Hutch
Nitro Member
Published with the kind permission of Randy Fish, Drag Racer Magazine Editor.
The word on the streets tells of NHRA's desire to close the doors and transfer ownership of its exhibits to the Petersen Automotive Museum, located on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. This particular museum came to be in 1994 thanks to a 5-million-dollar donation to the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum by benefactors (and Wally Parks' former boss), publishing magnate Robert. E. Petersen. In 2000, another 24.8-million was donated to the L.A. County Natural History Museum (by Petersen) to retire the bond debt and establish the Petersen Automotive Museum Foundation as a non-profit organisation. Sure, it's an interesting place, but it's not OUR place. Besides, the Petersen has no room for such a large amount of historical race cars, displays and artifacts, and it would likely benefit only by tax deductions if this deal were to occur. However, if this scenario were to play out (and it may have by the time you read this), I fear the displays and cars that helped shape the sport of drag racing would be relegated to a subterranean storage garage where they'd never see the light of day.
Now, here's the irony in all of this: NHRA is attempting to push it's history off in a corner and forget about it, while NASCAR is building an opulent, mega-million-dollar Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina, in order to celebrate ITS past. And while nothing stays the same in life, certain decisions seem to make no sense whatsoever. That, my friends, is the difference between an organisation with genuine passion and one that's hell bent on looking through the windshield while having reckless disregard for where it's been. Long live the Wally Parks Motorsports Museum. I can only hope the Auto Club of Southern California has a say in all this.
The word on the streets tells of NHRA's desire to close the doors and transfer ownership of its exhibits to the Petersen Automotive Museum, located on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. This particular museum came to be in 1994 thanks to a 5-million-dollar donation to the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum by benefactors (and Wally Parks' former boss), publishing magnate Robert. E. Petersen. In 2000, another 24.8-million was donated to the L.A. County Natural History Museum (by Petersen) to retire the bond debt and establish the Petersen Automotive Museum Foundation as a non-profit organisation. Sure, it's an interesting place, but it's not OUR place. Besides, the Petersen has no room for such a large amount of historical race cars, displays and artifacts, and it would likely benefit only by tax deductions if this deal were to occur. However, if this scenario were to play out (and it may have by the time you read this), I fear the displays and cars that helped shape the sport of drag racing would be relegated to a subterranean storage garage where they'd never see the light of day.
Now, here's the irony in all of this: NHRA is attempting to push it's history off in a corner and forget about it, while NASCAR is building an opulent, mega-million-dollar Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina, in order to celebrate ITS past. And while nothing stays the same in life, certain decisions seem to make no sense whatsoever. That, my friends, is the difference between an organisation with genuine passion and one that's hell bent on looking through the windshield while having reckless disregard for where it's been. Long live the Wally Parks Motorsports Museum. I can only hope the Auto Club of Southern California has a say in all this.
