The Charlotte 500, Lap 8: Hendrick Motor Sports

Located in Concord, just outside the Charlotte city limits, Hendrick Motor Sports is home to reigning NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson (Tiffany's favorite) and four-time champ Jeff Gordon (if the rules hadn't been changed three years ago, Gordon would be eight races away from his sixth championship). In 2008, Hendrick will also be home to the most popular driver, if not the most popular athlete in the country, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (That will be an interesting combination since Gordon and Earnhardt fans carry on a rivalry that makes Cubs vs. Cards or Yankees vs. Red Sox look like a Quaker picnic, and now they're teammates.) In total, HMS has won over 160 races, including five Daytona 500s, six Winston/Nextel Cup championships, three Craftsman truck championships, and one Busch series championship.

HMS is also the former home of my favorite driver, Kenny Schrader. Schrader has only four career victories, all coming while he drove for Hendrick from 1988-95. Unfortunately, the most attention he gets at the museum is the display of the car he was driving when he was wrecked by Gordon, his teammate, at Talladega in 1995.

Other drivers who have driven for HMS include Darrell Waltrip, Ricky Rudd, and Terry Labonte.

The HMS museum and garages are free to visit, so even if you're not a race fan, you might enjoy a quick visit. If nothing else, it is amazing to see the size of the complex; the major teams easily take up more space than an NFL stadium. The garages are stunningly clean, and you can view the work areas, which was somewhat interesting, even for someone like me who doesn't care much for the mechanical end of the sport. The museum contains a couple dozen cars, hundreds of trophies, pictures, videos, and a gift shop, of course. Here are a few pictures from our recent visit.

And because it's NASCAR, even the landscaping is sponsored.