Monday, June 05, 2000
Hotel geared to race fans
Days of thunder, nights of slumber
By Kristina Goetz
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The speedway room features real race cars as seats.
(Patrick Reddy photos)
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FLORENCE — Racing fans who can't attend the grand opening of the Kentucky Speedway on June 16 might find a room at the Wildwood Inn a close second.
“The cars have no engines, they're fiberglass, but we tell people, "Here, you can sleep in the middle of the race,'” said Wildwood Inn owner Tom Kelly.
The hotel on U.S. 42 is not your basic, overnight lodging.
The inn's new “Pit Spa” is complete with an authentic show car in the middle of the room.
The hood of another race car jumps out of the wall and almost into the back end of the bed.
“You just have to see it to really get the best picture,” said Troy Crook, general manager of the hotel.
Bathroom in the speedway room.
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With the movie Days of Thunder blaring on the surround sound, a couple of hundred people toured the grand opening of the room over the weekend.
Some sat in the back end of a third car that faces a giant television screen and gazed at the racing memorabilia. An autographed Richard Petty helmet is encased in glass on top of a Craftsman tool caddy.
Thousands of fans in the Wildwood Speedway grandstand cheer from the walls in wallpaper designed by a local company.
Because of NASCAR and Kentucky Speedway trademarks, the hotel had to create its own markings on the cars, but that isn't turning visitors away.
“We love it,” said Lisa Chambers of Dayton, Ky., who took a tour Sunday. “It's like being at the race.”
Jerry Carroll, Kentucky Speedway co-owner and developer, said he hadn't heard about the new themed room in Florence, but said it shows the growing popularity of the sport. “It's everywhere you go,” he said.
As for the room itself, he added, “There are worse things that could happen, I guess.”
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