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For Immediate Release IMHOF TO PUT UP BIG NUMBERS FOR WINSTON 500 RACE FANS TALLADEGA, AL - There will be big numbers all over the place when Talladega Superspeedway hosts Winston 500 weekend October 14-17, and some of the biggest will be posted next door at the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.The Winston Cup and ARCA cars will be approaching 200 miles per hour on the track, the race events will draw over 150,000 fans, and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame will have nearly 300 vehicles on display during this time. Already on display will be 140 cars, trucks, motorcycles, karts and an offshore power boat. Many of these are among the most historically significant vehicles in the history of racing. For race weekend, however, this number will more than double with different groups of cars being on display throughout the four-day weekend. Heading the list of vehicles will be an incredible gathering of the powerful, winged Dodge Daytonas and Plymouth Superbirds that dominated stock car racing in the late 1960's and early 1970's. These awesome cars, along with several Ford Talladega Torinos and Mercury Cyclones, will hold a 30th Anniversary Mopar/Ford Showcase to honor these cars that raced in the inaugural Talladega 500 three decades ago. In all, there will be approximately 125 of these cars on display. They will be set up in the Mark III Pavilion as well as in the parking lot of the Speedvision Dome on both Friday and Saturday. "This is a tremendous gathering of these vehicles, some of which cannot be found anywhere else in the world," said Executive Director Don Naman. "The 30th Anniversary Showcase is a special occasion. This kind of gathering might not ever happen again, at least not in these numbers." The showcase will include two cars that belong to IMHOF, the #88 Daytona in which Buddy Baker broke the 200 mile per hour barrier, and the #71 K&K Daytona that was built by Harry Hyde and driven by Bobby Isaac. Also on hand will be the 1970 Superbird that Ramo Stott raced at Talladega and other tracks. In all, he had three wins in this car, which is now owned by Ken Noffsinger. It is one of only two known racing Superbirds that have not been modified in character (sheet metal) or chassis. Dr. Don Tarr, who led three of the first five laps in the 1969 Talladega 500, will bring the street version Daytona that Chrysler gave him for leading those laps. All of these cars will participate in a huge pre-race parade on the track prior to the Winston 500, and driving the K&K car will be Harry Hyde's son, Harry Lee Hyde. While the showcase cars form the largest group, there will be others that will draw a lot of attention, also. Chevrolet will have several new 2000 models on display all week in the Mark III pavilion, and the Alabama Custom Truck Club will showcase 15-20 of their top vehicles on Saturday, also in the Mark III Pavilion. There will be Legends cars, and a NASCAR Craftsman truck driven by Ken Schrader. All of these extra displays will not affect the regular admission price to the Hall of Fame, which is $8.00 for adults and $7.00 for students ages 7-17. Kids six and under are free. Hours of operation will be extended to accommodate the large number of people who will be visiting the Hall of Fame. It will be open from 7:00 am until 7:00 pm, Thursday thru Sunday. FROM IMHOF PUBLIC RELATIONS l0/6/99/cml. For additional information, please call 256/362-5002. |
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