GREETINGS FROM ANDERSON, SOUTH CAROLINA AND THEN WESTMINSTER, SOUTH CAROLINA

 

AND THE READERS RESPOND

Rather than identifying my readers by name in the “And The Readers Respond” section, I will identify them by their geographical region.  This will allow some to offer more direct points of view.

 

Regarding the competitive nature of trackchasing – from the Midwest

“I see from your latest trackchaser e-mail you already have 19 new tracks for the year. And you have only a handful of new tracks to put you on top. But you do have the trackchasing hounds on your heals. I still think you should examine the current and long time leaders of your avocation. I'm thinking they must live in now or have lived in a locality that is packed with race tracks. Through the years they have made the rounds so to speak. With not too much "exertion." That's why I think you need to rent a trailer in a trailer park centered in the mother lode of American race track land and use that as your base of operations. Then go pick them peaches, as they say in the vernacular. The following year or year after that you shadow the Formula One circuit and hit every track. Who could top that? “

 

 

Regarding the National Geographical Diversity rankings – from the Southeast

“I don't know which one of us is crazier, you for thinking this stuff up, or me for taking the time to read it (yes, I read it all the way to the end)
Did I tell you recently that you're definitely over the edge with this? Yes, I know, "but the view is terrific."

 

 

PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS

 

The Strategy

A long long time ago back in the dark ages of trackchasing (actually following the 1999 season), I stood 15^th in the trackchasing world rankings with a meager 415 total tracks.  I started the 2006 season as the #5 ranked trackchaser in the world.  That’s a 10-position improvement in the standings but it did take me more than six years to achieve.

 

Today’s two tracks increase my lifetime trackchasing total to 1,012 tracks.  This total moves me into third place and past the “Father of trackchasing,” Guy Smith in the worldwide standings.  In 1999, I trailed Mr. Smith by 258 tracks.  That goes to show that no matter where a trackchaser stands in the rankings today, it’s possible to move up, albeit slowly.

 

The People

I didn’t run into any interesting people on the first day of my trip.  I guess I can blame that on my Bose headset.

 

The trip

This will be another “Trackchasing Classic” weekend.  That means I’ll be leaving California on Friday and returning on Monday.  The alarm went off at 4:20 a.m., which is about normal.

 

Carol will begin her trackchasing “Spring” season next weekend.  Nevertheless, she was nice enough to drive me to the airport.  How many folks have a spouse willing to get up at this early hour to drive them to the airport?  I’m just a lucky trackchaser.

 

I probably shouldn’t be trackchasing this weekend.  The UCLA Bruins are in the NCAA final four.  They haven’t been there since 1995.  I was invited to attend the games, which are being played in Indianapolis by good friend and long-time Trackchaser Report reader Ed Montgomery.  Ed is not only a reader but also a racer.  He runs his own self-sponsored Porsche in road races around his home area of Ohio.

 

I had to decline Ed’s invitation because of a very important trackchasing related business meeting in Charlotte.  At this time, I cannot reveal the subject matter of this meeting.  However, I hope to tell you all about it in due time.

 

In the meantime, our son J.J. will accompany Ed to the games in Indianapolis.  J.J. was a student at UCLA when the Bruins won the NCAA championship in ’95.  As a matter of fact, during that championship season, he went to every game, both home and away, except for one and that was a home game.  He and a friend were featured on the Los Angeles ABC TV station regarding their devotion to the Bruins.  That’s quite an accomplishment.  I guess he inherited the traveling bug from dear old dad.

 

I hope both Ed and J.J. have a great time at the final four.  Go Bruins!

 

 

RACE TRACK STATS:

ANDERSON MOTOR SPEEDWAY, ANDERSON, SOUTH CAROLINA - TRACK #1,011 – 3/31/06

This track was my seventh track to see in South Carolina.  I currently rank a somewhat low 13^th in the Gamecock state.  I guess since my overall rank is now third that whenever I rank lower than third in a state I’m underdeveloped there.

 

I am tied with NASCAR driver Kenny Schrader and Norm Wagner.  I am three tracks out of the top 10 (and those valuable National Geographic Diversity points).  I need ten total South Carolina tracks to move into the SC top 10.  John Moore of Knoxville, Tennessee has a comfortable lead in the state standings with 34 tracks.

