Inside the new NASCAR evolution exhibit at Savoy Museum

It's almost 10 30 here. NASCAR's biggest stars are heading to Georgia right now preparing to take on the Echo Park Speedway in Hampton this weekend. But before you head down to see them, you might want to take a side trip to Cartersville where one of a kind museum is celebrating the evolution of NASCAR. Good day Atlantis. Paul Milliken is live at the Savoy Automobile Museum this morning. And Paul, you're taking us all the way back in time. Yes. Yeah, it's been amazing this morning. So if you've been watching in every hour, we've been moving through the decades, tracing the evolution of NASCAR. So now we're getting up to modern days. And Eric and Joanne, I sort of need your help on this because you're both so much older than I am. You know, I'm young. I'm still in my early 20s right now. And I know you guys have have been there, done that many, many, many, many years ago. And so I just was curious if, you know, the older you get, you know, you start to think, well, maybe I can't accomplish this or that. Well, this car right here, this will give you hope that age ain't nothing but a number. So, Mary, come on in. Tell me about this car and what makes this driver special. Well, this guy started racing when he was 39. Yeah. He owns Phoenix Air, which is here in Cartersville. And they do like medical evacuation flights. They also train military pilots. So he's a pilot. So at 39, he decides to race. He races ARCA full time. He's running his business. He's flying about a thousand hours a year. So he even said in retrospect, he didn't know how he did it. So he goes through the years. He's in ARCA. He goes, he has a really bad accident. He then becomes a team owner, dabbles back and forth into the sides. He's going to give it one last shot. And so in 2018, he qualifies to drive the Daytona 500. Wow. He finishes 22nd. However, he is 66 years old. He is the oldest driver to finish the Daytona 500. That is the coolest story at 66 years old. Beautiful car, too. And this is another one that just proves every car you have in this gallery, they were all really raced. There are no replicas, as you said, because the other side of this is really scratched up. Well, that's where you banked it all up. You don't have to call me out, Mary. So we go. I'll let Mark know who did it. I know that you will. And that's the problem. So we go from this one where we got a 66 years old to the young guy over here. Tell me about this one. Well, William Bryan is unusual in that he did not start out driving go karts like a lot of the other guys. He started out what's called iRacing, racing on a simulator. Oh, our guy, Zach in the back, has been invited to do iRacing next year. Oh, very cool. Wow. So he got into that. He was he was really good at that. He went into legends. He won the championship. And he every step up that he went, he won. And so he's a Richard Petty, like a Jeff Gordon. Just naturally gifted. You are naturally gifted. And so this is the car that he won the 2024 Daytona 500. And he came back the next year in a different car, won it again. Yeah. And so when we look around and we see confetti all over, that is authentic from that win. Yes, that is stuck on there by the champagne that they splashed all over the car. So this is exactly how it came off the racetrack. This is amazing. So through the morning, we have shown our viewers seven distinct generations of these cars that have been part of NASCAR's history. For you as a fan and somebody who works in this museum, I mean, what do you think the overall story of this exhibit is? Is it just sort of the evolution of the safety, the look, the style of NASCAR? Well, you get to see the very beginning when it was just guys with cars that went and raced and it was strictly stock, actually strictly stock. But you get to see the evolution of where it has now become. That's no more stock car. I'm not going to get that at a Chevy dealer. Right. But you see the development of first the safety, how that really changed, how the development of the cars came, aerodynamics, the technology, but then also the sponsorship, the money that it takes now to fund it. I mean, that's what really surprised me. You as you go down the line, they become more and more like giant advertising methods, right? They are vehicles for advertisement, but it makes sense because it's an expensive thing to have a car like this. Yes. And they will track they will have people that will track how how many times your name shows up on TV so that, you know, as the advertiser, hey, I'm getting they can tell the sponsor you got this much airtime during this race. Yeah. They do that with the NHRA. They do it for all of them because people that are putting out this kind of money. Yeah. They want to know that they're getting coverage. Yeah. Yeah. Makes sense. OK, well, Mary, this has been the best morning. We love hanging out with you tomorrow morning. I'll be at Echo Park Speedway, of course, for NASCAR weekend. It's going to be hot out there. You got any advice for me or how about some hats? How about this? Now tell me about these hats really quick. These hats are only you cannot buy these here. These are done for for special people who come and do presentations. I don't even get one. Oh, Mary. OK, so now we're getting two of them. Is this because there's two? Yes. Once for you and once for Tim. Now, what if I pay you a little? Can I keep both of them? No. You know what, Mary? Mary has been I can't I don't control that darn right. You don't you don't control me, Mary. And I'm keeping both of these hats. So now I send it back to my elders, Eric and Joanne. I'll see you tomorrow at the racetrack. Very sassy. I love it. I like it. Somebody to get Paul together. I know. Right. That's what's needed in this world. All right, Paul. Thanks so much. Well, from stock cars to race cars is on view through September 27th and included with the price of admission to Savoy Automobile Museum. That's $17 for adults and seven for youth ages three to 12. The museum is located at three Savoy Lane in Cartersville.