BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- Chris Brown walked carefully, keeping his home-video camera steady as he and his wife approached a replica of Dale Earnhardt's black No. 3 Monte Carlo.

"Pretty cool," said Audra Brown, 27, as she peered into the driver's side window.

	The National Corvette Museum's exhibit on Dale Earnhardt opened in January and runs through April 7, but wasn't timed to coincide with Sunday's Daytona 500.

The NASCAR fans from Milwaukee heard about the National Corvette Museum's tribute to the late seven-time Winston Cup champion while touring Daytona International Speedway.

Since it was on the way home -- just off Interstate 65 outside this Kentucky town 60 miles north of Nashville, Tenn., -- the Browns decided to stop.

They were glad they did. They still pause for a moment when they remember the end of last year's Daytona 500, when the No. 3 car swerved into the wall on the final lap, killing Earnhardt.

"It's kind of eerie. I mean, he was the sport," said Chris Brown, sporting a black Daytona T-shirt as he toured the collection of cars and Earnhardt memorabilia.

Parked next to Earnhardt's racer is a replica of his son's red No. 8 car. Across the corridor is a more conventional black 1995 Monte Carlo, complete with Earnhardt's signature on the dashboard in white marker and an official North Carolina registration.

The museum also has Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s own fire-engine red 1999 Corvette and one of his racing suits.

"I'm a bigger fan of Dale Jr. now than I was of his dad," said Audra Brown, a bartender. "When he died, I think a lot of people just realized these are just regular guys. They have families, too. I want Junior to do well to make his daddy proud."

Earnhardt visited the museum twice in recent years for autograph sessions. He was an aficionado of Corvettes, and purchased several, said Larry Hayes, the museum's vehicle exhibit manager.

"He really developed an appreciation for the cars, but he was also always so accommodating to us," Hayes said. "Anything we ever asked him for, he'd always go out of his way to provide."

The exhibit opened in January and runs through April 7, but Hayes said it wasn't timed to coincide with Sunday's Daytona 500. It was set up with the blessing of Earnhardt's widow, Teresa, and his company, Dale Earnhardt Enterprises.

"This just happened to be the timeline," Hayes said.

The exhibit also includes a glass case with miniature models of Earnhardt's cars through the years, dating to the Pepto-Bismol-colored 1955 Chevy he drove in his first dirt-track race. A video chronicling Earnhardt's career highlights plays on a 12-inch TV.

"He was a big fan of Corvettes, but we became big fans of his," said Wendell Strode, the museum's executive director. "The turnouts we had whenever he was here were unbelievable. He'd sign anything, for anybody, and talk to people like they were on the same level. That's his appeal."

Nathan Anderson, 23, of Bowling Green, crouched over the glass case to examine a pair of Earnhardt's signature sunglasses more closely.

"I liked NASCAR a lot better when he was around," said Anderson. "But, now his son's starting to drive like him. I think that's what most people will do -- they'll start rooting for Dale Jr. now."