#1: Welcome to the Dawsonville History Museum, home of the renowned Georgia Racing Hall of Fame!
Established in 2002, our museum stands as a testament to the rich history and passion for racing that runs through the veins of Dawsonville, Georgia. As a non-profit organization, we are dedicated to preserving and showcasing the incredible heritage of motorsports in the region.
Prepare to be captivated as you step into our museum, where a world of racing wonders awaits you. Immerse yourself in the thrilling journey of motorsports through the ages, as we proudly display a vast array of remarkable artifacts and exhibits. Our collection boasts an impressive replica of Red Byron’s legendary 1948 car, which serves as a powerful reminder of the sport’s humble beginnings and the indomitable spirit of its pioneers.
As you explore further, you’ll witness the evolution of the race suit, a testament to the constant drive for safety and performance. Marvel at the HANS device, a revolutionary breakthrough that has played a crucial role in protecting drivers from injury. Take a closer look at the evolution of tires, an often-overlooked but vital component of the racing world.
One of the highlights of our museum is the extraordinary showcase of Gober Sosebee’s Daytona 500 winning Ford, a testament to the triumphs and achievements of local racing heroes. Additionally, we invite you to delve into the fascinating Chase Elliott exhibit, which celebrates the remarkable career of this racing prodigy and his legendary father, Bill Elliott.
But that’s not all – our museum has so much more to offer! From interactive displays to engaging multimedia presentations, we provide a comprehensive experience that will leave you in awe of the motorsports legacy that reverberates through Dawsonville and beyond.
Whether you’re a devoted racing enthusiast or simply intrigued by the indelible mark that motorsports has left on the fabric of our community, a visit to the Dawsonville History Museum is an absolute must. Join us as we pay homage to the past, present, and future of racing, and embark on a journey that will ignite your imagination and leave you with memories to treasure.
#2 Hemphill Station
As you approach the museum, you will see the notable Hemphill Service Station! Hall of Fame inductees, racing pioneers, and successful business owners Raymond Parks, (Dawsonville, GA) of the Hemphill Service Station and Billy Hester, (Atlanta, GA) of the Cherokee Garage, sponsored eight Georgia drivers combined!
#3 Souvenir Shop
No tour of our museum is complete without a souvenir to take home, so please visit the souvenir shop and take a look at our available merchandise.
#4 #98 Maxim Sprint Car
Built for driver Ed Crocker to use for the 2010 Knoxville Nationals. This car ran only 3 events. These events were Oskaloosa Speedway World of Outlaws, 50th Knoxville Nationals, and Carolina Speedway United Sprint Car Series.
#5 Moonshine Car
You will see a 1935 Ford powered Sprint car, driven by Speedy Morelock. This car is powered by a Flathead V8 and was considered a moonshine runner but also ran dirt tracks, 1/2 mile to 1 mile in length in the 1930s and 1940s. This car is on loan from the family of Don Morris.
#6 Dover Tire Display
The NextGen Wheel and Tire from Chase Elliott’s 1st Win of the 2022 NASCAR Cup series Season (Also Chase Elliott’s 1st win in the NextGen Chevy).
The Hendrick team graciously provided BBS of America, Inc. this tire and wheel. The Wheel was originally manufactured by BBS.
Information about the wheel:
Founded in the Black Forest of Germany in 1970, BBS has over 50 years of Motorsport experience. The wheel (Part number RE1948) is 18×12 and weighs 25.8 lbs. Due to the unique opportunity for BBS to become a supplier to NASCAR, we requested the BBS Motorsport engineering team in Germany to reserve the “RE1948” part number for this program, referencing the year that NASCAR was founded and expands on our local history as Red Byron won the very first NASCAR Championship with car owner Raymond Parks. Both are Georgia natives and in our Hall of Fame. BBS deeded the Wheel to the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame in June of 2022.
