National Speedway Directory congratulates them on their dedication and efforts! 

Here are some links to coverage of their adventures:

• Pat and Bruce Eckel – Gater News – “A Typical Weekend” – http://gaternews.com/racing_blogs/blogs/index.php?blog=9
• Randy Lewis – www.randylewis.org
• Rick Young – www.rickattheraces.com

If you have individuals, blogs, or websites of interest related to race track travel, email them to us at twfrost@speedwaysonline.com; tweet them to us at @speedwaysonline https://twitter.com/#!/Speedwaysonline; or post them on our facebook wall at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Speedwaysonlinecom/189756593395?ref=tn_tnmn .

What is a track chaser ? A trackchaser is someone who travels all over the world trying to see wheel to wheel auto racing at as many different racing tracks as possible. For more information on track chasing, check out http://www.autoracingrecords.com/tc/index.php.  A new site that is be established by Guy Smith can be found at http://roamingtheraceways.com.  There is an active Yahoo Group, called TrackChasers who has maintained an active message board since 2000, with over 10,000 messages.

Here are some highlights and a recap of the trackchaser activity from January 1 – December 25, 2011:

During the 52nd week of 2011, there were no new tracks reported by TrackChasers.  Thus, the group streak ends with new tracks reported in each of the first 51 weeks of the year. Amazing dedication to our sport and hobby. The group total for this year is 700, with the lifetime group total now at 33,749.

Here is the 2011 year to date report:

• TrackChasers have scored new tracks in 46 out of 50 states this year.
• TrackChasers have visited 22 countries for racing in 2011.

As of December 25, 2011 there have been 700 new tracks reported for 34 listed TrackChasers in the group. 

RANK NAME TRACKS LOCATIONS
1. Guy Smith 82 70
2. Ed Esser 77 72
3. Pam Smith 75 64
4. Roland Vanden Eynde 75 73
5. Mike Knappenberger 62 52
6. Brian Hickey 45 39
7. Gordy Killian 41 35
8. Nancy Brown 26 25
9. Will White 21 20
10. Carol Lewis 20 18
11. Allan Brown 17 16
12. Dale O’Brien 16 14
13. Bruce Eckel 15 14
14. Pat Eckel 15 14
15. PJ Hollebrand 13 10
16. Rick Schneider 13 12
17. John Moore 11 9
18. Norm Wagner 11 10
19. Paul Weisel 11 11
20. Roger Ferrell 10 9
21. Chris Tyrrel 10 10
22. Rick Young 9 8
23. Colin Herridge 5 5
24. Kevin Eckert 4 4
25. Narain Karthikeyan* 4 4
26. Sammy Swindell* 4 4
27. Ron Rodda 3 3
28. Jack Erdmann 2 2
29. Colin Casserley 1 1
30. Edward Corrado 1 1
31. Steve Kinser* 1 1
32. John Osowski 1 1
33. Eleanor Weidman 1 1
34. Paul Weidman 1 1

Organized by the same company that publishes Professional Motorsport Circuit and Professional Motorsport World magazines, based in the UK, the race track convention brought together motorsport facility owners, operators and managers from across North America. The convention discussed the development of new and existing facilities to maximize the return on investment and looking at options for expanding the revenue base through additional on-site facilities, such as kart tracks and drag strips. It will also consider approaches to generating the top-line revenue through creating and increasing the fan and user base through low cost, innovative marketing and networking approaches.

The event was held in conjunction with the 24th Annual PRI Trade Show that features the latest product lines of 1,100 manufacturers of racing and high-performance automotive components, as well as precision machining equipment. It was attended by approximately 40,000 racing business people from all over the United States, and from 65 countries. It was held Thursday, Friday and Saturday, December 1–3, 2011, in the North/South Building of the Orange County Convention Center, in Orlando.

The Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame announced that National Speedway Co-Founder Allan E. Brown has been elected into the Hall of Fame.

Nancy and Allan Brown - MMSHoF - Class of 2011

 The 2011 inductees received their awards on Sunday November 6, 2011 in Mt. Pleasant, MI.

MMSHoF - Class of 2011

Fellow inductees into the 2011 class include:

• Ernie Beckman
• Marv Carman
• John Doering, Jr.
• Doug Flannery
• Doug Finley
• Doug Kalitta
• Scott Kalitta
• Jerry Makars
• Joan Simmons

The Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame was established in 1982.  Its mission is to preserve the history of all types of motor racing in the state of Michigan, and make this history available to the public.  The MMSHOF will recognize and pay tribute to those citizens of Michigan who have given of themselves, whatever their roles in racing may have been. They will enshrine and acknowledge the deeds of those people that excelled in motor sports. The goal is to have a permanent museum where the public can examine motor sports racing memorabilia and recognize those who have been enshrined.  They hope to have a mobile museum that can travel to events such as Parades, Air Shows, Regattas, Oval Tracks, Drag Strips, Grand Prixs, Festivals, Etc.

The winners of the Gary Jacob Memorial SuperFan Awards were announced by NSSN’s columnist Ron Hedger. The winners in 2010 were:

Amateur Division: David Garrison of Kentucky, who attended 152 races.

