GREETINGS FROM SISSETON, SOUTH DAKOTA AND THEN LISBON, NORTH DAKOTA

I WOKE UP IN DENISON, IOWA THIS MORNING. THIS IS WHAT TRANSPIRED TODAY.

 

 

You can click on www.ranlayracing.com to see photos from my Memorial Day, six, no make that seven tracks Upper Midwest tour (May 25-29).  After you receive the Trackchaser Report for each track, I’ll have photos posted on the website for that track for you to see.  This will allow you to put pictures with the words.

 

 

PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS

 

The Strategy

 

Today was Monday, Memorial Day.  I had challenging strategic assignment.  Should I go to the Tri-State Speedway in Sisseton, South Dakota or the Wa Keeney Speedway in Wa Keeney, Kansas?  Here is how I compared the two.

 

 

Track Countability

 

Wa Keeney, KS – one track.

 

Sisseton, SD – one track.  However, a possible day/night double was available in Lisbon, North Dakota.

 

Sisseton +1

 

 

Geographic Remoteness

Wa Keeney, KS – this track is one of the more remote tracks in the country when considering nearby commercial airports.

 

Sisseton, SD – remote, but not as remote as Wa Keeney.

 

Wa Keeney +1

 

 

Race Frequency

Wa Keeney, KS – track races on nine dates this year, mainly Sundays.

 

Sisseton, SD – track races on five dates this year, mainly Sundays.

 

Sisseton +1

Weather

 

Wa Keeney, KS – Sunny with only a 10% chance of rain

 

Sisseton, SD – All week the rain probability had been 30-40% for today.  I made one last minute check today and the forecast rain possibilities had changed to just 20%

 

Tie

 

 

Driving distance

 

Wa Keeney, KS – 790 miles from this morning’s hotel to the track and back to the Omaha Airport.

 

Sisseton, SD – 650 miles from this morning’s hotel to the track and back to the Omaha Airport.  However, if I were able to make the evening portion of the day/night double, the driving distance would increase to 850 miles.

 

Tie

 

 

Lifetime National Geographic Points

 

Wa Keeney, KS – Would move me into 11^th place in Kansas and gain me no immediate NGD points.

 

Sisseton, SD – Would move me from a tie in South Dakota for 8^th place into a tie for 5^th place, gaining me three points.  Note:  Going into the 2006 season, I trailed the first place lifetime NGD contestant by 29 points.

 

Lisbon, ND – one NGD point available for getting this track.

 

Sisseton +1

 

 

Annual National Geographic Points

 

Wa Keeney, KS – Would be my first visit to Kansas this season gaining an advantage in annual NGD points.

 

Sisseton, SD – Have already visited South Dakota this season, so coming to this track would give me a negligible annual NGD advantage.

 

Lisbon, ND - Would be first visit to North Dakota this season gaining an advantage in annual NGD points.

 

Tie

 

 

NGD points are important.  I entered the 2006 season trailing first place in the lifetime National Geographic Diversity standings by just 29 points.  I have never won a lifetime or annual NGD contest in the four years of its existence.  Gaining an NGD point here and there is important.  I envy Carol’s periodic receipt of her National Geography magazine award.

 

Anyway, after reviewing all of the above key trackchasing strategic factors along with some secret elements of my formula, I pointed the National Rental Car Racing Chevy Impala to the north and away we went!

 

 

 

The trip

 

The driving part of the trip would be long today, 673 miles.  It would be another 180 miles on Tuesday morning back to the airport.  With speed limits of 75 M.P.H. most of the way and no traffic, I did not mind the drive a bit.  I would end up driving some rural two-lane roads in Iowa, then the entire vertical length of South Dakota before touring into North Dakota for another 100 miles or so.

 

The critters are out in the Dakotas.  Every May I see a large amount of deer and raccoon road kill.  Some of the deer lying on side of the road were huge.  The bugs hitting the windshield got so bad; I ended up stopping during the night portion of the drive at gas stations that were closed simply to use their windshield washer liquid. 

 

At one gas stop, the bugs were so bad because of the bright lights at the station.  When I went to fill-up and clean the windshield the bugs were both flying up my nose and biting my white golfer tan ankles.  I didn’t know whether to blow my nose and scratch myself!

 

I did make one stop at a Super 8 in the early afternoon.  I had stayed there earlier in the trip and knew I could access their wireless internet from the parking lot.  I also knew that Ed Esser had posted a trackchaser report via our trackchaser email group in September 2005, on the track I would be visiting this afternoon. 

