Racing is a sport that thrives in the moment. The last-second pass, the scramble on the pit stop, the heartbreak of the engine that revs to its limit and then suddenly gives way. These are all moments that determine the fates of drivers and teams.

The thrills of a race may be here and gone in an instant, but motorsports museums capture and preserve those moments in time for future generations to enjoy. They are places where the race never ends. Special race cars, memorabilia, and driver accomplishments can be revisited and appreciated again and again.

Of course, motorsports museums have their own races to run. Race cars, motorcycles, and marine craft compete against each other for position, but museums compete for attention in a world with unlimited choices and short attention spans.

"When you think of motorsports and you think of museums, there's an inherent conflict," said George Levy of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA), at Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida. "Museums tend to be static and quiet. Motorsports is noisy and about movement. We're always looking for ways to better convey the full impact of motorsports."

The museum sources we spoke with employed a number of strategies for muscling their way to the front of the public's consciousness.

"Like any other museum out there, you're an attraction, and you're asking people to give both their time and their money to come and spend their day with you," said Kara Kovert Pray, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, Indianapolis, Indiana.

Although the IMS Museum is a separate, non-profit entity from the track, responsible for its own revenue and maintenance of its collection, proximity to the world-famous race track is an undeniable advantage. "We are fortunate because about 300 or so days a year, if you were to come out to the track, the only thing to do on a visit would be to come out to the museum. We really pride ourselves on serving as that welcome center for the track. And seeing the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a bucket list item for a lot of people."

The IMS Museum recently leveraged its Speedway connection and donor goodwill into a 17-month, $60.5 million renovation, adding 40,000 square feet of space and additional attractions in the process. The museum reopened on April 2, 2025, after closing in November 2023 when the project began.

Another motorsports museum that is in expansion mode in a bid to attract new visitors is the Museum of American Speed in Lincoln, Nebraska. "It's hard to see it in a day," said Tim Matthews. "We just recently went through an expansion. We built onto the building. We went from about 195,000 square feet to 300,000 square feet with the addition of that buildout."

Hands On

Motorsports museums have plenty of historic race cars and memorabilia on static display, but the trend is toward hands-on, immersive displays to keep visitors engaged.

One of the popular new attractions at the IMS Museum is the Starting Line Experience, which gives guests a feel for what it's like on race day morning, Pray reported. "It starts at about 5 a.m., before the cannon goes off, as the crew is gathering, and then continues on up to the green flag of the race. It's an immersive video experience. The screen starts in front of you and stretches all the way above you. Three cars in that room are representative of the front row of the most recent Indianapolis 500," she said. "Guests can watch the seven-minute video presentation, and that is really not even doing it justice to call it a video presentation. We've heard it gives chills, thrills, goosebumps, tears, everything when people can experience that."

At the MSHFA, people gravitate toward attractions they can touch and engage with. "One thing that is incredibly popular is a current-generation Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops stock car that Toyota Gazoo Racing was nice enough to loan us," Levy said. "But this is one that they cut a door in after its useful life, so our guests can get in and take a selfie of themselves in a stock car. As simple as that is, on busy days there will be a line waiting to get into that car.

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