CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rarely has a red toolbox seen such an escort.
The shiny Craftsman toolbox, carried by two Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers in their dress blue uniforms, was the container Tuesday for a bid submitted by Charlotte-area leaders hoping to land a NASCAR Hall of Fame. They face competing bids from Atlanta; Kansas City, Kan.; Richmond, Va.; and Daytona Beach, Fla.
"This is going to be more than a hall of fame," Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory said at a public unveiling of architectural renderings of the proposed facility. "This is going to be an experience you can touch and feel and get a sense of NASCAR, now and in the future."
The drawings by I.M. Pei, noted designer of the famous pyramid addition to the Louvre in Paris and the east wing of Washington's National Gallery, are dominated by a banked curve that encircles the building, evoking the shape of a speedway. Over the main plaza entrance to the museum, the curve twists over on itself, in the manner of a Mobius strip.
From one corner of the building, a latticework tower emblazoned with the NASCAR logo rises, reminiscent of the towers that display race standings from the infield of most speedways.
Corporate leaders and city, county and regional government officials have mounted a high-profile effort to win the museum for Charlotte, campaigning under the slogan "Racing was built here. Racing belongs here."
Joining McCrory at the downtown news conference were H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, president of Lowe's Motor Speedway in suburban Concord, the track's mascot "Lugnut," Nextel Cup driver Brian Vickers, and a bright yellow race car signed by thousands of visitors to last week's "Speed Street" festival in downtown Charlotte.
As is the norm with anything connected to Wheeler, there was plenty of showmanship.
The police officers delivered the $137.5 million bid proposal inside a locked toolbox that bore another bid campaign slogan: "We Eat, Sleep & Breathe Racing," while the band Cake's racing-themed song "The Distance" blared over loudspeakers.
Later, McCrory handed the key to the toolbox to Vickers and dispatched him and the officers to deliver the bid to a nearby NASCAR office.
In Richmond, leaders of that city's hall of fame campaign held a ceremonial signing of the proposal at Richmond International Raceway and unveiled an image of what it would look like, but revealed few new details.
"NASCAR's asked us to keep details of the proposal confidential," said Josh Lief, executive director of Virginians Racing for The Hall of Fame.
The group estimated last month that the hall would cost about $103 million and would include 68,000 square feet of exhibit space. Several possible locations for the hall have been picked out, including one on property owned by the racetrack, but officials have said they would leave site selection to NASCAR.
Officials have predicted at least 500,000 NASCAR fans would visit the hall in its first year of operation.