NASCAR TO RACE INTO GOLUB GALLERY
by Ron Hedger

In the past, the Saratoga Automobile Museum’s Golub Gallery exhibits have varied from classic European cars to American made hot rods and from Corvettes to woodies. Each exhibit offered visitors an up close look at rare, interesting and historically significant vehicles while explaining their relationship to the wider automotive world in the process.

June 2012 will find SAM throwing the proverbial green flag on an all new NASCAR exhibit. We’ll use cars, photos, memorabilia and personalities to illustrate NASCAR’s growth from a dusty, southern Sunday afternoon attraction to a national phenomenon featuring huge crowds of devoted fans, team sponsorships from all facets of corporate America, cutting edge technology, modern superspeedways and ‘larger than life’ driving heroes drawn from all corners of the United States as well as South America and Australia.

The story will start with older cars that will include a moonshiner’s Ford coupe, a Herb Thomas Hudson Hornet and a rare Ford Thunderbird “zippertop.” Moving forward in time, visitors will encounter a Dodge Daytona SuperBird that won four superspeedway events, a Richard Petty Pontiac from the period when he was estranged from his trademark MoPars, the Camaro that New York hero Richie Evans parked in Victory Lane at Daytona and a car driven by NASCAR’s biggest hero, Dale Earnhardt.

Moving closer to the present day, the exhibit will feature a truck from the Camping World Truck Series, a Nationwide series car and a variety of Sprint Cup cars from Richard Childress, Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing.

And for those who have always wondered what was under all those bright paint jobs and sponsor decals, we’ll have a Car of Tomorrow with half of the body removed to let everyone get “up close and personal” with the design, safety features and mechanical aspects of a car just like the ones seen on TV every weekend.

With the exhibit opening nearly a year away, adjustments to the “feature lineup” may still be made as historic cars are often sold while other interesting vehicles may suddenly become available. The museum is also working on a schedule of appearances by NASCAR personalities and other programs guaranteed to take NASCAR off TV and bring it live to the Saratoga Automobile Museum between June and December, 2012.

Mark your calendar now!