NASCAR fans, it's been reported, travel an average of 250 miles for a race. For Simon and Peter van Hijkoop (pronounced high-kup), the average distanced traveled is almost 20 times as far. To be more exact, the father and son from Holland trek roughly 4,500 miles -- one way -- to watch their favorite drivers trade paint.

NASCAR fans since 2006, van Hijkoops have been to 13 Cup Series weekends together in the past three years; Simon first traveled on his own to Atlanta in 2006. They'll continue their personal quest to visit every NASCAR track on the Sprint Cup circuit in February for the Daytona 500.

A longtime Formula One enthusiast, Simon van Hijkoop says NASCAR has many appealing qualities. "Action, accessibility and value," said Simon, a former track official at the Zandvoort Circuit -- home to the Grand Prix of Holland until 1985. "I am a big open-wheel fan -- Formula One. I also follow the German Touring Cars and other racing series in Europe.

"But a few years ago a friend of mine went to Atlanta for a race and told me, 'Simon, you must go to see NASCAR. It is amazing;' so we decided to give it a try."

In 2006, Simon heeded his friend's advice and with the help of his son, Peter, booked his entire trip via the Internet. Simon soon was flying across the Big Pond on his way to the United States for his first taste of stock-car magic.

Having seen his fair share of races in nearly seven decades, Simon wasn't quite sure what to expect of America's top series. Much to his surprise, he was blown away by the entire experience -- from the thrilling side-by-side action, to the accessibility of drivers and, of course, the fans themselves.

"We love the fans -- everyone is so friendly and seems to have such a great time," Peter said. "We often have fans come up and ask, 'What is that language you are speaking? Is that German?'" But the friendly pair of Dutchmen soon explain where they're from and how far they've traveled, which fascinates their new friends. The discussions ultimately turn to favorite drivers -- Peter is a Marcos Ambrose fan and Simon likes Tony Stewart. "He's a good driver," he said.

To date, the van Hijkoops have visited Daytona, Atlanta, Talladega, Phoenix, Bristol, Texas and Richmond. Some of their most memorable experiences include walking up and down pit road at Richmond, meeting a NASCAR legend and gazing in awe at NASCAR's modern-day coliseums like Bristol, Texas and Talladega. "Those places are huge -- it is really amazing how many people there are," Peter said. "But meeting Richard Petty was most exciting."

Lat year, the van Hijkoops decided to close out another great NASCAR season in style. They embarked on a 10-day cross-country trip starting in Phoenix for the next-to-last race in the Chase, and then on to Homestead-Miami for championship weekend.

At Homestead-Miami, the pair got a behind-the-scenes look in the garage area and spent time watching inspection. A self-described racing fanatic, Simon was amazed to see how closely the NASCAR officials poured over each car during pre-race.

Aside from traveling nearly halfway around the globe to see a race, the van Hijkoops are just like most NASCAR fans in the U.S. Simon, who turns 70 this spring, is a retired municipal employee who now spends all his time collecting anything motorsports related. "I have stacks of racing magazines from all over Europe and the United States, and more than 1,000 die-cast cars" he said. Peter, 34, is a manager at a local do-it-yourself store in The Hague, similar to a Lowe's or Home Depot.

So what does their family think of their new-found passion? "Most of the time they just ask, 'You're going to the U.S. again?'" Peter said. It's a fair question since this is no short trip. The flight from The Hague to Atlanta is roughly 9 1/2 hours, which doesn't include the additional flight time to reach their final destination. The trip to Phoenix was one of their longest -- nearly 14 hours one way.

However, the travel time doesn't seem to faze either of them. The experience at the track is well worth the long flight. "[NASCAR racing] is a tremendous value compared to other racing series. In Formula One, fans pay almost as much as what we spend for our NASCAR tickets, hotel and transportation combined, and they only get to see a few cars speed by on a small portion of the track," Peter said. "In NASCAR, you see all 43 cars at the same time. The racing is much more exciting."

"And," Simon added, "You can't walk in the garage areas or pit road [in Formula One] like you can in NASCAR. We love the accessibility."