Carolina resident starts tailgating league at tracks

While most NASCAR fans start their race weekend Friday, Neil Van Der Jagt began his a week ago.

The 73-year-old retired CPA from Wisconsin will have been camped out at Lowe's Motor Speedway cooking three meals a day on his charcoal grill, mingling with other campers around the track and hosting Cornhole outside his 40-foot motor coach before some fans can even get off work.

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Van Der Jagt, who always shows up a week early, is a devoted tailgater who has attended races at LMS for the last 10 years.

It's dedication from Van Der Jagt and hundreds like him that has prompted one North Carolina resident to sanction tailgating games at tracks and hopefully other national sporting events.

Todd Hirschfeld, a 29-year-old Virginia Tech grad and expert in outdoor entertaining, is the creator of the National Tailgating League, a newly formed organization to endorse and execute organized tailgating games such as Cornhole, Ladder Golf and Washer Toss.

The first official event is set for Memorial Day weekend at LMS in conjunction with the Coca-Cola 600. The inaugural NTL doubles Cornhole tournament will take place on May 23-24 in the campgrounds.

"Some friends and I were at Daytona this season sitting in the motor home yakking it up talking about fans playing games for two weeks straight, 24 hours a day and how crazy it is not to have somewhat of a club, if you will, for them to be a part of. A club where they can compete and create camaraderie," said Hirschfeld, whose day job is spent working at his sports marketing agency in Cornelius, N.C., which represents a range of NASCAR clients.

Hirschfeld has plans for a portable bar inside the LMS campgrounds with flat-screen TVs and entertainment to accompany the National Tailgating League's competition zone where the games will be played.

"We want to take it to a more official level and create an event within the event, something for everyone to do with his or her downtime during the race weekend," he added.

Matt Guy is a three-time Cornhole champion.

Hirschfeld believes it will bring an added benefit to NASCAR's loyal fan base as well as bring new followers to the sport.

Matt Guy, the three-time national Cornhole champion, is making his first trek to a NASCAR track this weekend.

He heard about the inaugural NTL doubles Cornhole tournament taking place in the campgrounds of LMS on the corner of Highway 29 and Morehead Road in Concord, N.C., and plans to win a host of prizes including the $500 cash prize and potential race package.

"I'm going to bring my 15-year-old son, Bret, to play with me," said Guy, a Kentucky native who plays in Cornhole tournaments across the country. "It will be interesting to see if [the NTL] can increase the popularity of the sport.

"It has already blown up since 2004 and it's just a great beer-drinking game you can play anywhere with a flat surface -- and also because anyone from a 10-year-old kid to an 80-year-old man can play."

Cornhole, among other tailgating games, is something Van Der Jagt likes to do in between preparing the day's meal and checking his stock portfolio online.

An organized tailgating league has piqued his interest.

"It would be something I would go to because we go to a lot of tracks: Homestead, Indy, Pocono, Charlotte. It would be one more way to meet people and drink a bottle of beer; I'd take a look at getting involved."

Those interested in participating should register with the National Tailgating League and sign-ups are first come, first serve.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.