A Fan's Look at the Dale Earnhardt Jr. Race Shop/Jr. Nation

If you were to make a list of places in North Carolina I would be least likely to visit, Jr. Motorsports would rank fairly high. After working in specialty stores selling NASCAR merchandise and dealing with his image everywhere, he's without a doubt my least favorite driver. Still I knew that no tour of race shops would be complete without at least one visit to his shop.

The outside of the race shop is fairly large, with ample parking for visitors. Last year we stopped by and they had so many guests that they had to create additional parking in a grass lined area beside the shop. This year there were significantly less people on hand so we could park right in front. The outside of the shop is decorated with Jr. Motorsports logos and we saw quite a few people taking pictures of those.

Inside the Jr. Motorsports race shop is dominated by a gift shop. The gift shop is really all about Dale Earnhardt Junior and though this is the shop for his Nationwide team, we couldn't find a lot of merchandise featuring his driver Brad Keselowski. They did however have a lot of Dale Jr. stuff including shirts, hats, diecast cars and other things. They also had a large section of Whisky River stuff on display, relating to the bar he opened in Uptown Charlotte. Unfortunately all of the Whisky River items for sale in the shop were significantly more expensive than they were at the actual bar.

They also have a special deal for visitors who want to join the Jr. fan club, also known as Jr. Nation in which they offer a smaller price when joining there. They were also taking donations for the Dale Jr. Foundation, with visitors getting a hat or pin depending on the size of the donation.

On display at Jr. Motorsports are fire suits and helmets once worn by the driver. These are all inside a glass display case in the middle of the gift shop. They also have a Dale Earnhardt Junior wax figure on display, which everyone loves taking a picture with, us included.

Then in the back is the actual race shop. They have a fairly large viewing area and we could see several of Keselowski's cars out, as well as a few Jr. plans to drive in the future. While we were there, there weren't a lot of workers on the floor nor was anyone really doing any work in the actual race shop, but it was still fairly interesting.

On our way out the door, we managed to get a few hero cards for our friends back home and then saw a small crowd of people standing at the large window of the building attached to the race shop. Dale Jr. himself was inside with Dee Snyder from Twisted Sister filming promos for his charity. He looked over at the crowd once and then proceeded to ignore them for the next thirty minutes before quickly darting out the back door and leaving. It gave me a little pleasure to note that he wasn't as cute or as tall as he looks on television.

If you're a Dale Earnhardt Junior fan, then this is the kind of place you're going to love. Don't expect to see Jr. hanging out because that was a fluke on our part. There are a few interesting things to see, but it shouldn't take you too long to see it all before you head off down the road to Kasey Kahne's race shop.