 

 

WESTMINSTER SPEEDWAY, WESTMINSTER, SOUTH CAROLINA - TRACK #1,012 – 3/31/06

This track is my eighth track to see in South Carolina.  I am now tied with Ed Esser and Paul Weisel for 11^th place in the state.  If I can see just one more track in South Carolina I can crack the top 10.  I’m only about 28 position points out of first place in the lifetime NGD rankings.  Moving up to 10^th in South Carolina could erase five of those position points.  I will be focusing on NGD achievement during the remainder of this season.

 

 

 

RACE TRACK NEWS:

ANDERSON MOTOR SPEEDWAY

The track is located just a mile and a half from Interstate 85 so it’s easy to get too.  For my age, I guess you could call me a techno geek.  I arrived at the track at 7 p.m. for the scheduled start time of 8 p.m.  No need to use up my grandstand “Butt time” until the real racing starts.  I’ll just hang out in the parking lot.  From my position in the track parking lot, I have three pieces of electronics going.

 

First, I was listening to “Dialed In” with Claire B. Lang on my portable XM radio.  She has one of my favorite shows on the NASCAR radio channel.  Next, I had my race scanner going so I could hear both the track and various competitor’s communications during their pre-race practice sessions.  Finally I had my laptop to complete the Trackchaser Report and work on final plans for this weekend.  Unfortunately, the car has only two power outlets when I could have used three!

 

The track has one of the most impressive buildings I have ever seen for a short track to house their concessions, spectator suites and press box.  It’s made of brick and looks like a large home in an upscale neighborhood.  I won’t get many pictures of the track since it was nearly dark when I arrived.  The time changes this weekend so it will be easier to get pictures of track facilities for the next six months.

 

The racing facility is above average at Anderson.  I maintain the Carolinas have the best asphalt track facilities and competition in the country.  The grandstands are made of poured concrete.  Better bring a cushion in seating like this.  The track is very well lit, has a great P.A. system and a quality announcer.  Why does it always seems that when the P.A. is good, the announcer is good and when the P.A. system is bogus the announcer is as well?

 

The track started on time and ran each race efficiently.  They had a large number of classes including Rookie Mini-Stocks (15), VM? Modifieds (8), B Mini-Stocks (13), Pro Legends (12), Master Legends (11), Late Models (10) and Renegades (10).  Each class ran two heat races.  That meant 14 heat races of just 4-7 cars in each race.  Most of the classes had too many cars for one heat race and not really enough for two heats.

 

These types of car counts would have been perfect for an “All-features” show.  If every class ran just one race of 25-50 laps with all the cars competing in their class’s race, it would have been much more entertaining for the crowd.

 

I had a difficult time finding the track’s radio frequency.  Actually, I never did find it.  I did find the National Weather Bureau’s frequency as well as the local police department.  I learned the weather was good and that there were a couple of major traffic accidents working in the area.

 

The cars racing tonight were some of the best appearing I have seen anywhere this year.  I was surprised to see that small children were allowed in the pit area.  The grandstands are located several feet above the racing surface.  This allows the track to pit the cars in the infield area and not block the backstretch viewing area.

 

I wanted to make the Anderson Motor Speedway the first half of a blended double.  The only question was “Would this be a blended double with features or without.”

 

I figured with a good-sized crowd on hand and after having run off 14 heat races in slightly less than 90 minutes, the track would go to intermission.  If they had done that, I would have bolted for the Westminster Speedway.  However, they did not go to intermission after the heats, but immediately started the Rookie Mini Stock feature event.  Following that 15-lap feature I was out the door.  I was pleased with my experience at the Anderson Motor Speedway.

 

WESTMINSTER SPEEDWAY

The Westminster Speedway is an old-time southern track. You can just about imagine old moon shiners testing their skills on this track in the 1950s.  I don’t really know when the track was built.  I do think it’s older than wood.

 

Most recently the track sat dormant for six years, before starting back to racing in mid-season of 2005.  The track was a simple 35 miles from Anderson.  That made this track an easy blended double.

 

A call to the promoter earlier in the week yielded a somewhat reluctant teenager answering the home phone.  After he passed my call over to his mother (by mentioning the call appeared to coming from a long way away), I quizzed her regarding tonight’s program.

 

She told me they would start at 8 p.m., run several classes and should be over by midnight but maybe not.  That explanation was both good news and bad news. 

 

The good news was that making this a “Double” would be easy.  After spending 90 minutes (15 races) at Anderson, then driving about 40 minutes I would be able to see a large amount of racing at Westminster.

