The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California, announced the opening of its new interactive exhibit hall, Gallery of Speed. It vividly recreates historical moments in American motorsports and car culture. The exhibit hall features five new focal areas: the origins of hot rodding, land speed racing, the early days of the NHRA and the influence of custom car design. The eye-opening exhibit offers a unique collection of historical vehicles, artifacts, interactive touchscreens, images, oral histories and life-sized sculptures designed by Weldon Exhibits.

The exhibit is designed to be a fun learning experience sprinkled with hands-on activities and touchscreens. Visitors can customize their own hot rod, learn the “language of hot rodding” and listen to candid stories from NHRA Founder Wally Parks and other legends. “We wanted to develop a new approach to learning about the history of hot rodding, motorsports and the individuals who influenced American car culture,” said Greg Sharp, curator of the NHRA Motorsports Museum. “I believe that the new Gallery of Speed will capture the visitor’s imagination and inspire all ages for years to come. It’s an exhibit our founder, Wally Parks, would be very proud of.”

The museum was created by a group of long-time NHRA staff members led by founder Wally Parks, for whom the museum was renamed on his 90th birthday. The Automobile Club of Southern California stepped in as the presenting sponsor of the museum. Steve Gibbs, now a retired vice president of NHRA, led the team that reconditioned a WPA-constructed 28,500-square-foot (2,650 m2) building on the grounds of the Fairplex to house the museum, which opened to the public on April 4, 1998.

The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum is located at 1101 W. McKinley Ave. in Pomona, California on the Fairplex grounds.

“Here we will begin to tell the stories of the great American hot rod, and those who built and raced them, in a new light. We will not only celebrate the cars, but the people, the engineering and the sheer audacity of those who pushed the limits in their pursuit of speed.” —Larry Fisher, NHRA museum executive director (pictured above)