Touring the Earnhardt-Ganassi Race Shop in Concord, North Carolina

When the 2008 NASCAR season ended, a lot of people speculated that Dale Earnhardt Incorporated would disappear during the off season. They assumed that the problems the team had would result in another team purchasing the team and it dissolving. Instead Theresa Earnhardt surprised everyone by instead merging with Ganassi Racing to become Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. They moved all of their race shops into the old Ganassi buildings and started fresh. On our recent trip south, we knew we had to stop by and check things out.

The first thing you'll notice when you arrive at the race shop complex is the sheer size. It's one of the largest race shops in the area, but that also has a disadvantage as well. You assume that you'll see a lot of different things, but you actually only have a limited view. They do have a lot of parking and when we visited, the parking lot was barely half full.

Inside they have a large floor, which is primarily left unattended though there is a receptionist desk. They have a number of trophies on display, from both the Indy Car Series and NASCAR. One of the highlights is simply seeing the Indy 500 trophy up close and in person.

From there you venture into the gift shop and they sell not only NASCAR merchandise, but stuff from their Indy Car drivers as well. They also had quite a bit of Dale Earnhardt merchandise out for sale and that takes a little getting used to, if only because it's hard to see his stuff for sale next to Juan Pablo Montoya stuff. Additionally they sell race used sheet metal from each of their drivers, with a portion of the profit going to the charity of the driver's choice.

In one corner of the gift shop are several banners showing the team's wins throughout history. Sadly they haven't added anything from DEI to the list and the winners are all drivers who now work for another team such as Reed Sorenson and Jamie McMurray. They also have a large pit box display setup with different types of car parts inside. Visitors can actually touch the parts and see how large and heavy they are. I even had the chance to try on the HANS device while I was there and play with one of their steering wheels.

Then you venture into the actual race shop. They have a series of glass windows about five feet tall, but it's easy to see through them and even take photographs over them. Sadly though you don't have a lot to see at Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing. When we were we saw a number of cars out, but no one working on them. It appears as though you have to go further into the race shop to see the real work.

Earnhardt-Ganassi isn't necessarily one of the more popular race teams, but their shop is fairly impressive. Anyone who is a fan of one of their drivers including Martin Truex Junior should take a few minutes to stop by, if only to stock up on their latest merchandise.