GREETINGS FROM POPLAR BLUFF, MISSOURI

I WOKE UP IN ELDON, MISSOURI THIS MORNING.  THIS IS WHAT TRANSPIRED TODAY.

 

 

It may take me a few days to get photos up for these races.  Soon you can click on www.ranlayracing.com to see photos of this week’s trip.

 

 

 

PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS

 

The Strategy

 

Tonight was supposed to be a very special night of trackchasing for me.  I was celebrating the fourth anniversary of my retirement from that big soap company in the sky, Procter & Gamble.  That famous date was June 30, 2002.  I wrapped up my last official day of nearly 30 years of employment with my 581^st career track at the Wyoming County International Raceway in Perry, New York.  Since that time, I’ve tried to remain an active retiree with 486 new tracks in the last four years.

 

However, the racing tonight left me as a very unsatisfied consumer.  If Procter & Gamble disappointed their toothpaste and shampoo consumers to this degree, they would be out of business before Christmas.

 

The only good thing I can say about my trackchasing strategy is that I saw a Saturday night track on some other night that Saturday.  Most weekly tracks race on Saturday.  I can always find a Saturday night track, so seeing Poplar Bluff on another night (Friday) helps.  Another plus is that Poplar Bluff is geographically remote.  That means the track is not near a commercial airport.  Not being near an airport would make it difficult for me to start a trackchasing trip at this track, thus making it less desirable, except when placed in the middle of a trackchasing trip.

 

When Carol and I go to see our UCLA Bruins play Stanford, as an example, in basketball, we want to see UCLA and Stanford.  We don’t want to see any high school teams, we don’t want to see the peewee league teams, we want to see UCLA and Stamford.  If the UCLA athletic director wants to have the peewees put on an exhibition at halftime for five minutes that’s O.K.  Any more than that is not.  As you might have guessed, I’m very disgusted with the management of Poplar Speedway.  I’ll tell you more about that in the “Race Track News” section.

The trip

 

I only had to drive about 250 miles to get to tonight’s track.  That allowed me to go on a 45-minute power walk this morning.  I needed to due the walk early before the heat and humidity set in.  I needed to keep walking at a good pace or the mosquitoes would eat me alive.

 

I did require a 12-minute power nap as the power walk and winding roads must have made me sleepy.  I drove for nearly two hours after tonight’s race and somehow ended up driving 381 miles for the day.

 

 

The People

 

Sometimes I feel like interacting with the people sitting next to me at the track and sometimes I don’t.  Tonight I just felt like sitting in my top row Sabo sponsored stadium seat and listening to the track’s communications on my race scanner via my noise-canceling headset.  The headset pretty much gives a clear signal to those sitting next to me that I’d rather not carry on a conversation.

 

There was kind of a rough looking fellow sitting next to me.  We were seated side by side for nearly two hours and we had not spoken.  As I was engrossed in whatever was coming over the radio, I felt a tap on my shoulder.  The man sitting next to me was trying to get my attention.  I pulled one side of my headset away from my ear to hear what he wanted.  “Do you mind if I smoke?”  That seemed like an unusual question coming from a man like this in these circumstances.

 

Since we were in the open air I didn’t mind.  I said, “That’s no problem, thanks for asking.”  I always feel like cooperating with others when I can sense they want to cooperate with me.

 

The walkway in front of the grandstand had a surface of large rock gravel.  I saw one middle-aged woman walking with her husband in front of the grandstand.  She was walking barefooted on large sharp-edged gravel!  I don’t know why.  I couldn’t have walked barefooted on that surface for 10 feet.

 

Tonight, the press box was located on the backstretch near the pit area.  That’s where the main announcer was speaking.  This is a very unusual place to put the announcer.  I don’t think I seen that setup more than five times in my trackchasing career.

 

At the same time, the track had an announcer on the front stretch where most of the crowd and I were sitting.  “Our” announcer had a dead ringer voice for comedian “Larry the cable guy.”  He prefaced most of his comments with “I’ll tell you what!”  He was actually pretty funny and I kept trying to find out where he was broadcasting.  There were no buildings, so I figured he was just seated in the crowd with a wireless mike.