 

I wanted to see what he had to say about the track’s efficiency.  If they finished early enough, I could make it to an evening race in North Dakota.  If not, I would head back toward Omaha.  His report was not encouraging.

 

 

The People

 

I guess you have to give good people credit for at least trying, even though they might be incompetent.  I know that might sound a little harsh, but it was mostly true today. 

 

Frequently a person’s systems appear to make them look incompetent.  Let’s look at an example.  If someone’s alarm clock does not have good batteries, then it may not wake them on time and they will show up to their morning appointment late.  They may look incompetent, but it was really their system (alarm clock) that let them down. 

 

Of course, in many cases, people don’t understand when their systems are not working properly (dead batteries) or are just plain flawed.  This is why I am fond of saying that an organization or individual’s systems will give them the results they are designed for.  An individual who does not understand the weakness of their system is as incompetent as someone who does.  The phrase “Consciously incompetent or unconsciously incompetent” comes too mind.

 

The people running the Tri State Speedway seems to have good intentions, but their systems were flawed and their inexperience showed.  Let me provide some examples.

 

Before the race, I chatted with the track’s announcer.  She was a nice person and even gave me a quick trackchaser mention.  However, organization did not seem to be her group’s style.  Apparently, someone had misplaced the National Anthem CD.  While the crowd waited patiently (for about 15 minutes), the search was on for the CD.  With an appropriate amount of expletives, it never was found and the program continued, now 25 minutes behind schedule.

 

The race was broken up into two 30-minute segments.  There was no announcing whatsoever during the racing activity even though the P.A. system was good.  This shows a lack of understanding on how to entertain your crowd.

 

I’ve been going to races for a very long time.  The following quote that I’m about ready to share with you, just about had me falling off the back of the grandstand in laughter.  During the intermission break, the announcer wanted to give the crowd the results at the halfway point of the race.  She came on the P.A. with this line, “I’m going to give you the top five, in no particular order.”  I could think for days and never come up with this line.  It’s the best I’ve ever heard.

 

The track decided to water the racing surface, which had gotten dusty during the first half of the race.  The water truck circled the one-third mile dirt oval slowly.  I timed the first lap at 2 minutes and 40 seconds.

 

On the last of four laps, the large water tanker type truck got stuck.  The truck was in the middle of the straightaway directly in front of the grandstand.  The water continued to flow from the truck while it was stuck only making it harder to move the truck later.

 

These are 3-4 prime examples of a track having good intentions but inexperienced people operating flawed systems.  Of course, I am available as a consultant whenever they want to call.  I think a thousand dollars a day plus expenses should do it.

 

 

 

RACE TRACK STATS:

TRI-STATE SPEEDWAY, SISSETON, SOUTH DAKTOTA - TRACK #1,046 – 5/29/06

 

This was my 9^th lifetime track to see in South Dakota and moved me from an eighth place time to a tie for 5^th place in the state.  I trail two trackchasers tied for third ahead of me by just two tracks.  I have only six more countable South Dakota tracks in my database.  Therefore, I won’t be coming back very often to South Dakota.  Ed Esser leads South Dakota with 15 tracks.

 

SHEYENNE RIVER SPEEDWAY, LISBON, NORTH DAKTOTA - TRACK #1,047 – 5/29/06

 

This was my 8^th lifetime track to see in North Dakota.  I have moved from sixth place into a tie for firth place with Dale O’Brien.  Every NGD point counts!  Jack Erdmann leads Don McCauley 16-14 for the state lead.

 

 

 

RACE TRACK NEWS:

 

TRI-STATE SPEEDWAY

 

This track in rural South Dakota opened in 2005.  Today was their first race of 2006.  The enduro race start time was set for 4 p.m.  I was under the impression, the track did not have lights and that was the reason for the late afternoon start.  I was surprised to see they do have lights.  I was even more surprised to see the lights were turned on even though it was a sunny blue-sky day at 4 o’clock in the afternoon.  Maybe they were just testing them.

 

The Dakota Connection casino (http://www.500nations.com/casinos/sdDakotaConnection.asp) is responsible for the creation of this track.  The casino appears to be operated on an Indian (Sitting Bull not Gandhi) reservation.  I was thinking Las Vegas casino when I researched the track.  Nope, not Las Vegas.  This casino had about 50 slot machines and a video poker machine.  The video poker machine was cool.  They had a nearly life-sized image on video (DVD quality) of a well-endowed female poker dealer.  The dealer would speak to the players and then deal the cards on the screen.  Like I say very cool!