#7 Biddle and Jody Ridley
This driver from Chatsworth, Georgia, Jody Ridley, picked up around 500 short track victories in his career. Biddle Ridley was also a stock car driver but was his brother Jody’s crew chief as well.
#8 Pit Crew Truck Activity
Bring the children to experience the exhilarating activity of being a pit-crew member here at the museum! Children can enjoy an interactive experience where they can do a mock tire change and even hop inside the truck for a photo op!
#9 First Responders Exhibit
The first responders exhibit pays tribute to the courage and bravery of local & state law enforcement, as well as our local fire & EMS. At the center of the exhibit is a replica of the Ford Galaxie Mayberry patrol car most notably seen on the Andy Griffith Show. This car was owned by the late Captain Herb Emory and loaned to the museum by his wife, Karen. Captain Herb worked for WSB-TV and is known by many Georgia natives for his ‘Eye in the Sky’ traffic reports. On the wall directly behind the patrol car, you’ll see photos and newspaper articles paying tribute to Captain Herb. The Georgia State Patrol, Dawson County Sheriff’s Office, and Dawson County Fire & Rescue have loaned the museum uniforms that are also on display. This exhibit is located next to the library honoring Captain Herb & Jimmy Mosteller.
#10 Jimmy Mosteller and Captain Herb Library
Funded by a grant from Walmart, the Dawsonville History museum library offers racing enthusiasts as well as local history buffs an area to research heritage.
#11 Red Byron Display
1948 was a groundbreaking year for Red Byron, as well as car owner Raymond Parks. The team became the first champion of the newly formed NASCAR series. This victory marked the beginning of a legendary era in American motorsports. The exhibit highlights Byron’s determination, skill, and pioneering spirit, which played a pivotal role in establishing NASCAR as a premier racing organization.
In 1949 Raymond Parks, along with driver Red Byron, continued their dominance in the NASCAR series by securing another championship title. This back-to-back triumph solidified Byron’s status as one of the most successful drivers of his time. The exhibit pays homage to both Byron & Parks.
#12 Welcome to the Stock Car History Theater
You’ve already learned quite a bit about our heritage, so it is no secret that Dawsonville is considered the birthplace of stockcar racing. But let’s go a little further back and learn a little bit about how the revenuers and the moonshiners raced up and down dirt mountain roads back in the day and how that gave rise to some of today’s great stock car family names along the way.
#13 Heritage Room
The Heritage room highlights three predecessors to early sprint cars, Jimmy Baker, Don Morris and Speedy Morelock. Entering the Heritage room, pay close attention to our state emblem on the floor showcasing each historic racetrack throughout the state of Georgia. Also, the Totem Pole in the center of the room shows the distance of each Georgia racetrack from the museum.
#14 The Elliott Family Room
When Erving George Elliott Jr. and Mildred Reece Elliott married in 1943, they had no idea they would become the patriarchs of one of NASCAR’s most iconic racing families.
- Casey Elliott – William “Casey” Elliott was born February 13th, 1974. He was the only son of legendary NASCAR engine builder and crew chief Ernie Elliott and wife, Sheila.
- Bill Elliott – Championship Trophy Case
- Standard Building Supply – The late George Elliott started out with a love of fast Fords and wound up building a racing dynasty. Between his success as a car owner and that of his sons and grandsons as drivers and mechanics, they have successfully established themselves as the first family of Georgia racing.
#15 The Phil Bonner Thunderbolt on Display
This 1964 Al Means Ford Thunderbolt is owned by Preston Bonner of Atlanta, GA. This is one of the first eleven Thunderbolts built at Dearborn Steel Tubing. It has a 427 CID (7..OL) V8 engine, Dual Holley four-barrel carburetors, Borg-Warren T-10 aluminum four-speed transmission and fiberglass doors.
