I left downtown Los Angeles on Friday evening.  Note the tallest building in this picture is home to the RANLAY Racing Legal Department as well as where daughter Kristy works.

 

 

 

 

In no time, I was motoring into the foothills of Southern California.

 

 

 

 

It wasn't much longer and I was looking at cactus in the Arizona desert.

 

 

 

 

After spending the night in Blythe, Califorina, I was greeted by a blue sky Arizona day.  Have you ever seen an air-conditioned doghouse?

 

 

 

 

The Speedworld Raceway Park complex is located out in the boonies of Northwest Phoenix.  With the way Phoenix is growing, this will be a residential area in 10-15 years.

 

 

 

 

The primary track at the Speedworld facility is the dragstrip.

 

 

 

 

We had time to watch several drag races.

 

 

 

 

Motorcyle drag racers heat up their tires.

 

 

 

 

I really wanted to meet this young blonde who summoned the courage to bring her '60s Studebaker to the drags!

 

 

 

 

There were dragsters of every kind at Speedworld today.

 

 

 

 

The Speedworld complex had a little bit of everything for the motorsports enthusiast.  There is more than one motocross track at Speedworld.

 

 

 

 

This is the pit area of the track we were attending today.

 

 

 

 

This is a "Mod lite" racecar.

 

 

 

 

The other class racing today was the dwarf cars.  This is a dwarf.  They are powered by motorcycle engines.

 

 

 

 

My brother Mark joined me today at the Speedworld Speedway.

 

 

 

 

The dwarf cars race down the front stretch of the 1/4 mile outer oval at Speedworld.  Note the turns 3 & 4 of the INNER oval at Speedworld.

 

 

 

 

The 11 car feature for the Hoosier Tires Dwarf car division races through turns 1 and 2.

 

 

 

 

Believe it or not, this is a remote control car racetrack.  I would love to see some Senior Champ Karts race here.

 

 

 

 

As if all the tracks shown above weren't enough, this is the soon to be completed West Valley Speedway.  The banked area will be turns 3 and 4 when the track is finished. 

 

 

 

 

You're looking at turns 1 and 2 of the West Valley Speedway.

 

 

 

 

The track owner and promoter of the future West Valley Speedway was driving this piece of equipment.  He told me the track will be racing six weeks from today!

 

 

 

 

After touring the West Valley Speedway construction sight during intermission, we returned to the Speedworld Speedway for their feature events.  Here a dwarf that flipped over is being righted.

 

 

 

 

Brother Mark and I had a great afternoon of racing in his newly adopted hometown.

 

 

 

 

We had to stop at a Honey Bears BBQ after the races.

 

 

 

 

I joined Mark and his roommate, Rod for a round of golf at the San Marcos Golf Club in Chandler, Arizona.

 

 

 

 

It was a beautiful winter day in Chandler, Arizona for our golf round today.

 

 

 

 

Following golf, it was a 400 mile drive back to San Clemente at the finish of a three day holiday weekend.  This is the agricultural stop at the Arizona-California border.

 

 

 

 

I guess I didn't have to eat my final orange before I arrived at the California border after all.

 

 

 

 

It was nice to get back into the Golden state.

 

 

 

 

The traffic was heavy, but I knew I was getting close to home when I saw the wind turbines near Palm Springs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GREETINGS FROM SURPRISE, ARIZONA

 

 

TRACKCHASER PROFILES

I promised everyone I would provide profiles of the trackchasers I am chasing when I came within five tracks of any trackchaser ranked above me in the worldwide trackchaser rankings.  As this is written, I am now within five tracks of both Andy Sivi and Guy Smith who have 1,007 tracks each.  They are tied for third place in the world trackchaser rankings.  If you would like to read these profiles, they appear toward the end of the Trackchaser Report.

 

 

AND THE READERS RESPOND

I always like to hear from the readers.

Pryce B. of Milan, Illinois provided this response regarding my rainout streak and how it compared to other major streaks in the world of sports.

