Sports & Motorsports

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From Race Cars to Rebounds

From the roar of the engines to the roar of the crowd, North Carolina is the backdrop for some of the most iconic sights and sounds of the sporting world. If it’s a game people play, the odds are good you can find it in NC.

North Carolina is home to the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats, and the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, who brought the Stanley Cup to North Carolina in 2006. In college basketball, NC’s teams are always among the best, producing 36 Final Four appearances and nine NCAA Championships, along with one of the sport’s most heated rivalries between the Duke Blue Devils and the North Carolina Tar Heels. In the warmer months, NC plays host to the boys of summer, as minor league baseball covers the North Carolina countryside from Asheville to Zebulon.

Then, of course, there’s NASCAR. The entire sport of stock car racing has its roots firmly planted in North Carolina’s red clay, and you’ll find race shops and racetracks (including the venerable Lowe’s Motor Speedway) all over the state.  In 2010, NC will cement its place in racing lore by opening up the NASCAR Hall Of Fame in Uptown Charlotte.