The Board of Directors of the Kentucky Motorsports Hall of Fame announced last week the Hall of Fame will be relocating from downtown Owensboro to Central City in Muhlenberg County.
In partnership with the Central City Tourism Commission, the plans for the project include converting some of the space at the Muhlenberg County Music Museum into exhibit space for the Hall of Fame.
Board members Cooper Hayden and Army Armstrong said they wanted to stress that only the Hall of Fame is moving away from the Owensboro Museum of Science and History, not the SpeedZeum.
“It was important to the board that the Hall of Fame has the opportunity to expand,” Hayden said. “At the SpeedZeum, it’s not a large area. We were grateful for the space, but after six years we need the room to grow.”
Prior to Owensboro, the Hall of Fame was in Elizabethtown and Louisville.
“I hate to see it leave Owensboro,” Hayden said. “I was inducted to 2016, so I’m invested in the Hall of Fame. But I also have a loyalty to the SpeedZeum. I don’t think the Hall of Fame leaving is going to hurt it.”
Hayden said people in Central City have other contacts in the stock car racing world and they already have some vehicles in mind they want to get displayed.
“We are taking the cars from other parts of the state that have won national and world championships,” Armstrong said. “They will be the star cars down there, where here all the star cars are local.”
The move will take a few days, but Armstrong said the board is hoping to be open on Labor Day weekend.
Armstrong said he thinks Central City is one of the best kept secrets in western Kentucky. He is excited for the change and the opportunity for more people to learn about motorsports history in Kentucky.
The new Hall of Fame is going to represent all motorsports — including boating and monster trucks — from across the state.
“They are really, in my opinion, very passionate about getting this done and are actively promoting it,” Hayden said. “I can’t see the Hall of Fame do anything other than benefit from this interest. We are all trying to do what we think is best for the future of the Hall of Fame.”