 

The bad news was that the Westminster Speedway took me 35 miles further from my overnight destination in Charlotte.  I arrived at Westminster just after 10 p.m. and left at nearly midnight.  That put me into Charlotte at a little past 2 a.m.  Since I had a 10 a.m. business meeting in Charlotte that was bad news.

 

The racing surface at Westminster sits about 25 feet below the viewing level of the seven row wooden grandstand.  The lighting isn’t as good as what I have in my driveway.  The P.A. is nearly inaudible and the announcer the same.

 

I saw five feature events of various stock car classes.  With no P.A. it was difficult to discern the exact name of each class.  The track surface was smooth and there wasn’t any dust.

 

The racing was fast on the high-banked dirt oval.  For some reason there wasn’t much passing.  That might have been because the faster cars were starting up front.

 

Fried bologna sandwiches are a staple at southern racetracks just as boiled peanuts are at Florida tracks.  I grew up on fried bologna sandwiches.  Therefore, I had to try one.  I plucked down my $1.35 and poured the mustard to it.  It was great!

 

WEATHER CONDITIONS

I started the weekend with the precipitation probability forecast – Friday 20%, Saturday 40% and Sunday 10%.  That’s not too bad.  The temperature was a pleasant 73 degrees when I reached the track.

 

However, on the two hour drive over from Charlotte to the Anderson, South Carolina area the sky got very dark.  It looked like it might rain.  I pulled in the Anderson Speedway parking lot at 7 p.m. a full hour before race time.  A few rain sprinkles hit the windshield, but it was clear skies off in the west so I was going to be O.K. tonight.

RENTAL CAR UPDATE:

I’ll be driving the National Rental Car Racing Chevy Malibu this week.  I bypassed my favorite rental car model the Pontiac Grand Prix.  With National, I get my pick of several cars.  The Grand Prix I peeked in smelled heavily of smoke.  Rather than check out every car in the lot, I settled on the Chevy because it had only 3,500 miles on the odometer.

 

 

 

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 (+26)

2.  Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 1,021 (+9)

3.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 1,012

4.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,011 (-1)

5.  Andy Sivi, Clairton, Pennsylvania – 1,007 (-5)

6.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania – 996 (-16)

 

 

 

Other notables

 

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

 

40.  Mike Knappenberger, Reading, Pennsylvania - 244 (+10)

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

42.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California - 234

42.  Andy Ritter, Mansfield, Pennsylvania - 234 (+/- 0)

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

2006 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS

 

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California - 21

2.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 15

3.  Mike Knappenberger, Reading, Pennsylvania - 10

3.  Paul Weisel, Orefield, Pennsylvania – 10

3.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Springs, Pennsylvania – 10

6.  Rick Young, Maxville, Ontario, Canada - 9

6.  Roland Vanden Eynde, Vilvoorde, Belgium – 9

8.  Roger Ferrell, Majenica, Indiana – 7

9.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 6

9.  Will White, Quakertown, Pennsylvania – 6

 

 

 

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:

 

AIRPLANE

 

Santa Ana, CA – Dallas, TX – 1,236 miles

Dallas, TX – Charlotte, NC – 934 miles

RENTAL CAR

Douglas International Airport, Charlotte, NC – trip begins

Anderson, South Carolina – 117 miles

Westminster, South Carolina – 142 miles

 

 

TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:

Anderson Motor Speedway – $10

Westminster Speedway – Free!

 

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

April 1 – East Lincoln Motor Speedway, Stanley, North Carolina

April 2 – Margarettsville Speedway, Margarettsville, North Carolina

 

 

 

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

1,003. Lowe’s Motor Speedway (1/5 mile asphalt oval), Concord, North Carolina - February 25

1,004. Concord Raceway, Concord, North Carolina - February 25

1,005. Antioch Speedway, Antioch, North Carolina - February 25

1,006. Green Valley Speedway, Gadsden, Alabama - February 26

1,007. East Bay Raceway (inner oval), Gibsonton, Florida – March 17

1,008. Volusia Speedway Park West (1/6M oval), Barberville, Florida – March 18

1,009. Speedway Park, Fruitland Park, Florida – March 18

1,010. Sand Mountain Speedway (road course), Fort Meade, Florida – March 19

1,011. Anderson Motor Speedway, Anderson, South Carolina – March 31

1,012. Westminster Speedway, Westminster, South Carolina – March 31