“While your rainout streak is very admirable, it doesn't even compare to Tiger's streak, which I think is the most underrated streak in all of sports, especially given all of the influences associated with today's superstar athletes!”

 

Kindred P. of Clearwater, Florida had this to say on my observations about Florida’s growth, Daytona Beach and Orlando International Airport’s security line.

 

“Right on all observations--we're in migrating 1000/day, as we did in '80's-- we're creating more jobs than Ca.--i genuinely don't think Daytona can be fixed, (bad) weather--suggest you register as a "preferred traveler" to avoid airport security.”

 

 

SPECIAL NOTICE

 

You can click on www.ranlayracing.com to see photos from this weekend’s new track visit to Arizona.  Please remember that I will post some photos of the racing action.  Most of the time, most of the pictures will try to give you some idea of what the local sights and attractions look like.

 

 

PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS

 

The Strategy

 

I continued my personal trackchasing strategy of trying to “Get a little all the time.”  Getting just one new track for the weekend isn’t gigantic, but it keeps the pressure on those boys ranked above me.

 

Now that I’m over the 1,000 track hump, have you noticed I’m visiting a large number of tracks with very few countable competitors?  Of the first 10 new tracks I’ve seen this year; half of them have had 11 or fewer countable racecars.  This is not only due to the large amount of tracks that I’ve already seen, but January/February does not offer nearly as many trackchasing choices as the summer months.

 

On three occasions, the 2006 tracks I’ve seen had four or fewer countable racecars running.  When the number of competitors is this small, it requires a lot more follow-up on my part with the track promoter.  I need to make certain there are at least SOME countable cars planning to attend. 

 

Of course, I still have plenty of “Traditional” tracks to see that will have plenty of racecars.  However, in trackchasing, especially the way I do it, I need these low car count tracks to make a trackchasing trip economically feasible.  Actually, this countability of classes and cars adds to the trackchasing strategy, which I love.  Nevertheless, driving into a racetrack with no guarantee there are going to be any countable classes/cars racing does create a certain level of anxiety.

 

The People

 

Today’s trackchasing trip is special from a people point of view.  I get to go trackchasing with my only brother, Mark.  Mark relocated to Phoenix four years ago and he always joins me for my racing action in Arizona. 

 

He enjoys going racing and we’re planning a full weekend of trackchasing somewhere in North America later this season.  Mark estimates he’s been to about 120 tracks. 

 

Following the new track at Speedworld, I stayed overnight at Mark’s house and we went golfing on President’s Day.  Mark and his roommate, Rod are both divorced.  They definitely live the bachelor lifestyle, which includes their share of beer and sports bars.

 

I challenged Mark and Rod to a golf bet at the San Marcos Golf Club in Chandler.  It would be their best ball against my best ball in a match play event.  After nine holes, I was gloating about them being three holes behind in the match.  I was asking them if in their wildest dreams they ever thought they could erase the deficit.

 

Before I could finish the thought, we were walking off the 12^th green and my three hole advantage had turned into an even match.  Wow!  Nevertheless, I was able to right the faltering ship and win 3 and 2.  This netted me a free lunch! 

 

Mark took me to the Scoreboard sports bar.  Although I was able to scarf down my share of chicken wings, a sports bar is not a great place to go when you’re trying to avoid hearing who won the Daytona 500 of the day before.  I enjoy watching TiVo recorded sports events much more when I don’t know who won.

 

Of course, this sports bar must have had 30 TVs playing.  I was nearly finished with lunch when I looked up to see Jimmie Johnson accepting his trophy.  Oh well.  If I hadn’t seen it on the sports bar TV, I would have seen the race result on the newspaper sports page so conveniently displayed above the men’s urinal.  You just can’t win.

 

Brother Mark and I don’t get to spend as much time together as we would like even though we live just 400 miles from each other.  We probably get together 3-4 times per year which is more frequent than some but not often enough. 

