A US-based initiative to launch a velodrome racing series has confirmed plans to begin operations in 2025.
TeamTrak Cycling League will take a portable and expandable track to four American arenas, building to a championship finale in Worcester, Massachusetts in October. Within five years, they hope to expand the series to twenty events.
‘We’ve worked hard to package the most thrilling short distance track races into a legitimate two hour show that pits four teams against each other in an equal number of both men’s and women’s races,’ says the league’s Competition Director, Michael Chauner.
Teams will consist of four men and four women, with the inaugural season’s lineup featuring the names of seven US cities and states, plus a team representing Mexico. A list of proposed ‘expansion teams’ for later years includes Canada.
No details of the event format are posted on the website: but it follows a ‘pilot event‘ held in March 2016 which featured six teams competing in keirin, 500m sprint, 3000m ‘EnduroSprint’ and elimination races.
Advance information about the series focuses on the spectator experience, pitching track cycling as an untapped opportunity for high-adrenaline, fan- and TV-friendly entertainment. They also promise an ‘infield beer garden’, a clear nod to the European six-day circuit.
Unlike DerbyWheel, betting is not prominent in the proposition, aside from a passing reference in a quote from an industry advisor. But there’s no ignoring the recent growth of American sports betting, in the years since TeamTrak was conceived. Following a US Supreme Court decision in May 2018, gambling on sports is now legal in the majority of US states.
TeamTrak’s 2016 pilot event was held at the VELO Sports Center in Carson, California, which will host the track cycling at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
The international lineup featured names familiar from Olympic-level competition, like multiple European champion Anita Stenberg of Norway, Trinidad & Tobago’s Kwesi Browne, and Mexico’s Daniela Gaxiola, as well as Legion of Los Angeles criterium star Justin Williams and six-day fan favourite Nate Koch.
Pennsylvania Lightning won the overall, with Ignacio Prado of Mexico Heat topping the individual standings.