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Going On Faith Conference heads to car racing country

Going On Faith Conference delegates are headed to the heart of car racing country when America’s only faith-based group travel industry event takes place in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, August 5-7. Home to the Charlotte Motor Speedway Complex and to numerous NASCAR race teams, Cabarrus County is just minutes northeast of Charlotte and draws thousands of racing fans of all types each year.

In Kannapolis, the Dale Earnhardt Tribute Plaza was created in 2002 and features a nine-foot, 900-pound bronze statue of the NASCAR racing icon. Today, that plaza is the cornerstone of a 20-stop self-guided tour, the Dale Trail.

Potential attendees of the annual Going On Faith event can rest assured that Cabarrus County is far from a one-dimensional destination, however. Graced with several distinctive towns and locales, this area is also a shopping mecca, home to the state’s impressive North Carolina Music Hall of Fame and the site of the state’s only underground gold mine open to the public.

“We can’t wait to show our faith-based travel planners and the travel industry at large this all-American destination,” said conference CEO Joe Cappuzzello. “The Going On Faith Conference in Cabarrus County in early August will touch on lots of positive themes reminiscent of summers gone by for many of us. Faith, fellowship and fun all come naturally to our hosts in this dynamic area.”

Julie Hinson, communications manager for Visit Cabarrus, the county’s convention and visitors bureau, touched on a few of the area’s best-known attributes when she threw open the doors to potential attendees.

“Some of NASCAR’s top race team shops are based in Cabarrus County and welcome fans,” she said. “Shops like Hendricks Motorsports and six-time Spring Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson are on that list, as are Stewart-Haas, Roush Fenway and Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates Racing.”

Hinson also mentions music and shopping as musts for delegates’ time and attention.

“In 1945, Eddie Ray began a 60-year career in the music industry,” she said. “Today, the former record industry executive and living legend preserves our state’s musical heritage and the legacies of artists like John Coltrane, Charlie Daniels, Roberta Flack and others at the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in Kannapolis.

“Concord Mills mall in Concord is North Carolina’s largest outlet, retail shopping, dining and entertainment destination,” she said. “It’s oval-shaped to reflect our racing heritage and is home to more than 200 stores.”

There is plenty of antique shopping in Cabarrus County as well, including some well-known stops for serious collectors and browsers alike at the Depot at Gibson Mill and White Owl Antiques, both in Concord, and Cline’s Antiques in Mount Pleasant, where the Grammy-winning group the Avett Brothers filmed a music video for their song “February Seven.”

If you are the planner for a faith-based travel group and you’d like to attend the 2014 Going On Faith Conference, visit www.gofconference.com and get started planning your participation today. See you in Cabarrus County!