WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — The Winston Cup Museum & Special Event Center is waiving its black-and-white checkered flag for the last time Saturday, Dec. 16, before it closes its doors due to financial burdens.

The center has faced multi-year legal battles.

The museum, which opened in 2005, highlights the golden age of racing – particularly the Winston Cup Series, which ran from 1971 to 2003. The race is often seen as a spring board of launching NASCAR to a nationally acclaimed sport and a new wave of sports marketing. 

One of the names behind the Winston Cup movement was the late Ralph Seagraves, an executive at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company’s Winston Brand. He became the title sponsor of the event and partnership for 33 years. 

Ralph Seagraves is credited to introducing box-named sponsors, like 7-Eleven, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Kroger, Mountain Dew, R.J. Reynolds and more to the race world, forever changing sports marketing. 

“I’ve never had anybody come in here that didn’t say that this was not their favorite time in racing. Everybody’s always said this was when racing was racing,” Colbert Seagraves said, the former executive director of the museum. 

The museum houses Ralph Seagraves memorabilia, including his sparkly belt buckles, trophies and nicknacks. It also holds memorbalia from everyone who worked at R.J. Reynolds legacy, including his son Colbert Seagraves, who is now the former executive director of the museum and has been working there since 2019. 

“Everybody that I work with, you know, it’s all of our collective histories. And, you know, I can’t say a bad thing about my time in sports marketing. It was, it was the best time of my life. I enjoyed everything that I did. We worked really hard and, but we got the job done,” Colbert Seagraves said.

In 2015, R.J. Reynolds entered an Asset Purchase Agreement with Imperial Tobacco Group Brands, a subsidiary of British multinational Imperial Brands, where the company sold four cigarette brands to ITG, including the Winston Brand. 

Lawsuits began to follow after the purchase of the Winston name as according to court documents, ITG claims it owns all copyrights to the artifacts, logos, and branding of and inside the Winston Cup Museum. 

In the documents, the owner of the museum, William Spencer, states he purchased all of the artifacts that were on loan in May of 2017 from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company for $300. 

Due to ongoing legal issues with ITG Brands, the museum closed down for 60 days this year after a judge mandated shutdown and continued mediation. 

Colbert Seagraves with Wendell Scott’s last race car from his infamous wreck. (Spectrum News 1/ Sydney McCoy)

Court orders show Spencer and ITG Brands did come to a settlement, requiring Spencer to rename the museum. 

But due to the hefty price tag that comes from fighting a large corporation, and rebranding costs, it has been decided to close the doors of the racing series museum.

“All the cars will be gone and, you know, the place will be empty, the mural will still be here, the motorcycles will still be here, but the race cars will be gone. And that’s definitely when it’s going to hit. It’s going to be hard. Saturday afternoon when we shutter down, but it’s going to be extremely hard,” Colbert Seagraves said. 

Not only will fans no longer be able to visit artifacts from the King, the Intimidator, and Texas Terry, the collection will be split up forever with 33 of the cars being sold at an auction in Kissimmee, Florida, to represent the 33 years of the race. 

“Nothing stays the same. Change. Change is not always for the better, but it is. Everything changes. Nothing stays the same. And that’s unfortunate. I wish that this collection could stay together forever, but unfortunately, that’s not going to be the case. But I hope that whoever gets these cars will take them and display them, put them in parades, take them to car dealerships, take them out to track days and stuff, and and let the people see them and embrace them and and do like we did,” said Colbert Seagraves. 

Colbert Seagraves calls himself the keeper of his dad’s legacy, the last line of defense, and hopes to find a way to keep his dad’s story immortalized.

“I want to keep my dad’s legacy alive. I don’t want people to forget his accomplishments and what he did and what he brought to the table and what he brought to the sport, because I think that’s important,” said Colbert Seagraves. 

While each of these cars and items of memorabilia hold memories throughout Colbert Seagraves’ life, from his career and friendship with top tier racers, he said he is going to miss one thing the most – the people. He holds memories from the interactions he has experienced, from kids seeing their first race cars, taking pictures inside the cars, personal stories from fans, and even the racers themselves getting to visit their old cars. 

Colbert Seagraves with Dave Marcis’ car. (Spectrum News 1/ Sydney McCoy)

“This car is very significant – is we had Dave Marcis here yesterday, and we crank the car up. And you should have seen the smile on his face first time he’d been in this car in 50 years, and he still remembered everything,” Colbert Seagraves said. 

He hopes to find a way to continue to make sure everyone who has worked on the race can get one more victory lap. 

“I’m sharing my pop with everybody and, you know, I really like that,” Colbert Seagraves said. 

While the lawsuit was settled, ITG Brands filed a motion earlier this month for the court to hold Spencer in criminal and civil contempt after the musuem’s Facebook page reposted a Youtube video, where the creator spoke about the lawsuit.

In the motion, the tobacco company says the video used defamatory language and violated its current agreement. If Spencer is found guilty, he could face fines and jail time.