We found this great overview of the NASCAR Hall of Fame recently and knew it needed to be shared. It was put together by RalfBecker.com, and they stopped into the new NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte and were given a guided tour by NASCAR Historian Buz McKim. Whether you’re a NASCAR fan or not, if you’re ever in the Charlotte area we think it’d be worth your time to stop through for a peek.

In the video the tour is given in chronological order, and the difference between the original Hudson Hornet, Richard Petty’s ’67 Belvedere, and Earnhardt’s mid ’90’s Monte Carlo couldn’t be more start. Don’t get us wrong, we actually dig NASCAR, but we miss the days when the cars were the stars and actually looked like something that had rolled off of the assembly line.

Interestingly enough, Buz McKim is an acquaintance of ours. We interviewed him previously for our feature on the history of stock cars, title “When Stock Cars Ruled NASCAR and Why They Left.” If you’ve ever wondered why it is that NASCAR went the direction that id did, take a peek through that article.

In writing it, and in speaking with Richard Petty himself about it, the evolution of the stock car as we know it today really was a result of the switch in American cars to front-wheel drive. According to Richard, “that wasn’t gonna work for us,” so NASCAR mandated a standard chassis to be used by all makes in 1981. The rest, as they say, is history.