 

I left Phoenix following lunch on Monday afternoon.  As good fortune would have it, I’ll see Mark again on Wednesday.  I’ll pick him up in San Diego and we’re off World Golf Championships Accenture Match Play golf tournament in La Costa.  The Wednesday of this tournament is one of the best days all year to see all the top players in the world play.  The top 64 players are invited and they will play in 32 two-man match play contests.  It should be fun.

 

 

The trip

 

I had intended to visit the Rialto Airport Speedway on Saturday, February 18.  However, calls to the promoter throughout the week told me there would be no countable classes racing at the track that’s just an hour from my home.  That’s O.K.  I’ll catch them later in the season when the countable Speedway Midgets visit Rialto.

 

The Rialto situation meant that my first new track of the weekend would be the Speedworld Speedway in Surprise, Arizona.  Their racing starts at 12 noon on Sunday. 

 

This will be a driving trip.  This will be second driving trip (5 airline trips) of the young season.  That’s seven separate trips and we’re only in mid-February.  No other trackchasers seem interested in my cost-containment travel recommendations, so I will have to keep traveling at this pace just to stay competitive.

 

Arizona is one of those states that has a different time zone depending upon the time of year.  In the winter, they’re in the Mountain time zone.  In the summer, they’re in the Pacific time zone. 

 

We lived in Phoenix for one year back in 1974.  It’s not a fun place in the summer, unless you like that feeling of having your head in a blast furnace.  Anyone who says it’s “Just dry heat” hasn’t lived there.  Most of my race visits to Phoenix come during the Mountain time zone season.  I don’t go to Phoenix in the summer for the same reason I don’t go ice racing in the winter.  I’m a 72 degree guy.  I can tolerate about 10 degrees plus or minus from room temperature.  Any more than that and I’m either freezing or burning up.

 

It’s about a five and one-half hour drive to the Phoenix area.  Most of the drive is through the desert.  The trip provides some of the most unique scenery I will see all year. 

 

I had to decide when to leave for the track.  I had two choices.  I could get up at 4 a.m. on Sunday morning, leave at 5 a.m. and pull into the track just before they began to race at noon.  On the other hand, I could drive part way on Saturday night, stay in Blythe, California overnight and then get up at a reasonable hour and drive the last two hours to the races.

 

The convenience of the second option would cost me about 50 bucks.  I chose the second option.  It’s always important to have options.  Sometimes the more expensive option is the best one for non-financial reasons.

 

Carol won’t be joining me on this trackchasing trip.  I don’t want to burn her out on trackchasing.  There’s always the risk of doing that.  In addition, I’ll be staying over in Phoenix an extra day to play golf with my brother, Mark.  Carol has contracted to attend a certain amount of new tracks this season.  Her contract is similar to a NASCAR driver’s sponsorship contract.  Carol has agreed to make a certain amount of appearances that should meet my needs and bring her another “Women’s Trackchasing Season Championship.” 

 

 

 

RACE TRACK STATS:

 

SPEEDWORLD SPEEDWAY, SURPRISE, ARIZONA #1,002 – 2/19/06

 

This track was my 22^nd to see in Arizona.  Arizona is the only state in the union where I am the undisputed #1 trackchaser.  Gary Jacob holds down second spot in the Cactus state with 15 tracks.

 

The weather today was absolutely great compared to just about anywhere else in our frigid country.  Today’s temps were in the low 60s, with a very sunny sky and a little bit of wind.  After spending three hours out in the sun and wind, we could feel it as we had an early dinner at Honey Bear’s BBQ.  This is a previous RANLAY Racing Money Back Guarantee award winning restaurant.  Of course, that offer sticks with a business until it loses my loyalty.

 

 

RACE TRACK NEWS:

 

SPEEDWORLD SPEEDWAY, SURPRISE, ARIZONA

 

Today’s visit to the Speedworld Speedway’s ¼ mile slightly banked dirt oval was unique in several ways.  First, they only started racing cars on this track over the last 4-5 weeks.  The track is hosting a special four-week series with the nearby Canyon Raceway.  Today was the last of four weekends of racing where Canyon ran on Saturday and Speedworld ran on Sunday afternoon.

