Ben Franklin would have balked at hall of fame funding

I’m just not sure this is what our founding fathers had in mind.

Reading the stories about Charlotte’s bid to entice the proposed NASCAR Hall of Fame, it quickly becomes clear that the taxpayers are in for quite a ride - again. The other cities still in this particular NASCAR race also appear all too willing to spend the taxpayers' money to claim the coveted hall.

Private-public partnership my eye.

Those founding fathers would be appalled at the costly coziness of today’s public officials and the France family’s extremely profitable racing companies.

I always figured Ben Franklin would have been an open-wheel racing fan anyway, so he wouldn't have backed a NASCAR hall. Probably a Formula One guy, given his fondness for things French and otherwise European.

But John Hancock - he of the signature rivaled only by Richard Petty's for it's flair and sheer enormity - and George Washington?

They’d have been Mark Martin fans.

Still, even the most dedicated stock car racing fan of any era has to wonder: Why are city, county and state governments so eager to foot the bill to build and maintain a NASCAR Hall of Fame while the primary beneficiaries - the France family – would have only to keep cashing checks?

I mean, come on, they're already one of the country's wealthiest families. Do they really need our help?

It’s much the same way the Frances run their race track business, International Speedway Corp. Proposed speedways in Washington state and near New York City are expected to costs hundreds of millions of dollars, if they’re ever built.

The public is being asked to cover all but a fraction of those costs, then lease the new tracks to ISC. That way, if NASCAR wants to “realign” the schedule and take races away from those places, the company won’t be stuck. The taxpayers will.

Yeah, I know, a NASCAR Hall of Fame would be neat. And our governments are likely to waste the money anyway. And, sure, I’d much rather see my taxes being spent on race tracks and halls of fame than on many of those other things governments deem necessary.

And, yeah, I think Charlotte is the best place for a stock car racing hall.

But I agree with the editorial writer with the Journal & Constitution in Atlanta, one of the other cities vying for the hall.

The problem is that Atlanta and the state contemplate spending $30 million in taxpayer money to help build a $92 million edifice for NASCAR, a family business that could well afford to finance construction itself. Yes, encourage the France family, which owns NASCAR, to bring the hall to Atlanta. ...

But say no to a $30 million handout.

Meanwhile, back in Charlotte, officials who appear willing to spend even more than Atlanta have proposed making NASCAR founder William Getty "Big Bill" France Sr. and his wife the first inductees.

The Charlotte Observer's Scott Dodd notes that France's grandson, Brian, is running the NASCAR show now. Three other Frances, including Big Bill's sons and granddaughter, sit on the five-person governing board.

So offering to honor Bill France and his wife first makes good sense for a city trying to win NASCAR's nod of approval over four competitors.

Me? I think transfering tens of millions of taxpayer dollars directly into the Frances' bank accounts would amount to sufficient homage.