 

This track races just one time per month.  All races begin at 4 p.m.  When I entered the speedway, I was given a free program.  It listed the names and numbers of each driver as well as their sponsors.  There were 16 entries today.

 

The program started late at 4:25 p.m., while the driver’s meeting lasted more than 30 minutes and they searched for the National Anthem CD.  There were no P.A. announcements.  I had no idea how long the race would last.  I did have Ed’s notes from last year when the race lasted 90 minutes.

 

I asked the couple sitting next to me if they knew how long the race would last.  “An hour and half?” they each replied with questioning looks.  That might be too long for me to get up to the evening race in North Dakota.

 

There were about 200 people in the stands.  The wind blew hard, but away from the grandstands.  I counted seven red flags during the race.  There were no red flags for wrecks but only for breakdowns.  When the red flag was shown, the cars would stop where they were on the one-third mile slightly banked dirt oval.  A construction skip loader machine would remove the disabled racecar from the track.  At that point, the flagman would throw the green again, the cars would accelerate from a dead stop, and the race was on.

 

From time to time, cars would pull into the pits with a flat tire.  Their pit crews clad in shorts and usually shirtless would administer help.  I timed the race leader with an 84-second stop for a flat tire and they were using an air wrench.  That’s not good.

 

At exactly 4:55 p.m., 30 minutes after the race began the red flag was shown.  The flag then presented the crossed flags seemingly signifying the race was half over.  For a while I thought he had red flagged the race, simple to tell the driver’s the race was 50% finished.  That would have been a first for me.

 

However, during the intermission they watered the track.  Parts of the track were very dusty and other portions were a real mud pit.  As mentioned above, the water truck got stuck delaying the program further.

 

At 5:10 p.m., the race resumed with just eight of the sixteen cars remaining.  I still didn’t know how much of the race remained.  Based upon Ed’s experience and the information from the people sitting next to me, I thought the race might still be 90 minutes with another intermission yet to come.

 

Watching just eight cars race around a muddy oval, isn’t the highest form of motorsport, although I guess it could qualify as a Formula one race at Indy.  It also wasn’t helpful that they built a humungous flag stand between the grandstand and the track.

 

I was more than pleasantly surprised to see the checkered flag unfurled and thrown at exactly 5:40 p.m.  The race was over.  I got up to leave.  No one in the grandstand was moving.  I asked an official why they weren’t getting up to go.  “They want to hear the final results.  Then they want to go into the pit area.”  As I reached the gate exit, a few other folks started to join me.

 

It was a nice afternoon to get a track that races just once a month in a geographically remote part of the country.  They made a lot of mistakes in their racetrack operation.  The crowd didn’t seem to mind.  I doubt they get much real entertainment up here.

 

It was 5:42 p.m. when I reached the parking lot.  Just 90 minutes later, I had traveled 100 miles and was pulling into the Sheyenne River Speedway’s lot at 7:12 p.m.  With a 6 p.m. start they were in the middle of their heat races.  A day/night double would be possible.

 

SHEYENNE RIVER SPEEDWAY

For some reason I didn’t think this track had lights either.  I figured that without lights they couldn’t race much past 8:30 p.m.  That would allow me to get a jump on my drive back towards Omaha.  I was wrong on both counts.  They do have lights.  They also raced in daylight until just past 9:30 p.m.  They never had to turn on the lights at all as the last feature event of the “Night” wrapped up at about 9:35 p.m.

 

There were five classes of car racing tonight.  When I got there they were running a modified heat race.  That race was followed by three Super Stock heats for just 16 total cars.  The extreme inside and outside lanes of the quarter mile high-banked dirt oval were very dusty on a warm and windy day.  The middle of the track was dry-slick from racecar tire rubber.  After the heats, they watered the track.

 

Following intermission I was able to see all five feature events.  The 5 mini-trucks ran 10 laps with some exciting spins beginning at 8:05 p.m.  Then the Bombers came out for their 11-car, 15-lap main.  They were followed by the 12-car street stock feature and the 14-car, 20-lap modified feature.  The final feature of the night was the Super Stocks.

 

Overall, the track was inefficient.  The flagman threw the yellow much too quickly causing unneeded delays.  The track did have a two spins and you’re out rule, which I loved.  The Sheyenne River Speedway will be running at 7:15 p.m. every Tuesday night.  I guess all the Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights are used by locally competing tracks.  The promoter took over the microphone and told the crowd, “We’ll see how Tuesdays work this year.”  The folks sitting next to me didn’t think that would work that well.