 

Both my brother Mark and his roommate, Rod are Pepsi delivery truck drivers.  They know Phoenix and the surrounding area like the back of their hand.  There was some confusion about the Speedworld Speedway earlier in the week.  I kept telling them that the track had raced all month and they were thinking the track was still under construction.

 

I had talked with the promoter and was assured that Speedworld was racing.  Rod had made a delivery to the Speedway Raceway Park drag strip earlier in the week and was told, “The oval track is still being built.”  In point of fact, Rod’s contact was referring to the West Valley Speedway, which IS still under construction.

 

Let me try to explain all of the different motor racing options on the Speedworld property.  The main track is the Speedworld Raceway Park drag strip.  They were racing cars and motorcycles on the drag strip today.  The drag strip is located within 100 yards or so of the Speedworld Speedway dirt oval.

 

The property also has an extensive motocross racing layout.  It appears there are multiple motocross tracks for different skill levels.  There were 75-100 motocross riders doing their thing on the property today.

 

Speedworld also has a small paved oval racetrack.  The track looked to me like it would be perfect for go-kart racing.  It might have been smaller than 1/10^th of a mile.  I was told this track is used for remote control cars.  I have pictures of it on my website.

 

Yet, another activity on the property is a remote control miniature airplane setup.  Several enthusiasts for this hobby were doing there thing complete with paved runways for takeoffs and landings.

 

At intermission, Mark and I jumped into his Olds Alero and went searching for the West Valley Speedway.  It took us several minutes to find it.  Not to worry, the promised 15-minute intermission actually took 45 minutes.  Even though it took us more than 20 minutes of driving to find this future venue, we could have walked there in less time.

 

When we finally did come across the West Valley track, we saw two large earth movers moving dirt.  You could see a faint outline of a banked oval track, but not much more.  I took a few pictures.  My picture taking caught the attention of one of the dirt moving drivers.  He circled back and came over to talk to us.

 

This was the track promoter.  He told us that opening night was going to be April 1, of THIS year!  Wow!  They’ve got six weeks before their first race and all they have is some dirt pushed around in the shape of an oval.

 

Track promoter, Steve, told us that he has owned racecars and promoted races in Arizona for several years.  He has an 18 year lease on the property.  They plan to run IMCA modifieds and expect to be home to the 410 sprint cars of the Sprint Car Owner’s of Arizona (SCOA).  They’ve got much work to do in a very short period of time.

 

That brings us to the track that Mark and I were watching today.  The Speedworld Speedway is a quarter mile slightly banked dirt oval.  The track has been here for about two years racing mainly motorcycles and quad runners.  As mentioned, cars have only raced on this track over the last 4-5 weeks.

 

The Speedworld Speedway (www.azspeedway.com) also has an inner oval.  The inner oval uses the larger oval’s turns one and two.  The inner oval has its own separate turn 3 and 4.  At this point, the only racing done on this oval is with flat go-karts.  As you might imagine there is a lot of activity going on at Speedworld.

 

Racing was scheduled to begin at 12 noon.  However, even though this track is a new one, they behaved like seasoned short track promoters.  They started 50 minutes late!

 

There were three classes of racecars today, all countable.  The Hoosier tired dwarf class brought 11 competitors.  The street tire dwarf class had 8 cars and the mod lite class had 7.  There were four total heat races of 10 laps each and each class ran a 25-lap feature event.

 

The track announcer told us they have a “Zero tolerance” dust policy.  The owner of the entire property runs the drag strip.  The dust policy is in place to keep dust from blowing over to the drag strip.  We were told they would be watering frequently to prevent the dust from causing a problem.  Considering it was sunny and windy, there wasn’t much dust and they didn’t water much either.

