Buz
McKim is the
Historian at the new NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte. McKim served as director of
archives for International Speedway Corporation and then as coordinator
of statistical services for NASCAR.
This website from his many
friends is designed to "keep up with" Buz and all his new adventures in
the Carolinas. Buz is a cherished friend and he leaves behind many who
depended on his knowledge, enthusiasm and that effervescent smile.
Buz will respond to his Blog
so we can keep up with he and his wife, Gwen, who we will miss just as
much.
Click Here to see Buz on the Wind Tunnel Show with Dave Depain
Click BACK to return
Buz Wuz! See him as a race
car driver! Click Here!
Keeping
track
By Dustin Long The Roanoke Times
AUGUST 14, 2008
Buz McKim is the man in charge of stocking the
display cases in NASCAR's Hall Fame.
SOMEWHERE IN CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Buz McKim
pilots his SUV on a winding path away from the city's skyscrapers to
a non-descript brick building.
Road construction alters his route, not fear of
being followed. Yet, the building's location remains secret because
of its valuable stash.
Once there, McKim unlocks a door to enter the
building and faces a second door.
"Look at this," he says, as he unlocks and opens
the second door.
|
Photos by SCOTT HOFFMAN
Greensboro (N.C.) News-Record Buz McKim has the
responsibility of accumulating the artifacts and
memorabilia that will be on display when the NASCAR Hall
of Fame opens in 2010.
Greensboro (N.C.) News-Record Lloyd Moore
received this collage from his family after he retired
from NASCAR racing. |
Here, in a windowless space the size of a
conference room, NASCAR history resides.
McKim is its caretaker. The historian for the
NASCAR Hall of Fame searches for racing artifacts and stores some
here until the Hall is constructed.
Consider McKim the Indiana Jones of NASCAR
history minus the chases and fedora.
Like the movie character Harrison Ford made
famous, McKim uses ingenuity and gusto to find historic objects.
Like Jones, McKim has an enemy, but McKim's foe is time. Although
the Hall won't open until spring 2010, the interior design team
needs to know within six months what McKim has, so displays can be
built for those objects.
The Hall, which will be near the heart of
Charlotte, will have about 40,000 square feet of exhibit space and
showcase about two dozen cars. It's the smaller items, though, that
McKim searches for, making phone calls and trekking across the
Southeast.
This is a job the 56-year-old has waited his
whole life for, notes his mom on a Web site friends made for McKim.
He's never been far from racing. His father was a track announcer.
McKim raced briefly and later designed the paint schemes for the
Daytona 500-winning cars of David Pearson and Benny Parsons.
But it was days at the Museum of Speed, located a
short drive from Daytona International Speedway, that had the most
impact on McKim. He was a museum volunteer at age 13. McKim studied
the vehicles, relished their history and admired their drivers,
fueling his passion.
Those feelings remain. As he recently showed
items that could be displayed in NASCAR's Hall of Fame, McKim
introduced many items by saying, "I love this" and then explained
their significance. This treasure trove features items NASCAR fans
can appreciate.
There's a Bobby Allison racing uniform under
plastic and hanging on a wall. Nearby is pair of dirt-stained white
pants Fireball Roberts wore when he raced. There's Marvin Panch's
1956 contract with Ford that called for him to receive 60 percent of
his race winnings as a driver and $500 per month as a mechanic.
Today's top drivers make about $7 million per season before figuring
in a percentage of race winnings and merchandise sales.
Among the items McKim brings to the building is a
red helmet that Bill Elliott wore earlier this decade. McKim places
it near a collection of racing seats. One seat was made for Alan
Kulwicki, who was to have picked it up the day after he returned
from the Bristol spring race in 1993. Kulwicki died in a plane crash
heading to that track. That seat is near a box that includes a pair
of wingtip shoes Dave Marcis wore when he raced.
Newer items such as Elliott's helmet aren't hard
to find. Many drivers don't part with as many belongings as
competitors from earlier generations did, selling their items for
needed money. Fire destroyed other collections.
The older items intrigue McKim. He seeks objects
from many competitors, including Curtis Turner and Joe Weatherly,
and also looks for items from long deceased tracks such as those in
the North Carolina cities of North Wilkesboro and Greensboro.
McKim wants personal items, things that drivers
or car owners touched or were a part of cars, pieces with a special
story to tell.
Such as Ray Fox's watches. Fox was a car owner
from 1962-74 and had seven of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers race for
him: Junior Johnson, David Pearson, Buck
Baker, Buddy Baker, Fred Lorenzen, LeeRoy Yarborough and Cale Yarborough.