 

I’ve got to give a shout out to the girls of North Dakota.  I traveled to nearly every nook and cranny in the U.S.A. many times over.  The best-looking women reside in Southern California, Las Vegas and Memphis.  For some reason North Dakota has more than its share of tall slender blonde women who are quite attractive.  I’m an observer of people wherever I go and this North Dakota feature is striking considering this phenomenon does not exist in any neighboring states.  Can anyone explain this?

 

While the promoter still had control of the microphone, he mentioned the sponsors who had helped the track.  He also told the crowd that if the grandstand were sold out again, like it was tonight, for three straight weeks, the two flagman would flag the races in drag.  This got the immediate attention of both flaggers and the crowd loved it.  The promoter showing his sense of humor also mentioned, “I hadn’t brought that idea up with the guys just yet.”  Again, the crowd loved his mirth making.  Figuring he was on a roll, he followed with “We’ll see in Norm wears a thong!”  Norm, the assistant flagman was a bit on the portly side and seemed to squirm somewhat at this comment.  The word picture the promoter’s comment made was too much for me.

 

Up until this morning I had not given any thought to going racing in South Dakota much less North Dakota.  However, when the weather forecast improved for South Dakota that brought North Dakota into the picture.  Nevertheless, had they run a 90-minute race in South Dakota like they did last year rather than a 60-minute race, I would never have driven to North Dakota.

 

Following the race, I drove 230 miles back to Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  I stayed in Sioux Falls every other night for three nights of the five-day trip.  It seemed like I was always driving past Sioux Falls, mainly because I was.

 

It was about 420 miles from the North Dakota track to the Omaha airport.  My reservation called for a 8:15 p.m. departure on Tuesday.  My plan all along had been to standby for an earlier flight since I had an Angel’s baseball game to attend with Carol on Tuesday night.  The 7:15 a.m. standby flight was now out of the question with the added North Dakota track.  I ended up sitting in the Omaha airport for two extra hours and the Denver airport for three extra hours before landing back in California at 7:20 p.m.  I rushed over to Angel Stadium and met Carol in the fourth inning of their game with the Minnesota Twins.  Heck, I could have made it on time if they were playing in Minnesota!

 

 

WEATHER CONDITIONS

 

Today, Monday, was the nicest day of the trip.  It was 79 degrees in Sisseton, South Dakota during the afternoon.  The wind blew hard, more than 20 M.P.H. during the entire race.  Fortunately, the wind blew away from the grandstand so the dusty track didn’t bother anyone.

 

It was 75 degrees when I arrived in Lisbon, North Dakota for the evening race.  Again, the wind blew hard but away from the grandstand.  As the sun started to set, I could see folks going to their cars for their coats.  Nevertheless, when I got in the car just past 9:30 p.m., it was still 71 degrees, although it felt colder.

 

RENTAL CAR UPDATE:

 

I guess one might say that this trip required a good deal of driving.  I didn’t mind a bit of it.  Except for getting through the Twin Cities on Friday afternoon, there was very little traffic.  Here was my mileage breakdown by day with the National Rental Car Racing Chevy Impala.

 

Thursday (fly-in) - 195

Friday – 425

Saturday – 510

Sunday – 171

Monday – 673

Tuesday (fly-out) - 180

 

 

 

The driving portion of this trip covered 2,154 miles.  I stopped for gas six times.  Total fuel expense came to $214.72.  I paid an average price of $2.70 per gallon.  The Chevy gave me 27.1 M.P.G. in fuel mileage at an average cost of one dime per mile. 

 

 

 

LIFETIME TRACKCHASER STANDINGS UPDATE:

 

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

 

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 1,047

2.  Rick Schneider – Bay Shore, New York - 1,039 (-8)

3.  Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 1,021 (-26)

4.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,015 (-32)

5.  Andy Sivi, Clairton, Pennsylvania – 1,007 (-40)

6.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania – 1,000 (-47)

 

 

 

Other notables

 

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

 

37.  Mike Knappenberger, Reading, Pennsylvania - 257 (+9)

38.  Spike Rixon, Watford, England - 252 (+4)

39.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California - 248

39.  Virginia Schuler, Allentown, Pennsylvania - 248 (+/- 0)

41.  Steve Kinser, Bloomington, Indiana – 246 (-2)

 

 

 

 

2006 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS

 

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California - 56

2.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 34

3.  Roland Vanden Eynde, Vilvoorde, Belgium – 28

4.  Mike Knappenberger, Reading, Pennsylvania - 23

5.  Roger Ferrell, Majenica, Indiana – 18

5.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 18

7.  Paul Weisel, Orefield, Pennsylvania – 17

8.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Springs, Pennsylvania – 14

9.  Linda Thomas, Watford, England - 13

10.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania - 12

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,

Randy Lewis

The World’s #1 Ranked Trackchaser

 

Eat all your sandwiches.  You’ll need them for the pursuit.

