Team Racing Auto Circuit (TRAC) was a proposed American

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

organization founded by Hank Durschlag and

Charles Jeter Charles Jeter, is an American politician and business executive. He is known for having founded Team Racing Auto Circuit (TRAC). He also is the President of Intermodal FCL, Inc. A Republican, he represented District 92 in the North Carolina Ho ...

that was scheduled to begin operations in 2004. TRAC was proposed by a group called Team Sports and Entertainment Inc., whose shareholders included

Cale Yarborough William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough (born March 27, 1939) is an American former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner, businessman, and farmer. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships, winning in 1 ...

, a three-time winner of the

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...

season title,

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

executive Robert Wussler; and former

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

coach

Danny Ford Danny Lee Ford (born April 2, 1948) is a former American football player and coach. He played college football at the University of Alabama from 1967 to 1969. He served as the head football coach at Clemson University from 1978 to 1989 and at th ...

. Among the series' board members includes former Cup team owner Michael Kranefuss. Bill Miller was named chief executive officer of Team Sports Entertainment Inc. and its subsidiary, the Charlotte-based Team Racing Auto Circuit. Miller is the chairman of Miller Industries Inc., a provider of vehicle towing and recovery equipment and services.Charlotte Business Journal
January 22, 2002

Premise

The concept of TRAC was to put teams of drivers, particularly 8–12 two-driver teams, in identically prepared cars that were said to be similar to the

muscle cars Muscle car is a description according to '' Merriam-Webster Dictionary'' that came to use in 1966 for "a group of American-made two-door sports coupes with powerful engines designed for high-performance driving." The '' Britannica Dictionary'' ...

produced by

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. Some of the cars that were scheduled to compete included the

Chevrolet Corvette The Chevrolet Corvette is a two-door, two-passenger luxury sports car manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet since 1953. With eight design generations, noted sequentially from C1 to C8, the Corvette is noted for its performance and distinctive ...

, the

Dodge Viper The Dodge Viper is a sports car that was manufactured by Dodge (by SRT for 2013 and 2014), a division of American car manufacturer FCA US LLC from 1992 until 2017, having taken a brief hiatus in 2007 and from 2010 to 2012. Production of the two ...

, and the

Ford Mustang The Ford Mustang is a series of American automobiles manufactured by Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its sixth generation, it is the fifth-best selli ...

. All entries were to be equipped with

Riley & Scott Riley & Scott Cars Inc. was an American racing constructor and racing team that primarily provided chassis for various forms of motorsport, but worked primarily in sports car racing. It was founded in 1990 by Bob Riley and Mark Scott. History Sp ...

-designed chassis and fuel-injected V8 engines supplied and sealed (to prevent tampering) by a designated vendor. The

race track A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also u ...

s planned were primarily ovals with capacities of at least 50,000 people. Teams, representing various tracks throughout the country, would accumulate points in each race for each driver, presumably based on the order of finish. The plan called for regular season races, playoffs, and a championship. TRAC had a contract from

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

to televise the races.

Raycom Media Raycom Media, Inc. was an American television broadcasting company based in Montgomery, Alabama. Raycom owned and/or provided services for 65 television stations and two radio stations across 44 markets in 20 states. Raycom, through its Commun ...

handled marketing and sold advertising, and Yarborough was the league's spokesman. The series held a test at

Atlanta Motor Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly known Atlanta International Raceway from 1960 to 1990) is a 1.54-mile entertainment facility in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Cup Series ...

in April 2002 with

Andy Hillenburg Andrew Hillenburg (born April 30, 1963) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current team owner and track owner. His race team, Fast Track Racing, fields multiple cars in the ARCA Menards Series and formerly fielded entr ...

and

Tony Ave Tony Ave (born November 10, 1968) is a race car driver born in Hurley, Wisconsin. He competed in the Grand-Am Series from 2000 until 2002, in Formula Atlantic from 1996 until 2001, and in the Trans-Am Series since 2009. He also made three Indy Li ...

driving the cars. Four months later, at

Lowe's Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (previously known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009) is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, outside Charlotte. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including th ...

, Ave and

Boris Said Boris Said III (born September 18, 1962) is an American semi-retired professional racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 66 Ford Mustang for MBM Motorsports and in the Trans-Am Series, driving the No. 2 ...

tested the cars.

Fall

TRAC was unable to sell sponsorships for any of the proposed teams, prompting the series' debut to be postponed to 2004, but the league ultimately folded without conducting a single race. The end of TRAC was officially announced on August 26, 2003. In 2004, Team Sports and Entertainment was sued by four shareholders for "breach of contract, wrongful conversion of company monies, mismanagement, breach of fiduciary duty and fraud."

References

External links

Information on the series via Internet Archive
Defunct auto racing series {{motorsport-stub