Belle Island Village Announces Key Elements of 'Darrell Waltrip Racing Experience' in Pigeon Forge to Open Fall 2008

PIGEON FORGE, Tenn., May 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Belle Island Village -- along with three-time NASCAR Cup Champion and FOX Sports analyst Darrell Waltrip and fellow motor sports veteran Jeff Hammond -- announced today key components of the Darrell Waltrip Racing Experience, scheduled to open in fall 2008 at Belle Island's themed development, located in the heart of Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

The new $5 million, 27,000-square-foot racing-themed attraction promises to place visitors in the driver's seat with diverse and highly interactive components showcasing the racing experience from all vantage points of today's motor speedway.

    Included in the Darrell Waltrip Racing Experience, visitors will find:

     - a variety of racecar simulators integrating virtual reality
     - competition remote-controlled cars that race around a mini-Bristol
       Motor Speedway replica
     - an interactive theater and a soundstage with an actual studio-quality
       media set, hardwired to allow either live television production with
       editing capabilities or guests' interactive fun, such as seeing what it
       is like to sit in Darrell Waltrip's studio chair on race day
     - interactive pit crew area with images of Darrell Waltrip and his former
       Crew Chief Jeff Hammond
     - both permanent and rotating exhibits, such as a variety of actual stock
       cars that have won racing events
     - an exhibit that commemorates the history of stock car racing
     - an "Infield Experience"
     - a gift shop and a Victory Lane arcade with the latest in NASCAR and
       racing-related games

"Anyone who isn't a die-hard racing fan when they get here will be when they leave," Waltrip said. "We're making sure this place is a true 'experience,' including the sights, sounds, smells, atmosphere, motion and intensity of racing that give people an opportunity to know what it feels like to be part of a real stock car race, from a lot of different perspectives."

According to Waltrip, it will take the average guest approximately two and a half hours to see all of the attraction, given the range of components within the facility.

"This facility spotlights all aspects of the racing world -- from the mind-numbing force of going around a turn at more than 200 miles per hour to attempting to change tires in less than 15 seconds, to being inside the announcer's booth calling a race," Waltrip said.

Past and present racecar drivers, crew chiefs, announcers and team owners will make appearances several times a year at the Darrell Waltrip Racing Experience to bring the world of motor sports even closer to visitors.

"Our goal here is to entertain and educate the 'hard core' racing fan while reaching out and getting the casual fan involved and excited about this sport, too," Hammond said. "This venture has been a real collaborative effort to achieve much more than just showing authentic racing memorabilia or career highlights. We want to bring even more people to the sport -- or, in many ways, bring the sport to them."

A few of Darrell Waltrip's NASCAR accomplishments include 809 starts, 84 victories, 59 pole positions, being the only five-time winner of the Coca-Cola 600, receiving the Most Popular Driver Award in 1989 and 1990, being named NASCAR Driver of the Decade -- 1980s and being a three-time NASCAR champion.

Hammond's 30-plus year career began in 1974, and after becoming one of the best jackmen in the business, Hammond served on all three of driver Cale Yarborough's Winston Cup championship seasons. When Darrell Waltrip took over for Yarborough in 1981, the team won yet another championship. In the 1980s, two more championships followed, and 43 wins as a crew chief placed Hammond in the record books as one of NASCAR's all-time great crew chiefs.

"Including two racing legends of Darrell's and Jeff's caliber represents a big part of Belle Island Village's plans to be one of the top themed destinations in the United States," said Belle Island Village Developer Glen Bilbo. "We are delighted knowing that both Darrell and Jeff will be hands-on with this development going forward in a way that will be especially meaningful to their fans and to Belle Island Village's visitors."

Belle Island Village is a $114 million, 26-acre, pedestrian-friendly development, themed as a retail, hospitality and entertainment village.

In addition to Darrell Waltrip's Racing Experience, another main attraction incorporates the much-anticipated permanent location of the Debbie Reynolds Hollywood Motion Picture Museum-a multi-million dollar Hollywood memorabilia collection estimated to be the largest private collection in the world. A recent addition to Belle Island's growing list of family-friendly attractions includes Otter Cove, produced in partnership with the Knoxville Zoo.