#16 Current Inductee Displays
#17 Dan Elliott
Dan gave up his own driving ambitions, though he did win a consolation race at Dixie Speedway before he stopped, because of his two serious injuries on pit road as a result of being stuck by other drivers. He retired from over-the-wall work in 1991. In 2008, he was named general manager of Gresham Motorsports Park, a track in which his father was once part of the ownership team, and held that position until 2013.
#18 Ernie Elliott Motor Dyno Room
From the earliest days of the Elliott family’s No. 9 Ford, when the cars were hand-me-down and the funding limited, Ernie Elliott was laser focused on building the team into a winner.
#19 Bill Elliott’s Million Dollar Engine Display
1985 Ernie Elliott built this motor for Bill Elliott’s Coors Ford Thunderbird that won the first Winston Million Dollars at Darlington Raceway.
#20 Hall of famer Charlie Burkhalter
This #75 winged car, raced by Charlie Burkhalter, is an ancestor of a “Skeeter race car”, meaning it was cut down from sedans in the 1930s that were raced in the early 1950s to the late 1960s.
#21 The Georgia Racing Hall of Fame
Visit the historic backgrounds of some of racing’s best. From moonshine to NASCAR, Sprint cars, late models etc., walking through in our rotunda, we learn something new every time we visit.
#22 Bill Elliott’s 1st NASCAR Cup Series Win Car
RIVERSIDE RACEWAY IN CALIFORNIA (Nov. 20th, 1983) – Bill Elliott breaks through to claim his first NASCAR win after entering the big-time Winston Cup Series in the mid-1970s. A family owned operation from the Northern Georgia mountains. Not surprisingly, fans took to him almost immediately. For seven seasons Elliott and his family oriented team, led by his brothers Ernie and Dan, showed up at the bigger races. Gradually, they grew competitive, and teased at victory, but checkered flags never came. At least not until NASCAR’s top series headed west in ’83 for the season finale on the hilly, 2.6 mile, 9-turn Riverside road course near San Bernardino. When the 119 lap race began, Elliott’s non-winning streak stood at 115 races.
“I can’t believe it. Can’t believe how things went so much in our favor. I was very concerned at the end. The car was getting close on gas. It had to be almost out. We weren’t getting as good a gas mileage as some of the others. In fact, I ran out before my first pit stop and I could just imagine that happening again at the end and everybody passing me. I told Ernie on the radio, for him and the others boys to pray that I could finish that last lap.”
#23 Chase Elliott’s 1st NASCAR Cup Series Win Car
1st WIN! Watkins Glen (August 5th, 2018) – Chase Elliott claimed his first career NASCAR win in dramatic fashion at Watkins Glen International as he held off defending series champion Martin Truex Jr. down the stretch. He led 52 of the 90 laps en route to the 250th victory for Hendrick Motorsports. Elliott had amassed eight runner-up finished before capturing his first career Cup Series victory in his 99th start – and it came at a road course. His father, NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, also collected eight runner-up finished before his first win, which came at a road course – Riverside International Raceway in 1983.
“Holy cow, what a thrill. I don’t know what to say,” Elliott said in victory lane. “Just so thrilled, so emotional. So much relief.”
#24 Chase Elliott’s Most Popular Driver display
For the fifth year in a row, Chase Elliott is the man of the people as he is the winner of the 2022 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) Most Popular Driver Award in the NASCAR Cup Series.
The 2020 Cup champion becomes just the fifth driver to win the award five or more times in NASCAR’s premier series, joining the likes of Richard Petty (8x), Bobby Allison (8x), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (15x) and Chase’s father, Bill (16x).
#25 The Chase Elliott 2022 Season and Championship Exhibit
Elliott’s four victories tops the series for 2022 and have come at Dover Motor Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Pocono Raceway. He also has 10 top-five finished, 17 top-10s and 688 laps led through the first 25 races – all those marks are the best in the series.
