Summary of TrackChaser Group History
Though Guy Smith’s organization of the club now known as Trackchaser (or the Pennsylvania Trackchasers Group in some circles) came to fruition in 1990, its origins can be traced to the 1980s. An offshoot of Ron Hedger’s annual “Superfans Contest” in National Speed Sport News, Trackchaser was formed by race fans that sought to place emphasis on track visits as opposed to simple quantity of races attended. Utilizing Allan Brown’s National Speedway Directory and through Guy’s collection of track lists, the world’s original trackchasing club was born.
In 1994, Guy published the first Top 10 list, dubbed the “All-Time Superfans.” Through questionnaires and growing interest, by 1997 Guy’s publication became the trackchasing Yearbook, dubbing participants “trackchasers” for the first time while creating the first guidelines for counting tracks. The group’s founding members all came from a background in auto racing, a background that greatly influenced what tracks were to be counted (and not).
The turn of the century saw Will White assume the helm as club statistician, and the beginnings of many stapes that remain with the club today. Under Will’s leadership, the club began to recognize an annual champion (the first being Andy Sivi in 2002) as well as an all-time leaderboard. Will also established the first Trackchaser list serve and website, developments that saw the club’s membership grow across the globe.
Will opted to step down from the leadership role after 2010, with Trackchaser’s rules and stats transferring to Guy’s “Roaming the Raceways” website (named after his ongoing column in Area Auto Racing News) as he resumed the role of club Commissioner. The advent of RTR coincided with a period of continued growth that saw club membership top over 100 members by 2019. Guy’s leadership also saw the advent of Tim Frost’s sponsoring of plaques to be awarded annually to the top five chasers in each year’s annual competition to visit the most new tracks. That competition, named in the honor of the late Allan Brown, continues to this day.
Though Trackchaser remains a competitive group, Guy’s second tenure as Commissioner ushered in an era of increased collaboration among the club’s members and the racing community. First, the creation of the Trackchaser Facebook group alongside Edward Corrado allowed for chasers across the globe to coordinate and document visits to a broader audience and with greater ease, a development that has greatly increased club membership as well as awareness of trackchasing as a hobby.
Guy and Robert Helmick were also instrumental in creating the Trackchaser Census in 2018, the club’s attempt to actively track all opportunities to see “countable” races in North America. The Census took a major leap forward in 2026 thanks to a generous data contribution from Colin Herridge New, and now covers the United Kingdom as a result.
Guy stepped down as Commissioner after the 2024 season and handed the reins to Bryan Davis Keith, the former dirt racing editor at Frontstretch and the first trackchaser to lead the club outside of its founding membership. Bryan, who created the Trackchaser Census Map in 2023, led the development of trackchaser.org and also reorganized the club’s guidelines into a published rulebook.
Today, Trackchaser is the world’s largest trackchasing club and proud to count 99% of the globe’s known active trackchasers amongst its membership.