 

 

 

 

 

CUMULATIVE TRAVEL DISTANCES:

 

AIRPLANE

 

Santa Ana, CA – Denver, CO – 844 miles

Denver, CO – Omaha, NE - 470 miles

 

RENTAL CAR

 

Omaha Airport – trip begins

Jefferson, South Dakota – 115 miles

Superior, Wisconsin – 620 miles

Brainerd, Minnesota – 758 miles

Canby, Minnesota – 1,030 miles

Denison, Iowa – 1,301 miles

Sisseton, South Dakota – 1,623 miles

Lisbon, North Dakota – 1,723 miles

Omaha Airport – 2,154 miles - trip ends

AIRPLANE

 

Omaha, NE – Denver, CO - 470 miles

Denver, CO – Santa Ana, CA - 844 miles

 

 

 

Total air miles – 2,628 miles

Total auto and air miles traveled on this trip – 4,782 miles

 

 

 

 

 

TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:

 

Park Jefferson Speedway – $18

Superior Speedway - $20

Brainerd International Raceway – Free

Canby Speedway - $10

Crawford County Fairgrounds - $7

Tri-State Speedway - $7

Sheyenne River Speedway - $7

 

Total race admissions for the trip – about $69

 

 

 

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

 

I’m goin’ to Vegas baby!

 

 

 

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

 

1,013. East Lincoln Motor Speedway, Stanley, North Carolina – April 1

 

1,014. Margarettsville Speedway, Margarettsville, North Carolina – April 2

 

1,015. Sunny South Raceway, Grand Bay, Alabama – April 7

 

1,016. Barber Motorsports Park, Leeds, Alabama – April 8

 

1,017. Coldwater Raceway, Coldwater, Alabama – April 8

 

1,018. Talladega Short Track, Talladega, Alabama – April 8

 

1,019. Ballymena Raceway, Ballymena, Northern Ireland - April 14

 

1,020. Oulton Park, Little Budworth, England - April 15

 

1,021. Somerset Rebels Banger Raceway, Rooks Bridge, England - April 16

 

1,022. Mendips Raceway, Shipham, England - April 16

 

1,023. Oval Raceway, Angmering, England - April 17

 

1,024. Arlington Stadium, Eastbourne, England - April 17

 

1,025. Southside Speedway, Midlothian, Virginia - April 28

 

1,026. Motor Mile Speedway, Radford, Virginia - April 29

 

1,027. Wythe Speedway, Wytheville, Virginia - April 29

 

1,028. Summit Point Raceway, Summit Point Circuit, Summit Point, West Virginia - April 30

 

1,029. Old Dominion Speedway – inner inner oval, Manassas, Virginia - April 30

 

1,030. Shenandoah Speedway, Shenandoah, Virginia – May 4

 

1,031. Bridgeport Speedway (inner oval – front), Bridgeport, New Jersey - May 5

 

1,032. Empty Jug, Hawley, Pennsylvania - May 6

 

1,033. Oakland Valley Race Park, Cuddebackville, New York - May 6

 

1,034. Thunder Mountain Speedway, Center Isle, New York - May 6

 

1,035. Motocross 338, Southwick, Massachusetts - May 7

 

1,036. Glen Ridge Motorsports Park, Fultonville, New York - May 7

 

1,037. Calumet County Speedway, Chilton, Wisconsin - May 19

 

1,038. Grant County Speedway, Lancaster, Wisconsin - May 20

 

1,039. Blackhawk Farms Raceway, Rockton, Illinois - May 21

 

1,040. The Milwaukee Mile (Road course), West Allis, Wisconsin - May 21

 

** Angell Park Speedway, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin – May 21 (new track Carol only)

 

1,041. Park Jefferson Speedway, Jefferson, South Dakota - May 25

 

1,042. Superior Speedway, Superior, Wisconsin - May 26

 

1,043. Brainerd International Raceway, Brainerd, Minnesota - May 27

 

1,044. Canby Speedway, Canby, Minnesota - May 27

1,045. Crawford County Fairgrounds (figure 8), Denison, Iowa - May 28

1,046. Tri-State Speedway, Sisseton, South Dakota - May 29

1,047. Sheyenne River Speedway, Lisbon, North Dakota - May 29