Fox had watches made for his team in 1963 when
Johnson drove. The silver watch was shaped like a steering wheel.
Its face had a No. 3 in the middle -- the car number -- and a
cartoon Fox on it. Only problem was that the watches were stolen
before the team received them.
McKim found one with the help of a collector,
marking an item off his wish list to find. That list remains long.
McKim's "Holy Grail" is a gold-plated NASCAR membership card -- card
No. 1. That's the one Bill France Sr., gave Red Vogt, a co-founder
of NASCAR.
"I'd love to find that," McKim says. "It's
disappeared."
McKim has spent eight years searching for it, but
like Indiana Jones, not all paths lead where one expects. McKim
recalls a time when he was told NASCAR had a truckload of
confiscated parts that he could have for the Hall.
"We went up there salivating ... opened the door
and there were like four pieces left," he says. "Someone had hauled
everything off.
"People can say, 'I got this' and 'I got that'
but until we can actually see it, touch it or at least get a picture
we can't take anything for granted."
So, McKim keeps searching, collecting and
dropping items off at this building. As McKim leaves, he locks both
doors, heads back in his SUV and slips through traffic back toward
the city where rising from a dirt floor soon will be NASCAR's Hall
and its treasures.
Motorsports Authentics,
Sirius launch program
aimed at NASCAR
collectors
CONCORD,
N.C. and NEW YORK, N.Y.
(Aug. 25, 2007) –
Motorsports Authentics,
the leader in the
design, promotion,
marketing and
distribution of licensed
motorsports merchandise,
and SIRIUS Satellite
Radio, the Official
Satellite Radio Partner
of NASCAR, announced
today the creation of
NASCAR Collector,
a new one-hour weekly
radio show that will
focus on the NASCAR
collector and fans with
special interests in
racing memorabilia.
NASCAR Collector
debuted Saturday,
August 25 (8:00 – 9:00
am ET) and will air
Saturday mornings
throughout the year
exclusively on SIRIUS
NASCAR Radio channel
128. Show hosts Tim
Packman,
Buzz McKim
and Tim Trout will
provide NASCAR racing
expertise, collectable
information and value
insight, and listeners
will be encouraged to
call in and talk about
his or her favorite
die-cast or NASCAR
souvenir. With 24
percent of NASCAR fans
purchasing collectables,
this show promises to be
the ultimate avenue for
fans to tell their
favorite stories, share
their beloved treasures
and learn about new
limited edition
merchandise and
collectable lines, their
release dates and the
retail outlets where
these concepts can
become a collectable.
“At Motorsports
Authentics our mission
is to connect NASCAR
fans to their sport
through an expansive
array of exciting
products,” said Mark
Dyer, Motorsports
Authentics’ president
and CEO. “The world of
diecast and other
collectables has long
needed a forum such as
NASCAR Collector to
provide fans with an
avenue to talk about
vintage die-cast models
and discuss NASCAR
products and memorabilia
of all types. We are
very excited to team
with SIRIUS to bring
this new and exciting
show to NASCAR die-cast
and memorabilia
collectors all across
the country.”
McKim, a
historian for the NASCAR
Hall of Fame,
which is scheduled to
open in the spring of
2010, has spent his
entire life in auto
racing and has become
known as one of the
foremost authorities on
NASCAR and its colorful
history. Trout,
editor of Beckett
Racing, has quickly
become the expert voice
on all things
collectable. Packman,
the show’s main host,
grew up around short
tracks and began his
motorsports broadcasting
career at Lancaster
Speedway. He’s been
involved with NASCAR
since 1995 working for
CBS, TNT and TNN
Motorsports. He began
working for MRN Radio as
a pit reporter in 2005
and is a host on the
SIRIUS NASCAR Radio Post
Race show.
SIRIUS NASCAR Radio
channel 128 provides
comprehensive, in-depth
coverage of NASCAR 24
hours a day, 365 days a
year, giving listeners
every race and
everything in between,
with live race calls,
pre- and post-race
coverage, and a lineup
of exclusive daily talk
shows providing
up-to-the-minute news,
expert analysis and
exclusive interviews
with NASCAR insiders.
“NASCAR fans are among
the most passionate fans
in sports and that
enthusiasm is clearly
displayed in their
fondness for memorabilia
and collectibles,” said
Steve Cohen, SIRIUS’
Vice President of Sports
Programming. “We’re very
pleased to partner with
the memorabilia experts
at Motorsports
Authentics to provide a
show where NASCAR fans
can talk about their
favorite items and get
the kind of expert
insight that they can’t
find anywhere else.”
