International Motorsports Hall of Fame — Attraction in Alabama

This is my second visit to the International Motorsports Hall of Fame and the first for my partner. During my yearly migration from Arkansas to Florida during Christmas and new years I pass right by Talladega every time. My last visit, which was nearly 6 years ago, was not anywhere as good as this visit was.

We started at the museum, and enjoyed seeing the many vehicles on display. Some of our favorites were the Budweiser Rocket, Jeff Gordon's 24 Car, and of course Ricky Bobbys Car from the Movie Talladega Nights.

They had recently reinvaded the 3 Building to represent Alabama Racing history and the renovation was incredible, and to see the remainder of the wreckage of crashes that drivers walked away from was impressive and truly a feat of safety engineering as much of the displayed wreckage did not resemble a car but rather a pile of parts and pieces. that was one of the most awe inspiring moments at the museum.

anyone who visits the museum, should heavily consider the track tour, I was on the fence about it as the last time I had been it wasn't as good as this experience. But my partner hadn't been and I wasn't going to ruin their experience by bringing up my past experience.

I am so glad I went on the track tour. Last time it was a simple drive around the track and back to the museum, this time it was a full tour of the entire track. we made our way up to the grandstands and drove under them to an elevator. The elevator took us to the top floor of the track and our "Ohh Wow" moment was stepping off the elevator and seeing the entirety of the track below us, it was truly breathtaking.

Following the grand stand experience we went down and thru one of the tunnels to reach the infield portion of the track and we went to the victory circle and were able to take pictures inside victory circle. After victory circle we made our way past the garages and over to Big Bills. After seeing big bills we made our way back to the van and headed out to the track, we were able to see the incredible steep banked angles and our driver got us up to 70 mph (on the Straight) to try the best to simulate the feeling of what it would be like to go around the track at speed, he did say you'll have to use your imagination of what 180 mph would be like. We then stopped at the finish line were we were able to stop and sign the finish line and of course take pictures. I truly was impressed by this experience and its was...

The museum is great, I’ve visited it twice with different family members. However, I’m leaving this review and rating of one star because of my experience with the track tour. My father and I did the track tour on April 14th at 9:30am and it was certainly an unexpected experience. When we arrived at the museum, we checked in with the lady at the desk, who was very friendly, and assured us we were in the right spot. She said that the tour guide would be coming out soon. When the tour guide came out, he started to walk out of the building without us. He didn’t acknowledge us or even check to see who all was on the tour. There was an older couple on the tour also. I can’t even tell you the tour guide’s name because he never talked to my father and I the entire tour! NOT ONE WORD! He only talked to the woman, not even the other man that was with her. It was an extremely uncomfortable experience. When the tour was over and everyone got off the bus he, of course, walked back into the museum with the older couple, completely ignoring my father and I. He didn’t say thank you or ask us if we enjoyed the tour or ask us to leave a review. You know, the things a tour guide are supposed to do. As a tour guide he should be conversing with every individual on the tour, especially considering there was only four of us! Maybe asking where we were from, why we were in the area, favorite driver etc … for example. I’ve also taken a track tour of Phoenix Raceway and it was an awesome experience, so I was really looking forward to touring Talladega, my favorite track. However, this tour guide made it a very unpleasant and disappointing experience for my father and I. I sent an email to NASCAR a few weeks ago, and of course, never heard back. I have also attached a picture, in which you can see the tour guide (in the white hat), walking next to the older couple and specifically the woman, which was a common occurrence...

The biggest negative was that a major section was closed (1/3 of the museum) and we still payed full price. The parts we got to see were good though even if the whole place was looking a little worn and some of the displays needed updating (missing second dates on deceased driver's plaques for example).

The tour of the track was also limited because it was a race weekend, meaning they would not be driving on the actual track. We choose to opt out for this reason, since that had been the major draw for us honestly but that's probably to be expected at a working track.

The gift shop was open when we were there but the shirts and hats were a little disappointing. It might be us being picky but we had hoped for Talladega shirts and not shirts themed to the museum. I'm guessing they don't have licensing for that but with no other gift shop on the track premises, it would definitely have been nice. Might end up ordering something online but with shipping and tolls to Norway, that's going to cost us..

Still recommend a visit, since you get to see a couple important historical cars and the information about individual drives of both Nascar and F1 was mostly good, but maybe call ahead to make sure everything is open and available, if you have some flexibility in schedule.

Also appreciated seeing the Saab 900 and 9000 Turbos there, that was a...