Dover Motor Speedway (May 2, 2022)
Elliott was on the inside of the front row to Chastain, who had the preferred lane, on the final restart of the race. Elliott charged by Chastain when the green waved and wasn’t challenged after that, scoring his 14th career Cup win. “Let’s enjoy it,” Elliott told his team on the radio after the race.
Nashville Superspeedway (June 26, 2022)
In a race twice delayed by lightning, Chase Elliott stole the thunder from a contingent of Toyota drivers who showed early dominance. After a late caution slowed the action in Sunday’s Ally 400, Elliott remained on the track and led the field to a restart with four laps left at Nashville Superspeedway. Elliott pulled away form runner-up Kyle Busch and powered his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet across the finish line with a margin of .551 seconds.
Atlanta Motor Speedway (July 10, 2022)
Chase Elliott won the Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday after Corey LaJoie’s crash on the final lap. It was Elliott’s third Cup Series victory of the season. The Georgia native led 96 of the 260 laps and it’s his first career win at Atlanta Motor Speedway in nine starts.
SRX Finale at Sharon Speedway (July 23, 2022)
Chase Elliott won his second Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) race in as many starts and snapped Tony Stewart’s perfect record on dirt tracks Saturday night at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio. The victory was also the second season finale won by Elliott after finishing just ahead of Stewart at Nashville Fairgrounds last July.
This time they raced on dirt instead of asphalt, but Elliott and Stewart put on another great show in the closing 10 laps, swapping the lead several times as they maneuvered high, then low and threw a series of sliders at one another.
“[It was special] to sit there and race on dirt with one of my heroes, Tony Stewart, and throw a couple of sliders with him,” Elliott told CBS Sports’ Matt Yocum.
Pocono Raceway (July 24, 2022)
Chase Elliott was declared the winner of the M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 at Pocono Raceway after both Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch’s cars failed post-race tech inspection. The victory marked Elliott’s fourth of the 2022 season and was the 17th of his career. It also marks the first time that the winner of a Cup Series race has been disqualified for failing post-race inspection since NASCAR resumed the practice of stripping wins from cars deemed illegal in 2019.
Regular Season Championship Winner (August 21, 2022)
Elliott is the second consecutive Hendrick Motorsports driver to claim the regular season crown. Teammate Kyle Larson took those laurels last year on the way to his first Cup Series title.
2020 NASCAR Cup Series Championship trophy
2020 Championship (November 8th, 2020) – Elliott dominated the playoffs, leading all playoff drivers in laps led (564), points earned (364), stage points (110) and average running position (5.9) in the previous nine post-season races.
His victory came six years to the day after he won the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship. On November 8th, 2014, at 18 years, 11 months and 11 days, Elliott became the youngest Xfinity Series champion when he clinched the title, also at Phoenix Raceway.
Chase became the third-youngest NASCAR Cup Series champion at 24 years, 11 months and 11 days. He and father Bill also became the third father-son duo to win a NASCAR Cup Series title, joining Lee and Richard Petty and Ned and Dale Jarrett. Bill Elliott won the 1988 Cup Series championship while driving the No. 9 car.
“All you can dream for is an opportunity,” Elliott said. “I’ve been very fortunate to have that over the year. You know, and that’s all thanks to some great people. My parents obviously have played a huge role. So many people to thank. Mr. Hendrick, for taking a chance on me and believing in me when a lot of people didn’t. I think it really says a lot about him. And then to have a championship sponsor like NAPA, all of our partners, and Chevrolet, huge thanks to Team Hendrick and everybody at our shop that peaked at the right time. That’s all we can ask for.”
#26 Gober Sosebee
Four Dawsonville drivers – Gober Sosebee, Roy Hall, Lloyd Seay and Bernard Long – won races on Daytona’s beach/road course from 1941-1959. During the 1940s, 12 of those 15 races were won either by drivers or owners hailing from the small community. NASCAR Hall of Fame (2017 class member) Raymond Parks, a Dawsonville native, owned the car in which Red Byron won the inaugural NASCAR premier series championship. Elliott became the fifth Daytona winner among the “Dawsonville Gang” when he won the 1985 Daytona 500.
