nascar fans - bill france's ukulele

i have to admit, i am not a nascar fan for assorted reasons. but we live near the nascar hall of fame in charlotte, nc. one weekend a month, it's free for bank of america cardholders.* so we went for the second time.

this time we got to the third floor area and i spotted this and had to take a picture. it had no inside label or headstock info that i could see. but i found it interesting nonetheless and you might too.

if you're a serious nascar fan, you'll know who bill france is. (i only know now after seeing placards all around the nhof about him.)

oh and also i added a pic that only a true nascar fan might be able to comment upon. if they only race under daylight or other powerful illumination, why do they bother to stick decals of headlights on the cars at all?!? (i saw in older models that they didn't even have headlights at all. just metal panels where the headlights would have been.

sorry the pics are not turned. they're from my phone and i'm lazy sometimes.

*if you're a boa cardholder, you need to check out this program in your area. just google "bank of america museums." there are 6 different museums around us that are free the first weekend of the month. catch? you have to have a card (credit or debit) in your name and a picture id. you'll still have to pay for parking and for kids who don't have a boa card. we got snagged with that this time since our daughter turned 5 since the last time we were there. 4 & under were free. argh.

That's interesting it's in the museum. I guess the illusion of headlights goes with the illusion of racing, you know restrictor plates, dictated wing angles, left left left left.

Cool, you never know where a ukulele will show up.

On the headlight issue, I think it goes back to the days when they drove converted stock cars. The early racers actually obtained a stock car then stripped it of non essential items to lighten them up and off they went (I am vastly simplifying of course). To some degree, NASCAR remains true to the roots of the sport and keeping the cars superficially looking like something you can really buy and drive is one way.

I've spent a fair amount of time at my local tracks (and have written three books on the topic -- see my HOPublishing link) and feel secure in saying that the local racers are a fun, competitive bunch of people. They can be as goofy as anybody during the week, but come race day they are all singularly focused. If you ever need a problem solver, go talk to a racer.

I know you aren't trying to open up a debate on NASCAR or other sports, so we'll keep it at that. Way cool on the uke spottting.