Motor racing has a strong tradition around the world; it is especially strong in North America. Since the invention of the automobile, there have been approximately 8,000 venues where cars have been raced in the US and Canada. Most of these are no longer in operation, and many have entirely vanished, replaced by subdivisions, office parks and shopping malls. Some have even been absorbed in urban street grids.

This talk will provide a taxonomy of racing venues, accompanied by a brief history to provide context. It will also discuss tagging issues, available historical resources, mapping techniques, and the problem of certainty. Examples will be included of using OpenHistoricalMap with OpenStreetMap to document historic venues.