Professional Division: Ed Reichert of Wisconsin, who attended 160 races.

The award is named after Gary Jacob, a motorsports journalist from California. He traveled to races at almost every track, week in week out, across the country. He provided an estimated 1,000 articles annually to NSSN. He passed away in 2006 while attending a race.

Keep posted for details on submitting information for the 2011 contest.

http://www.nationalspeedsportnews.com/opinion/hedger-a-new-edition-of-superfans-is-right-around-the-corner/

http://www.nationalspeedsportnews.com/opinion/hedger-eddie-reichert-is-2010-professional-superfans-champion/

http://www.nationalspeedsportnews.com/opinion/hedger-garrison-rules-amateur-superfans/

http://www.nationalspeedsportnews.com/opinion/columns/hedger-more-about-superfans/

NSD is proud to support this award by presenting plaques made by Classic Trophy, Co. to the winners.

NSD SuperFan Awards - 2010

The next weekend we stopped at Tri-City Speedway in Auburn on the 8th. The track reopened as a 3/8 mile dirt track after setting idle since 2003. Joe Hanson won his first ever late model main event at Tri-City. The next day we visited Owendale Speedway for the ASCS Sprints. It was good to watch Brett Mann hold off Dustin Daggett for the victory. It was the first time I’d had seen a race at the track since 1982.

The following week we started on Wednesday night for an Indiana weekend. Our first night found us at Terre Haute for a USAC Sprint car Speedweek show. Chris Windom won the main event. It was a little farther south to Brownstown Speedway for the next night of Speedweek. Casey Riggs won his first ever USAC event by topping a stellar field on the fast 1/3 mile dirt track. Friday night we decided to try something a little different and went to the Jefferson County Fairgrounds in Madison for a MTQRL TQ Midget event. Champion Tate Marks easily won the 25 lap main event on the 1/5 mile track. The next afternoon we stopped off at the Crawford County Fairgrounds in Marengo for a MAORA off-road race. Mike Lucas and his son Kyle were winners in their classes. Then we headed to Tri-State Speedway in Haubstad for the Speedweek finale that night. Damion Gardner won the main event, with Windom being named the Speedweek champion.

The next Friday we went north to Cherry Raceway for a Michigan Dirt Cup modified event. The series is new this year. Chris Casey ended up as the victor. The following Friday we went to another ASCS SOD Sprint car show. This time at Winston Speedway it was Daggett turning the tables on Mann as they finished one-two again.

The first weekend of August saw us camping at Brimley State Park in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We had a chance to use our new Kayaks. The weather was pleasant for three weeks while we were in the U.P..

The following weekend of the 12th we headed out of Brimley and went west to Norway Speedway, only to get rained out. The next day we made a return visit to the off-road event at Bark River. The TORC off-road trucks have become one of our favorite divisions.

Upon our return home I returned to Winston, this time for the World of Outlaw late model special. Josh Richards had everyone covered as he easily motored away from the rest of the field to take yet another WoO main event. Two days later we decided at the last minute to go to Mt Pleasant for another Michigan Dirt Cup modified race. The Michigan mods sure put on a decent show. Aaron Morey won the modified main, while Curtis Roberts topped the late model feature.

I was able to sneak in a night of autocross action at the Hudsonville Fairgrounds on the 24th.

The last weekend of August found us heading north again. On Friday night we went to the annual autocross event at the Emmett County Fairgrounds in Petosky. Then it was back down the shoreline to the Manistee County Fairgrounds in Onekema for a Unique Motor Sports figure 8 race. Dan VanderBrink showed why he is a two-time state figure 8 champion.

The first weekend of September saw the Chariot heading around Lake Michigan with our first stop at Tomahawk Speedway in Wisconsin for their last regular show of the year. The next day we made the trip over to Brainerd International Raceway for the first day of a two day show of SCCA Trans-Am racing. Point leader Tony Ave easily ran away from the rest of the drivers in his Corvette. When the Trans-Am race checkered, we headed out the gate and made the 90 mile trip down to the new Ogilvie Speedway. The races in all the classes were great at Ogilvie. The next day we headed south to Dodge County Speedway in Kasson for a USMTS modified tour race. Jon Tesch came from 10th to win the 40 lapper.

The next day we stopped off at the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame to see the Tony Stewart exhibit. It was well worth the trip.

TUNE IN

New apps for racers combine usefulness and promotion to spread the news about a company’s product lines

By Emmanuel Martinez

Whether it is an iPhone, Android, Blackberry or any other smartphone, the world is in the palm of your hands. Smartphones, which behave more like portable computers than phones, have the power to make calls, send text messages and access the Internet anywhere at anytime. But with the rapid evolution of technology, a phone that simply has Internet capabilities has become a thing of the past.

Nowadays, smartphones have the power to run mobile applications, Internet-based applications that would normally run on a desktop or laptop. Many applications, or apps as they are known for short, have been developed to make accessing and navigating the Internet on a mobile device easier and quicker. There are apps for restaurant and movie reviews, games, directions and list goes on.

And as far as the racing industry goes, apps are just beginning to pick up steam.

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