 

The racing wasn’t great.  Much of it was confined to single file driving.  There were two violent flips that happened right in front of us during the Hoosier tire Dwarf car feature.  It took the track personnel several minutes to extract one trapped driver.  He wasn’t hurt, they just couldn’t get the dwarf car door to open.

 

The P.A. system was robust and the track had a large number of lights, which were not put to use today.  The announcer didn’t have much to say.  The track is operating with port-a-potties and a portable canteen selling very limited food choices.

 

The non-racing highlight of note was a small child sitting in front of us.  He was bitten on the lip by a dog.  That had to hurt!

 

The track’s management didn’t seem to be good stewards of the fan's time.  They started 50 minutes late.  The four heats took 30 minutes to run.  They announced a 15 minute intermission and took 45.  After the two dwarf car features, we elected to skip the mod lite seven car affair.  That got us on the road and Honey Bear BBQ bound by about 3 p.m.  I have a feeling I’ll be back to the Speedworld Speedway Raceway Park complex again this year.

 

 

 

RENTAL CAR UPDATE:

 

The Carol Lewis owned and Pedro’s Tacos sponsored racing Lexus transported me to the “Valley of the sun.”  Last year I put on about 45,000 miles trackchasing with rental cars.  I put less than 2,000 miles on my Lexus trackchasing.

 

I would love to have the comfort of my Lexus for all of my trackchasing trips.  However, I wouldn’t want to take the market value depreciation hit that would come from driving 45,000 trackchasing miles and another 12-15,000 personal miles each year.  This is simply one of life’s perpetual tradeoffs.

 

I covered 824 driving miles on this trip.  I stopped for gas just once and paid $2.51 per gallon.  The Lexus LS 430 gave me 22.4 M.P.G. in fuel mileage at an average cost of 11.2 cents per mile, one of my higher totals for the year. 

 

 

 

LIFETIME TRACKCHASER STANDINGS UPDATE:

 

These worldwide trackchasers are within 100 tracks (plus or minus) of my current trackchaser total.

 

1.  Rick Schneider – Bay Shore, New York - 1,038 (+36)

2.  Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 1,021 (+19)

3.  Any Sivi, Clairton, Pennsylvania – 1,007 (+5)

4.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,007 (+5)

5.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 1,002

6.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania – 990 (-12)

 

 

 

Other notables

 

These worldwide trackchasers are within 10 tracks (plus or minus) of Carol’s current trackchaser total.

 

40.  Don McAuley, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada - 235 (+1)

41.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California - 234

42.  Andy Ritter, Mansfield, Pennsylvania - 233 (-1)

43.  Colin Casserly, Stevenage, England 232 (-2)

44.  Bernie Harlen, Goshen, Indiana - 229 (-5)

 

 

 

 

2006 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS

 

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California - 11

2.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 6

3.  Roger Ferrell, Majenica, Indiana – 5

4.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 4

4.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Springs, Pennsylvania – 4

4.  Rick Young, Maxville, Ontario, Canada - 4

7.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 2

7.  Will White, Quakertown, Pennsylvania – 2

9.  Several trackchasers – 1

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,

Randy Lewis

Trackchasing’s #1 trackchaser of the 21^st century

 

Trackchasing doesn’t have to be fun to be fun.

 

 

 

CUMULATIVE TRAVEL DISTANCES:

 

PERSONAL CAR

 

San Clemente, CA – Surprise, AZ – 369 miles

Surprise, AZ – San Clemente, CA – 824 miles

 

 

Total auto and air miles traveled on this trip – 824 miles

 

 

 

TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:

 

Speedworld Speedway - $10

 

Total race admissions for the trip – about $10

 

 

 

Past trackchasing stories are available at:

www.ranlayracing.com

 

Official trackchaser standings can be viewed at:

www.trackchaser.com  

 

Some of my standings data comes from trackchaser.com

 

 

 

 

 

UPCOMING TRACKCHASING PLANS

 

Somewhere in the southeast – soon…..very soon

 

 

 

 

 