As
the Official Satellite
Radio Partner of NASCAR,
SIRIUS airs every NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup Series,
NASCAR Busch Series and
NASCAR Craftsman Truck
Series race live. In
addition to the live
race broadcast, SIRIUS
takes fans into the cars
and pits by providing 10
additional Driver2Crew
Chatter™ channels that
carry the driver-to-pit
crew communications for
10 different race teams
during every NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup Series race.
About Motorsports
Authentics, Inc.
Motorsports Authentics,
Inc. is the leader in
the design, promotion,
marketing and
distribution of licensed
motorsports merchandise.
The company’s products
include a broad range of
motorsports-related
die-cast replica
collectibles, apparel,
souvenirs and other
sports-inspired
memorabilia. Motorsports
Authentics markets and
distributes product
through a variety of
channels including their
Authorized Dealer
network, the Racing
Collectables Club of
America (RCCA), QVC,
GoRacing.com, Trackside
at racing events, direct
corporate promotions,
mass retail and
department stores,
specialty dealers and
select online retailers.
For more information
about Motorsports
Authentics, please visit
the Web site at
www.motorsports-authentics.com.
About
SIRIUS,
SIRIUS, “The Best Radio
on Radio,” delivers more
than 130 channels of the
best programming in all
of radio. SIRIUS is the
original and only home
of 100% commercial free
music channels in
satellite radio,
offering 69 music
channels. SIRIUS also
delivers 65 channels of
sports, news, talk,
entertainment, traffic,
weather and data. SIRIUS
is the Official
Satellite Radio Partner
of the NFL, NASCAR and
NBA, and broadcasts live
play-by-play games of
the NFL and NBA, as well
as live NASCAR races.
NASCAR HALL OF FAME AT CAREER DAY
FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS!
Friday, September 28, 2007
Automechanika event expected to attract 3000 students.
With racing cars and special events,
speakers and special presentations, employer interview areas and
tire change competitions, the FREE Career Day at
Automechanika Canada/CarFixWORLD is expected to be a major
opportunity for young people and unemployed youth to learn about the
benefits of a career in motive power.
Now, NASCAR’s Hall of Fame Historian,
Buz McKim
will be a special guest speaker to students twice that morning.
Author of the “NASCAR Vault” and a former racer and automotive
artist, he has been involved with NASCAR most of his life. Buz has
some great stories to tell and events to show. From drawing a crowd
of 14,000 at NASCAR’s debut race in 1948, to attracting a television
audience of over 33 million at the 2004 Daytona 500- making it the
world’s most watched motorsports event, the NASCAR experience comes
alive with Buz McKim as your guide to experience the crowds
getting bigger, the cars becoming faster and the stakes growing
sky-high.
Canada
Skills-Ontario, CARS Council, apprenticesearch.com, OYAP,
apprenticeship presentations and opportunities will be featured in
the September 28th Career Day morning events. Employers
are invited to conduct employment interviews at the show being held
at the International Centre,
Airport Road,
Mississauga.
Watch out for the hourly airbag
detonation demonstrations!
Show hours:
Wednesday, September 26th
10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Thursday, September 27th
12noon to 8:00 p.m.
Friday, September 28th
(Career Day) 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
FREE ParkingStudents are invited to attend
this event on Friday only
Please contact 1-866-309-4272 or e-mail
info@ciia.com to registration
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CRVA hires two for NASCAR Hall of Fame
The
Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority has added Leslie Horne and
Albert "Buz" McKim to the staff of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Horne will
be sales and marketing manager, and McKim joins as historian.
"Horne's experience and dedication working with sponsorships,
major-league sports teams and facility projects will be a key asset to
our efforts," says Winston Kelley, executive director of the hall of
fame. "McKim's thorough NASCAR experience and expertise of the sport,
its history and those who work in the industry is the perfect
combination of skills that we needed for our historian position."
Horne comes to the hall of fame with more than 12 years experience in
sports marketing, including stints with franchise members of the NFL,
Major League Baseball, the NBA and various motorsports entities, as well
as international assignments in the United Kingdom and Australia.
Horne's most recent post was as senior project manager with IMG/Muhleman
Marketing Inc.
McKim was born into an auto-racing family, and he attempted a brief
driving career. But he found his niche in designing paint schemes and
painting the numbers on the cars, which fit his artistic and creative
talents. In 2004, McKim collaborated with writer and fellow NASCAR
employee Herb Branham to create the book, NASCAR Vault.
As historian, McKim will work with Ralph Appelbaum Associates in the
development of exhibits, artifacts, and video and audio documentation.
The $154.5 million NASCAR Hall of Fame, scheduled to open in late
2009 or early 2010 near the Charlotte Convention Center, will be
operated and marketed by the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority.
