Well, Charlotte got the NASCAR Hall of Fame (Atlanta NASCAR site is still up, though). Charlotte’s package was worth an estimated $137 million. The Atlanta bid added up to around $179 million.

According to a Deloitte Consulting study, the NASCAR Hall of Fame would create 1,200 new jobs in Atlanta and an influx of $1 billion for the metro area during the first decade. Atlanta boosters believe the museum would be a huge asset to downtown, adding another tourist destination to the area around Centennial Olympic Park, which is home to the new Georgia Aquarium and will soon be home to a new World of Coca-Cola museum.

So I have to ask, and I don’t know the answer, after all the time and effort and potential money that was put into this project – what kind of a loss is this for Atlanta or for our leaders?

Anyway, all being said and done, Charlotte is just a better site for NASCAR than Atlanta is. It’s more of a NASCAR town, racing being in it’s very soul in a way wholly unlike it is in Atlanta’s. Note this fact – more than 90% of racing teams are headquartered within 60 miles of Charlotte.