WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A museum honoring a cherished era of NASCAR's history is set to reopen after closing due to a court order in an ongoing lawsuit regarding trademark violations.
The Winston Cup Museum will reopen its doors on Sept. 1, the museum's directors announced on Facebook. The museum closed on July 3 in response to a preliminary injunction court order requiring the museum to close for 60 days as a trademark lawsuit continues.
The museum will operate during its normal business hours and feature new exhibits and merchandise.
The museum, which opened in downtown Winston-Salem in 2005, chronicles NASCAR's history when Winston Cigarettes was a major sponsor, from 1971 until 2003. Winston's support ushered in what's known as NASCAR's modern era, sponsoring the Cup Series until 2003.
Dozens of race cars are housed in the museum, as well as memorabilia and other artifacts from the Winston era of NASCAR. Now, the company that purchased the Winston brand wants the artifacts, saying they rightfully belong to them.
ITG Brands LLC, which bought the Winston brand from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco in 2015, wishes to take ownership of the artifacts stored and displayed at the facility. They filed the lawsuit against the museum and its directors in January. The matter is being handled in North Carolina Business Court.
According to the lawsuit, the museum's owner claimed to have a storage agreement with R.J. Reynolds for physical copies and reproductions of Winston Cup images.
ITG said it believes there is "no written agreement" documenting such an arrangement between the museum and R.J. Reynolds.
According to the lawsuit, ITG also claims that the museum's directors filed several trademark applications for Winston and Winston Cup in 2022.
Since closing in July, the museum's directors have answered an amended complaint from ITG, admitting that no agreements existed in place between them and R.J. Reynolds but say that a payment was made for items to be loaned to the museum. The directors also note that many of the items in the museum were owned by Will Spencer, one of the museum's directors.
Mediation hearings were scheduled in July and August but did not happen, according to court records. Another mediation hearing is scheduled for Sept. 14.