Atlanta is officially in the running for a NASCAR museum and hall of fame.
NASCAR has asked four cities, including such racing capitals as Atlanta, Charlotte and Daytona Beach, Fla., as well as Kansas City, Mo., to submit bids for such an attraction by May. NASCAR may also consider other cities.
State and city of Atlanta officials have formed a committee to present a bid for the attraction that includes metro area corporations who have ties to NASCAR. Turner Entertainment Group president Mark Lazarus and Scott Wilfong, president and CEO of SunTrust Banks, Atlanta, are part of that effort.
Atlanta boosters believe the city has an advantage over the competition because of the long list of NASCAR sponsors based here, including Home Depot, UPS, Coca-Cola and Georgia-Pacific.
The early consensus among local officials is that the attraction would be Downtown, along with the Georgia Aquarium and the new World of Coca-Cola, Wilfong said.
"Atlanta has a lot to offer: a large corporate base that sponsors NASCAR and a history of racing in the South," Wilfong said. "We're a strong candidate, and we'll work hard to win it."
Atlanta officials actually cooked up the idea for such an attraction last year. City officials flew to NASCAR headquarters in Florida last spring to pitch the idea to racing officials, including former Atlantan George Pyne, NASCAR's chief operating officer.