NSD Continues Partnership with TrackChaser Group!

 

Wilmette, IL (May 9, 2014) – National Speedway Directory is pleased to continue partnering with the TrackChaser Group for the fourth consecutive season. It’s a natural partnership, as both exist to support the sport of auto racing, especially at the short track level.

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TrackChasers are a group of race fans that combine their love of all types of auto racing with a love of travel. TrackChasers was founded on the idea of getting together those fans interested in seeing wheel-to-wheel auto racing at as many different tracks as possible. The purpose of the group is to share information about upcoming events or reviews of events attended with the rest of the group, and to display each individual’s list of tracks attended to serve as both a permanent record and something that can be enjoyed by everyone. The group was founded by Guy Smith, whose popular “Roaming the Raceways” column has appeared weekly in Area Auto Racing News for the past 34 years.

There are many different facets to the TrackChaser group. The group is centered around the website roamingtheraceways.com, which is owned by Smith, who also serves as webmaster. The site acts as the “hub” of information for the TrackChasers. The main feature is the track lists of the individual members. On the site, anyone that has seen racing at a minimum of 100 tracks can have their tracks displayed on the site. The track list will then be able to be accessed by anyone at anytime, wherever Internet service is available. Currently there are over 100 different track lists displayed. The lists are archived and are a permanent record of race fans travels. Track listings are updated weekly and there is no charge or membership fee for the service.

The information is stored in an on-line database that currently consists of over 40,000 records of new track visits at over 6,000 unique tracks at over 4,600 locations in over 75 countries. Almost all the information on the website is generated from the database. The database is used to display the information in many different categories.

The National Speedway Directory is an information source for the motorsports industry since 1975. The focus is on information about tracks, sanctions, museums, and events in the US and Canada. NSD makes the information available in a variety of media. Additional information can be found at speedwaysonline.com.

National Speedway Directory sponsors two levels of recognition awards for the group. Lifetime awards are named in honor of driver Roscoe “Pappy” Hough, who is generally recognized to have raced at more different tracks than any other driver. The “TrackChaser World Cup” is the groups Borg-Warner Trophy, recognizing the person who has seen racing at the most different tracks in a lifetime, is named after Hough and presented by the National Speedway Directory. The six individuals whose name appears on the cup were also offered “Mini Hough” smaller replica trophies by the NSD. Nine current members of the group have been to more than 1,000 different tracks.

Also sponsored by National Speedway Directory are the “Ed Esser Memorial Annual TrackChaser Awards”. These plaques are presented to the five individuals that visited the most new tracks during the previous year.

Winners of the plaques in 2013 were Jeff Sands with 85 new tracks, Mike Knappenberger with 71 new tracks, Guy Smith with 61 new tracks, Roland Vanden Eynde of Belgium with 60 new tracks, and Edward Corrado with 44 new tracks.

The third level of recognition is the TrackChaser Ladder Program. This program does not limit those recognized at any given time, and everyone can progress up the 16-rung TrackChasing ladder one step at a time at their own pace and level of commitment.

Members within the group have formed a loosely organized “Research Group” to research drivers who may have raced at or attended at least 100 different tracks. People both inside and outside of the group have been contributing to the driver project track lists. Currently, there are nearly 30 different drivers listed.

Smith also owns and moderates a TrackChaser Yahoo!Groups listserve that is open to anyone with an interest in the hobby, even if they have not yet reached the 100-track minimum for having their track list archived on the website.

Recently, the group has begun loose working-agreements with similar groups within the sports of ice hockey and baseball.

The TrackChasers are always looking to add new members who have a similar interest within the sport of auto racing. All are welcome. Questions can always be directed to Guy Smith at RTRYFBAR@aol.com