhof.com
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