RACETRACKS VISITED IN 2006 (** not the first time to visit this track)

 

992.  Watermelon Capital Speedway, Cordele, Georgia - January 14

 

993.  Cross Roads Motorplex (asphalt oval), Jasper, Florida - January 15

 

994.  Norfolk Scope Arena, Norfolk, Virginia - January 20

 

995.  Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California - January 21

 

996.  Oregon State Fair & Expo Center, Forster Livestock Arena, Salem, Oregon - January 28

 

997.  Morosso Motorsports Park, Jupiter, Florida – February 4

 

998.  Thunderbowl Speedway of Ocala, Ocala, Florida - February 4

 

999.  Cross Roads Motorplex (dirt oval), Jasper, Florida - February 5

 

1,000.  Auburndale Kartway, Auburndale, Florida - February 10

 

1,001.  Ocala Speedway (asphalt oval), Ocala, Florida - February 12

 

1,002. Speedworld Speedway, Surprise, Arizona - February 19

 

 

 

TRACKCHASER PROFILES

 

I am currently in 5^th place in the trackchaser worldwide standings.  I am only five tracks behind both Andy Sivi and Guy Smith.  As I continue to climb in the trackchaser standings, I’ll give a brief overview of the chaser I’m trying to pass.  I’ll start with Andy since he was the first to reach 1,007 tracks.

 

I first met our #5 world ranked trackchaser back on May 23, 2003.  Although we had never met before, when we both rounded the bend of the same building we immediately recognized each other.  Maybe, we both knew in advance that the other would be at the track, I really don’t remember.

 

We had a very productive trackchasing result that evening.  We both added Elko Speedway’s (Minnesota) 3/8 and 1/4 mile ovals as well as their figure 8 track.  A same track triple is very unusual.  If memory serves me, I have only done that one other time and that was at the Trail-way Speedway in Hanover, Pennsylvania.

 

Here’s what I wrote regarding my meeting with Andy on that night in Elko, Minnesota:

 

“Have you ever sensed being in the presence of individual greatness?  Ever hung out with Michael Jordon, Tiger Woods?  How about Hillary Clinton or Princess Di?  (Editor’s note:  now I’m really getting far a field and probably bent my republican friends out of shape.  Please accept my apologies).

 

On Friday night while viewing the Eve of Destruction event at Elko Speedway I sensed being in the presence of such individual greatness.  That would come in the form of one individual named Andy Sivi.  Andy is a CPA by trade and resides out towards Pittsburgh.  Andy is currently the #5 ranked trackchaser in the world.  Most importantly, he is on the rise….quickly.  He has been the #1 trackchaser in each of the last three years.  During two of those years, he saw 100 new tracks in each 12-month period.  Andy has about 850 tracks and our current leader, Rick Schneider has about 975.  I predict that in the next three years Andy will take over the worldwide leadership of trackchasing.  So I ask you how many times have you hung out with someone who’s number one in the world at anything, be it tidily winks, topless dancing or trackchasing?”

 

Andy hails from Clairton, Pennsylvania.  He works as a Certified Public Accountant and is probably the only trackchaser who knows more about the United States tax code than I do.  Being a tax CPA impacts Andy’s trackchasing activities.  He rarely goes trackchasing before April 15^th of each year.

 

I’ve had a chance to watch races with Andy just a few times.  I wish it was more.  He’s a soft-spoken individual who does his best to steer clear of any trackchasing controversy.

 

Each of the major trackchasers has peaked at different times in their careers.  Even though I had been trackchasing since my teenage years, I only became actively involved in the official trackchaser group around 2000.  When I joined, Andy was at the peak of his trackchasing career, so far anyway.  In the year 2000, he became the first trackchaser ever to see 100 tracks in a season.  This was unheard of at the time.  He backed up that season with another record-breaking year in 2001 with 101 tracks.  During those years, I was busting my butt, while still working full-time to get 61 and 70 tracks in those years.

