History museum to open racing exhibit Wednesday

The small exhibit will highlight the major moments in the racing careers of the nine drivers who are in the N.C. Sports Hall of Fame for their achievement in motorsports: Buck Baker, Richard Childress, Dale Earnhardt Sr., Ned Jarrett, Junior Johnson, Lee Petty, Richard Petty, Herb Thomas, and Humpy Wheeler. It also includes three race cars (sure to be of big interest to some little race car fans out there).

You'll see these three cars in the exhibit, which is in the museum lobby:

● A 1937 Ford Coupe that Ned Jarrett raced in the 1950s at tracks such as McCormick Field in Asheville, Charlotte Fairgrounds Speedway and Hickory Speedway.

● No. 3 car driven by Dale Earnhardt Sr., a legendary figure in NASCAR history.

● A Legends Car that Sam Beam drove to victory up and down the East Coast.

You can see more artifacts from NASCAR history in the N.C. Sports Hall of Fame, which is on the museum's third floor. It's a favorite spot for my kids at the history museum. My older daughter loves all things sports. And my younger daughter loves to push all the buttons and see all the pictures.

Legends of Racing will be open for an extended period, I'm told.

The museum is at 5 E. Edenton St. in downtown Raleigh across from the State Capitol and the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences.