GREETINGS FROM LEBANON, MISSOURI

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

 

 

WEBSITE UPDATE

 

You can click on www.ranlayracing.com to see photos from my trackchasing visit to Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and who knows where else (June 6 to??). 

 

 

 

PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS

 

The Strategy

 

The Midway Speedway normally races on Friday nights.  I don’t  like to burn up Friday night tracks on a midweek show if I don’t have too.  However, Lebanon, Missouri is not very near any major airports.  That means getting to it on the first day of a Friday weekend trackchasing trip would be nearly impossible.  That and the upcoming weather forecast for the weekend made the Midway Speedway the best pick for tonight.

 

 The trip

 

I try not to bring Carol on trackchasing trips like this one.  For the most part, it’s drive 8-10 hours each day for 2-3 hours of racing.  Only the most dedicated (sick?) trackchaser can accept these conditions.

 

The People

 

I have the utmost respect for each and every Trackchaser Report reader.  I want the best for everyone and I don’t want you to ever be ripped off.  This is why, from time to time, I offer tips that can save you time, money or both time and money.  We covered some of this ground before, but just in case any of this has slipped your mind, you might want to give this a listen.

 

With the race program ending at just before 10 p.m., I figured I would drive for an hour or two, so I’d be that much closer to Friday’s race location.  I rarely make advance hotel reservations.  If the weather is uncertain, I might have to change my trackchasing destination.  If I have a long drive to get to the next race, I might not know how far I’m willing to drive following a race.  Hotel reservations are just too limiting for my style of trackchasing.

 

I ended up driving tonight until nearly midnight.  At that point I reached St. Clair, Missouri.  As I was driving along Interstate 44, I came across a huge and brightly lit sign that read, “Budget Lodging, A Touch of Class for Less.”  All of that sounded good.

 

I pulled off at the exit and found a well-lit, modern large two-story motel.  Everything about it looked good.  I walked up to the front desk and inquired about availability.  Yes, they had a room.  I then asked about the price for a night’s lodging.  “Seventy-nine dollars plus tax,” a friendly desk clerk smiled.  Wow!  That didn’t sound like “Budget lodging” to me.

 

Permit me to digress for a moment.  I realize I am writing to a broad spectrum of travelers with the Trackchaser Report.  I know that too some a night out means sleeping in the car.  For others, they are much more comfortable in a Ritz Carleton.  As someone who have both slept in his car and stayed at a Ritz Carleton, I know that each of them can be the right choice for a particular occasion.  Tonight the Budget Lodge seemed like a good choice, but not for $79.

 

I simply replied with an “Explosive No.”  This comes from my business negotiating training at Richardson-Vicks some 20 years ago.  The “Explosive No” does not really need to be explosive.  It just needs to be a quick and firm reply that you are not accepting the terms offered and frankly, you wouldn’t even consider the terms offered. 

 

I replied with this, “Oh no, there’s no way I could afford that (Make sure you put your Rolex wristwatch in your pocket before making this statement), I was only expecting to pay $45 (always pick a number lower than what you’ve been offered or they will know you failed the negotiating class.)

 

What did I say after that?  Nothing.  At this point in the process, the first one to talk loses.  I didn’t talk, but she did. “Hmmm, we could offer you the business rate for $54 plus tax.  I can’t go as low as $45.”  I honestly felt I could have gotten her to reduce the price even lower, but I wanted to leave her with some personal self-esteem.  I accepted her offer and checked into room #45 with a $25 savings. 

 

So what did we learn here?  Use the “Explosive No” to let your opponent know their terms are not anywhere close to being acceptable.  Next, make your own offer that is far below the initial asking price and explain that is the best you can do.  Then shut up and wait for the savings to come your way.  Try it and you’ll do just fine.

 

I’ve got one more hotel tip for you.  Today, I was making a reservation at a Super 8.  I’ve learned to call the “800” number and get a price quote.  Then I call the hotel itself and ask for their price.  More often than not, they are not the same.

 

Today, the toll-free number customer service rep quoted me a room for $58, which could be reduced to $52 with my AAA membership.  I called the hotel.  They quoted me a rate of $58 and told me no AAA discount was available.  At this point, I told the hotel clerk that I couldn’t pay this rate and would have to look elsewhere.  She didn’t want to lose a customer and offered me a $48 “Business” rate.  Since all of you know that I treat the trackchasing game as a business, I accepted her reduced rate.

 

You also know that $25 and $4 savings can up after time.  Throw in some multi-thousand dollar savings when buying cars and houses and pretty soon you won’t be able to fold your wallet.

 

I know that some people reading this (primarily secondary recipients of the TR) will object to the style of this message and shut their ears to advice.  The others (Yes, the loyal primary readers of the TR) will figure out a way to take this information, adapt it to their personality, and benefit time and time again.  It is the latter group that I am writing too.

 

 

RACE TRACK STATS:

MIDWAY SPEEDWAY, LEBANON, MISSOURI - TRACK #1,052 – 6/8/06

 

This was my 23^rd lifetime track to see in the Show Me state.  It was also my first visit to Missouri since track #740 at the Montgomery County Speedway in New Florence in 2004.  I’m in 10^th place in the state but only one track from a ninth place tie. 

Ed Esser leads Jack Erdmann 44-43 for the state lead.  Doesn’t it seem like these two guys are 1-2 in nearly every Midwestern state?

 

Bud and Florene,

 

I would have given you a call but I didn’t get into Missouri until race time and had to leave the state right after the race.  Hope to see you on a future Show Me state trip!

 

 

 

RACE TRACK NEWS:

 

MIDWAY SPEEDWAY

 

There are two active dirt tracks racing in Lebanon, Missouri.  One of those, the Lebanon I-44 Speedway, was an asphalt track back in 2000.  I saw the legendary Larry Phillips win the feature back then.  The Lebanon I-44 Speedway has switched from asphalt to dirt racing.  Tonight’s track, the Midway Speedway has always been a dirt track.

 

As you probably know, trackchasing rules allow us to count a track once when it’s dirt or asphalt and once again if the track changes surfaces.  Not many tracks fall into this category but I might have 20-25 tracks where I’ve been able to count a facility twice because of surface changes.

 

Tonight was “Kenny Wallace” night.  Mr. Wallace is the younger brother of the more famous Wallace brothers, Rusty.  Kenny always seems like he’s been hanging out at Starbucks a little too much with his hyperactive personality.  Mr. Wallace would be driving a St. Louis baseball Cardinals sponsored modified tonight.

 

The program started earlier than the announced start time of 8 p.m.  They actually started at 7:45 p.m.  This is most unusual.  The three classes of cars (Bombers, Late Models and Modifieds) each had three heat races.  All heats were finished by 8:36 p.m.  This is also most unusual.

 

The facility is a good ¼ mile banked dirt oval.  The P.A. system could use some work, but the announcer was good and the crowd comfortably seated in a 20-row steel grandstand.  I was especially content in my Sabo sponsored stadium seat.  I received a brief but welcoming trackchaser mention.

 

I listened with amusement to the track’s communication at 462.7250 on my race scanner dial.  This track was not nearly as well run as the Buena Vista Raceway of the night before.  They had an annoying young woman (scorer) who seemed to want to second-guess most decisions made by track officials.

 

Her comment to the flagman of “Getting a little twitchy with the yellow aren’t you,” admonished him for displaying the yellow flag too early.  “We’ve got little girls in the grandstands too,” was meant to inform track workers who were handing out Kenny Wallace die cast models that they might be discriminating based upon gender.  Her final comment was one of her best.  Referring to a driver that was having difficulty getting around the moist track, “He couldn’t drive a duck to water.”  Yes, she was a classic!

 

With 17-23 cars in each class, there would be no “B” features.  I liked that.  Somehow, Kenny Wallace was able to start on the pole of his heat race and fall back to third in a seven-car field.  Even more amazing was that he was then allowed to start on the front row pole of the feature and fell back to a 10^th place finish or so at the end.

 

Overall, the closeness of the racing was great.  In trackchasing, I see so much racing on tracks that are not spectator friendly and/or entertaining. These include road courses where you hardly ever see the cars or figure 8 tracks where the cars never exceed 20 M.P.H.   This group also includes ovals where there is no two abreast racing and poor car counts.

 

The last three nights of racing have been like it used to be when I was a racechaser.  This means good close easy to see racing with lots of bumping and passing.  Not everyone will agree, but I’ll take a quarter mile dirt track over everything else I see.

 

There was one bomber racecar that took a pretty hard end over end flip.  This car was driven by a young woman.  Her brother was also in the race.  Seeing his sister take such a hard flip, he stopped his car and tried to come to her aid.

 

He flipped down his window safety net.  You could see his arms flailing as he tried to quickly unbutton his safety gear and get out of the car.  Finally, he pulled himself through the driver window in a hasty fashion only to get one leg stuck in his safety belts.  Here he was hanging face down on the side of his car with one leg stuck inside the car!  It looked to me like he might have broken his leg.

 

Finally, he extricated himself and ran to his sister’s aid.  He leapt into the passenger’s window from a dead run.  Had he misjudged his jump, he could have easily decapitated himself!  After all of this exuberance, his sister turned out to be fine, but I suspect the brother may have some broken bones!

 

It was a fine night of racing.  The features were great.  This evening’s racing had the last event of the night checkering at 9:58 p.m.   At that point, I was on the road to that next elusive track.

 

 

WEATHER CONDITIONS

 

The weather was warm.  It was 89 degrees when I entered the track.  The sun sets just over turns three and four.  There was no wind and it was a very stuffy place until the sun went behind the trees.

 

RENTAL CAR UPDATE:

 

As you can see below, I’m piling on the miles during this trip.  If I’m going to see midweek shows, this will be a requirement in the future.  I am up to the challenge.

 

 

Tuesday total driving miles – 273 miles

Wednesday total driving miles – 595 miles

Thursday total driving miles – 530 miles

 

 

 

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 – 1,052

2.  Rick Schneider – Bay Shore, New York - 1,039 (-13)

3.  Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 1,021 (-31)

4.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,019 (-33)

5.  Andy Sivi, Clairton, Pennsylvania – 1,007 (-45)

6.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania – 1,001 (-51)*

 

* First warning, you are within 50 tracks of being removed from this list.

 

 

 

Other notables

 

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

 

38.  Spike Rixon, Watford, England - 252 (+2)

39.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California - 250

40.  Virginia Schuler, Allentown, Pennsylvania - 248 (-2)

41.  Steve Kinser, Bloomington, Indiana – 246 (-4)

 

 

 

 

2006 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS

 

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California - 61

2.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 34

3.  Roland Vanden Eynde, Vilvoorde, Belgium – 33

4.  Mike Knappenberger, Reading, Pennsylvania - 30

5.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 20

6.  Roger Ferrell, Majenica, Indiana – 19

6.  Paul Weisel, Orefield, Pennsylvania – 19

8.  Linda Thomas, Watford, England - 15

8.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Springs, Pennsylvania – 15

10.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania - 14

 

 

 

 

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

 

San Diego, CA – Minneapolis, MN – 1,530 miles

RENTAL CAR

 

Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport – trip begins

Hibbing, Minnesota – 213 miles

Alta, Iowa – 611 miles

Lebanon, Missouri – 1,243 miles

TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:

Hibbing Raceway – $15

Buena Vista Raceway - $10

Midway Speedway - $15

 

 

 

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

 

Bad weather for the weekend in Iowa is forcing me to bypass the Hawkeye state.  I’ll drive east to Ohio and see how I do there.

 

 

 

 

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

1,048. Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch, Pahrump, Nevada – June 3

1,049. The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, Nevada – June 3

 

1,050. Hibbing Raceway, Hibbing, Minnesota – June 6

 

1,051. Buena Vista Raceway, Alta, Iowa – June 7

 

1,052. Midway Speedway, Lebanon, Missouri – June 8