 

I’m sure I was not as efficient during this time, but I have to tell you, I never thought anyone would ever see 100 tracks in a season.  It seemed like every time I turned on my computer, I was reading about Andy going somewhere.

 

He’s about my size and back then, he was sleeping overnight in his Chevy Camaro at each track.  That fact made his feat even more amazing to me.  He was my trackchasing hero. 

 

Andy and I are the only top 20 trackchasers, to my knowledge, that has actual racing experience.  Andy and his brother, Tom, traded off the figure 8 driving duties back in the ‘70s at a local Pennsylvania track.  Maybe Andy’s figure 8 driving experience is why he currently holds the trackchasing title for “Most figure 8 tracks seen.”

 

I have several reasons that I like Andy’s approach to trackchasing.  First, he plays by the rules as everyone does as far as I know.  He also doesn’t go on self-induced ego trips by declaring himself above the rules and not counting some form of trackchasing that he doesn’t care for.  That gives him a leg up in my book.  I’d love to see Andy share his points of view with the group more actively.  He always has well thought out ideas, even if he doesn’t want to legalize go-karts. 

 

Andy’s great at recognizing, in a simple fashion, other trackchasing milestone achievements.  If I ever get past him in the standings, I will consider it one of my most significant trackchasing accomplishments.

 

I am also only five tracks behind Guy Smith of Effort, Pennsylvania.  Guy is commonly given credit for starting the entire trackchaser organization.  He was there when the first “guidelines” were established which later morphed into a full set of rules that all trackchasers must abide by in order to have their tracks counted. 

 

Guy is a schoolteacher by trade.  I can’t imagine a better occupation (other than being retired!) for trackchasing.  Can you imagine how many tracks one could see if they didn’t have to go to work for the better part of June, July and August each and every year?

 

Guy has seen tracks in all 50 states as well as every Canadian province.  However, the vast majority of his tracks have been seen in the northeast and along the east coast of the United States.  If he ever decides to go trackchasing outside of his own geographical locale, he will have a field day.

 

Guy is often seen as the “villain” in trackchasing.  Let me put it this way.  If you were a staunch Republican, Guy would be your Teddy Kennedy.  If you were a staunch Democrat, Guy would be your Rush Limbaugh.  Since I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican, he is both my Teddy Kennedy and Rush Limbaugh.

 

I will be very pleased, if and when the day comes, to pass Guy in the worldwide trackchaser standings.  Nevertheless, since Guy is about 10 years younger than I am, there is a very good chance that he will repass me.  If so, it would be great if I’m hopelessly delirious in the Trackchasers and Golfers retirement home and don’t have the foggiest notion what is going on.

 

Although Andy and Guy both have 1,007 countable tracks, they seemed to have arrived at that total in a different fashion.  The National Geographic Diversity index grants points based upon a trackchaser’s ranking in each state.  The lower the score the better.  Andy’s NGD score is 8.41, which ranks him fourth in the world.  Guy’s score is 9.04, which ranks him 6^th.

 

The National Geographic Diversity score would seem to indicate that Andy’s totals, within the United States, are spread around more states than Guy’s.  In head-to-head competition, Andy beat Guy in 22 states and Guy tops Andy in 18 states.

 

Guy has the #1 ranking in an astounding 10 states and Andy is #1 in only one state.  Guy leads in several east coast states as well as Hawaii and Alaska.  Andy’ lone championship locale is the unlikely state of Utah.

 

Guy trumps Andy in international activity.  He has been to nearly 90 Canadian tracks.  He also has visits to Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Jamaica and the United Kingdom.  Andy’s only international experience comes from Canada where he’s seen about 25 tracks.

 

My challenge is to somehow find a way to beat these two guys.  Andy won’t be trackchasing until his tax season finishes up on April 15.  If all goes according to plan, I should be ahead of him by that time.  Guy, on the other hand, is an active ice trackchaser.  Nevertheless, I am on the case and have an excellent chance to someday pass both of these legendary trackchasers.