#27 Buck Baker
The 1957 Chevrolet 150 Black Widow was driven by NASCAR driver Buck Baker. This was the first Chevrolet to win a Grand National (now Monster Energy) Championship title. This car won 10 races and $30,000 in winnings in 1957. Buck Baker won 46 races in his career and was the #1 driver of the 1950s.
#28 Bill’s Wrecked Car
On April 26, 1998, Bill Elliott was involved in a significant wreck at Talladega Superspeedway. The incident occurred during the DieHard 500.
During the race, Elliott’s car, the No. 94 McDonald’s Ford Thunderbird, was caught in a multi-car accident. The wreck happened on lap 157 of the 188-lap race, and it involved approximately 20 cars.
Elliott’s car was running near the front of the pack when another driver, Geoff Bodine, made contact with his car. The impact caused Elliott’s car to spin out of control and become airborne. The car flipped multiple times in mid-air before crashing hard into the catch fence above the retaining wall.
Bill Elliott’s wreck at the DieHard 500 remains one of the memorable incidents in NASCAR history and serves as a reminder of the constant focus on driver safety in motorsports.
#29 Jack Smith
Jack Smith’s 1960 Pontiac. This car was built for 2003 GFHOF inductee, Jack Smith to test drive on the new Atlanta International Raceway (now AMS). He drove on one lane of asphalt with no guard rail. He would drive this car again at AMS in July, bur lost the race to Fireball Roberts. This is also one of the last surviving cars from the first Charlotte World 600 Race in May of 1960.
#30 1:64 Mini Transporter Display
NASCAR 1:64 scale diecast mini transporters are a specific subset of diecast vehicles that focus on the sport of NASCAR. These mini transporters are highly detailed replicas of the trucks and trailers used by NASCAR teams to transport their race cars to different tracks.
These diecast mini transporters typically feature authentic team logos, sponsor decals, and other markings seen on the actual NASCAR transporters. They often come with opening doors, functional ramps, and other moveable parts to enhance play value. Collectors appreciate the attention to detail and accuracy in replicating the real-life transporters. Stop by and check out our collection today!
In memory of Don Waldrip.
#31 The Evolution of the Racing Tire
See the evolution of racing tires throughout the years.
#32 Bubba Wallace
Bubba Wallace piloted the No. 11 Columbia Sportswear Toyota Tundra on the dirt track at Bristol. Bubba gave the Camping World Truck Series another shot with Spencer Davis Motorsports in collaboration with Hattori Racing Enterprises. Wallace finished 11th in the #11 truck.
#33 Chandler Smith
Georgia native truck series driver of KBM Motorsports with trophy display.
#34 Ronnie Sanders Trophy Exhibit with Late Model Car
From Fayetteville, GA, Ronnie Sanders led the Winston Racing Series national standings for much of the 1982 season and finished with 22 wins in 55 starts and 40 top-five finishes at NASCAR’s Grand American tracks throughout the Southeast.
#35 Evolution of the Uniform
The evolution of the racing suit also includes the integration of advanced technologies. Some racing suits now incorporate sensors that monitor vital signs, providing real-time data to the pit crew and medical staff in case of an accident. These suits may also have built-in hydration systems to keep drivers hydrated during long races.
Moreover, aerodynamics has become a key consideration in racing suit design. Streamlined contours and strategically placed panels help reduce drag and improve overall performance. The incorporation of advanced materials, such as carbon fiber, in certain areas of the suit has also contributed to enhanced aerodynamics.
Overall, the racing suit has evolved from a basic leather garment to a sophisticated piece of equipment that prioritizes driver safety, comfort, and performance. The constant innovation in materials, design, and technology continues to push the boundaries of what is possible, ensuring that drivers have the best protection and functionality during high-speed races.