
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, January 26, 1995                   TAG: 9501260125
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

AUTO RACING MUSEUM GETS COMMITTEE OK

A House of Delegates committee Wednesday endorsed a bill naming the proposed Wood Brothers Racing Museum and Virginia Motorsports Hall of Fame as ``the official motorsports museum of the commonwealth.''

The General Laws Committee sent the bill to the House floor after a brief public hearing in which the bill's sponsor, Del. Roscoe Reynolds of Martinsville, was the only speaker.

Reynolds, a Democrat, also has submitted a budget amendment to appropriate $500,000 from the Division of Tourism budget for the museum. He said getting the money ``won't be an easy task,'' in part because Gov. George Allen has proposed 50 percent cuts in state subsidies for other museums.

Reynolds said the museum would be built on U.S. 58 near the Patrick County Industrial Park in Stuart. He noted that nearly all of the top NASCAR race teams, and many top tracks, are located within a 200-mile radius of the site.

He said tourism officials have projected as many as 300,000 people could visit the museum annually, making it one of the state's top 25 attractions.

Glen Wood, owner of the Wood Brothers racing team, appeared with Reynolds at the hearing. Reynolds called the Woods ``one of the first families of racing,'' ranking in the same category as the Pettys and the Allisons.

Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1995

by CNB