Just after the covid pandemic hit, what’s more sensible to do in that time of uncertainty than to relaunch Outside Groove? That’s what we did here, on April 20, 2020, a little over a month when the world shut down. Now 5 years later; more than 1,500 original, exclusive articles; a book and four successful trade shows, Outside Groove is still going strong.
Outside Groove was founded in February 2001 by the late Gene Gagne. Back then, Gene served the northern New England community — and he and his crew served it well. When we relaunched Outside Groove, we expanded what Gene had started to a coverage area that ranged from coast to coast.
In our first article after the relaunch, we outlined what we sought to do:
“Our mission is to serve short-track racing enthusiasts with creative, insightful, and relevant material — whether it’s hard-hitting journalistic features, thought-provoking opinion pieces, breathtaking photography, or spectacular videography. We’ll take our coverage to the edge, with an independent perspective, to serve our readers first, in the spirit of the original Outside Groove.”
That mission continues today.
As far as our readers, we do not seek to necessarily serve the biggest stars of the sport. They already get ample attention and they have the resources.
Our target instead? The hardcore short-track racing enthusiast who pours everything they have — money, time and soul — for often too-few laps and too-little pay at their local bullring. We get it — we’ve been there, too. We appreciate what you do for the sport.
That’s why we don’t simply copy and paste press releases or just share Facebook updates. You deserve more.
For five years, we’ve aimed to dig deep beneath the surface. Share in the joy of hard-fought triumphs and the disappointment of a win that slipped by. Grieve and honor the loss of local racing heroes. Educate and inform racers that help them enjoy the sport better. And ask questions to those in the know to help us all understand what’s going on.
We’d like thank all those who’ve helped us over the years. That includes more than 100 contributors who’ve played varying roles in telling these stories. One of those regulars, Steve D. Sabo, works hard every week to make sure that we cover his neck of the woods, and is more than a photographer, but also an advocate for the racing scene that he covers.
The glue behind the scenes is someone who writes the majority of the articles here, Mike Adaskaveg. He has more than 50 years of experience, and you can see that seasoned perspective in the stories he tells.
We’ve had numerous advertisers over the years, and we’d like to thank the following ones in particular. RaceDay Safety jumped on as soon as we started, and they’re huge supporters of motorsport. A&A Manufacturing was right behind them, too, and likewise quick to throw their support toward the sport. Others include Allison Racing, Allstar Performance, Crow Safety Gear, Fatheadz Eyewear, Fytron Software, Ideal Heated Knives, My Race Pass, Performance Trends, Pit Stop USA, Pitboxes.com, Proform, Quickcar, Quicksilver and Trailer Alarms.
What’s next? Good question. We have some plans for new additions to the Outside Groove line, but we’re not ready to share them yet.
What can you count on in the meantime? The same great storytelling we’ve been doing for five years. The same spectacular photography. And, of course, even more at the ever-growing Outside Groove Racing Show. Stay tuned! We’re just getting warmed up.
The Outside Groove Executive Editor has covered motorsports since 2000. His many awards include the 2019 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Jim Hunter Writer of the Year and the 2013 Russ Catlin Award for Excellence in Motorsports Journalism.
