In an area mostly known for its racing, it’s a matter of race that has the nation on edge today. After riots continued in Charlotte, N.C., for a second night on Wednesday (Sept. 21), the full scope of the damage caused began to be exposed on Thursday morning (Sept. 22).
NASCAR’s Hall of Fame site and its news center were among the buildings damaged, reports local Charlotte affiliate WSOC.
The NASCAR Hall of Fame building also houses a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant, which was looted and damaged.
None of the exhibits, cars or historic memorabilia housed inside the NASCAR Hall of Fame were damaged.
Also damaged in the rioting, was the NASCAR News Center, which was photographed by local news, with a parking lot sign lodged into a large window pane.
From Gina Esposito of WSOC:
Clean up crews just removed this parking poll that was lodged in the window of the NASCAR News Center. @wsoctv pic.twitter.com/9r9FKWxJBq
— Gina Esposito (@GinaWSOC9) September 22, 2016
Police expect more rioting to occur Thursday evening, and North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory enacted the state’s National Guard, declaring a state of emergency.
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I hope Brian got ISC to pay for insurance. Otherwise he’ll have to find someone else to pay for repairs. I guess it’s an indication of the high esteem in which the hall of fame is held by the people in Charlotte..
There are probably many taxpayers in Charlotte over the years who have thought about doing what the peaceful protesters did last night.
Since when are rioters and looters called protesters?
SURELY YOU REALIZE THAT NO KIND OF VIOLENCE OR DESTRUCTION IS BENEFICIAL TO THE PARTICIPANTS OR THOSE PEOPLE OTHERWISE INVOLVED OR AFFECTED. PEACEFUL PROTESTING WOULD SERVE A BETTER PURPOSE.
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I would think that local folks would not create destruction of the city they reside in. How foolish would that be.
The local folks did not create destruction. What is being reported is that the people inciting the riots and looting were not from Charlotte but rather came from elsewhere to take advantage of the situation and incite trouble. The people here in Charlotte WERE having a peaceful protest before these subhumans showed up.
It’s not the whole city–in most parts of the city you wouldn’t know anything was going on. It was just University area on Tuesday and then uptown yesterday. The track is well outside the city and nothing at all is going on over there. By the time the race weekend arrives, I’m sure the instigators will be gone. As far as I know, so far nothing has happened today.
I guess that’s one way to generate traffic to the Hall of Fame.
Wonder if this will be considered part of NASCAR’s effort at diversity when the lawsuit goes to trial.
Please consider closing comments on this link FS?
No need to discuss this matter, as everyone is on the same page here. We are about racing & motorsports. There’s no need to induce speculative, insensitive & inflammatory social commentary.
Stay safe everyone…
In reality, this really is no laughing matter. Consider if this gets out of hand and escalates, especially over the next two weeks. That will be when a lot of fans will be going to the Charlotte Speedway for the race weekend. I know the speedway is a fair distance from Charlotte proper, but, what if this does get out of hand? What if these people decide to really bring their issues to the front by disrupting the race weekend? That would seriously jeopardize the safety of a lot of people. Then, what would happen if Bruton and NASCAR were forced to shut the weekend’s events down. Think about that!
Trust me, NASCAR wasn’t targeted the building just happened to be in the area where the problem occurred. If they want to disrupt something they have a football team where they gain mainstream exposure.
I live just outside of Baltimore and you’d have never known anything was going on two springs ago when the riots happened except for the news. The media can make it look like a widespread riot and have you believing the city is under siege when it’s basically a few pockets of mayhem. Granted, if you are in one of those areas you might find yourself in deep $#!+ but it’s not like the riots of the 60’s.
Now I suppose there is always a chance that things could get worse in Charlotte but I’d bet against it.