Tanya Bailey-Smith of Savannah, Georgia first began working with motorsports while employed by Rothman's, Benson & Hedges and assisting marketing efforts for the Rothman's Porsche Series. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Toronto, majoring in Renaissance Studies, English and Biology.  She has worked for more than twenty years in the auto racing industry, where she writes, consults on race history and works in media relations.  After moving to Savannah, Georgia, Tanya put her history background to good use and began researching and collecting international items related to the Great Savannah Races.  She created and organized the Centennial of the Great Savannah Races in Savannah, Georgia in 2008 and is a regular speaker at international and regional events held by various organizations.

She returned to college to do her MBA, with an emphasis on Project Management at Florida Institute of Technology.  Soon after, she formed the corporation J.T. Martaneli Inc and purchased a property on the corner of Abercorn and Taylor Street in the Historic District of Savannah, where tourism is growing  faster than Nascar, Formula 1 and Indycar!  Tanya enjoys her role as the owner and curator of the new Great Savannah Races Museum.  She is very passionate about auto racing and Savannah’s prominent place in road racing history. 

She opened the museum to allow people who visit Savannah or live in the southeast region to learn more about these culturally significant events, and to explain why Savannah was chosen to host these mega races, attended by hundreds of thousands of spectators from all over the world. Part of the significance of these events revolves around the earliest development of the automobile, early road building and the aspirations of members of the Vanderbilt family who started the two big racing events of the early 1900s: the Vanderbilt Cup and the First American Grand Prix.  Tanya has worked hard to bring items of great significance back to Savannah to share with locals and tourists alike.   Soon, the list of tours in Savannah will include a year round tour of the infamous spots related to the Great Savannah Races.  

Tanya spent ten years visiting small museums and the new “micro-museums” of the world in order to design the Great Savannah Races Museum.  It is a rich heritage and top cultural and educational experience for visitors.  Inspired by the role that Savannah hotels played in housing and acting as  headquarters of the Great Savannah Races, Tanya also chose to open a vacation rental unit above the museum for travelers who are race fans looking for a true southern racing experience.   Along with her passion for cars and racing, Tanya will be hosting race car drivers, and other racing industry insiders for special museum nights and bringing exotic car shows to Savannah.  She is writing a book on the Great Savannah Races which will be published soon.