 

After awhile his location started to bug me.  Finally, I figured it out.  The front stretch announcer was broadcasting from the flag stand!  I’ve been going to races a very long time, but I can’t ever recall the flagman also being an announcer.  Before each race started the main announcer would throw it over to the flagman announcer for a down-home comment or two.  When the flagman was finished speaking, he went back to his flagging duties.  If you do this long enough, you’ll see everything.  I haven’t seen everything yet, so I guess I haven’t been doing it long enough.

 

 

 

RACE TRACK STATS:

POPLAR BLUFF SPEEDWAY, POPLAR BLUFF, MISSOURI - TRACK #1,067 – 6/30/06

 

This track was my 27^th to see in the Show Me state.  It was my fifth Missouri track seen in 2006.  I have now taken over sole possession of 6^th place in the Land of the Ozarks.  Ed Esser leads Jack Erdmann for the state 45-43.

 

 

 

RACE TRACK NEWS:

 

POPLAR BLUFF SPEEDWAY

 

I was looking forward to the racing tonight.  The “UMP Summer Nationals” were coming to Poplar Bluff tonight.  This is a special series for dirt late models (my favorite class).  The series races every night for 30 days at a different track across the Midwest from mid-June to mid-July.  I’ve been to all of the tracks they race at but two or three.  Yes, I was looking forward to tonight’s event.  There was a big purse posted and the feature winner would collect $10,000.

 

The scheduled start time was 7 p.m.  I eagerly arrived into a very dusty parking lot an hour early.  What I’m going to tell you from here on is not pretty.  It’s basically an indictment of the short track auto racing industry.  I continue to hold Mike Leone personally responsible for the industry’s shortcomings.  As an upcoming trackchaser and industry employee, he’s the only person I know personally in the business.  Therefore I expect him to shapeup the industry.

 

They didn’t start anything on the track until 7:25 p.m.  At that point, they were 25 minutes late.  The first “Event” of the night was time trials for the 39 late models here this evening.  Trackchasers don’t count time trials as racing.  Therefore, it’s easy to give the track no credit whatsoever for doing anything until the first real race hits the track.

 

Most of the late model drivers were from about an eight state area in the Midwest.  These guys have been traveling hundreds of miles every day as the Summer Nationals tour crisscrosses its way across the hot and dry Midwest.  The support division drivers were almost all from within 50 miles of the track.  Wouldn’t it make sense to race the late models early in the program?  They had to load up and drive a long distance for tomorrow night’s show.  The support division drivers could be in their beds within an hour following their races.

 

The big draw tonight was the $10,000 to win race.  Although a number of fans were local, the fans that drove the furthest in all likelihood made such a long trip to see the late models race.  Why would the promoter put the late models so deep into the program, when the late model fans had such a long distance to driver when the races were over?

 

The first race did not get the green flag until 8:10 p.m.  This was more than an hour after the advertised time of “7 p.m.” for racing.  I’d like to tell you the very first heat on an evening where the temperature was over 90 degrees at race time was the late models.  However, the late models did not run in the first heat.  The street stocks did.  Actually, the street stocks ran two heats of 10 laps each.  Wouldn’t six or eight lap heats have been long enough on the 3/8 mile dirt oval?  Each heat that raced tonight regardless of division had 8-10 cars except one.

 

O.K., the street stocks were finished.  Let’s get those late models out for their heat races.  Nope!  We’re not going to make it easy on you.  The modified class and their FOUR heats were next.  At least they had the two spin and you go to the pits rule.  Luckily they didn’t have as many yellow flags as last night’s track in Eldon, Missouri did.

 

Finally, after six preliminary heat races, the last models came out and ran four heat races.  Their first heat began at 8:55 p.m. nearly two hours after the scheduled start time.  Some of the big names included Jimmy Marrs, Wendell Wallace and Johnny Babb.  Billy Moyer’s son, Billy Moyer Jr. at 18 years old, was in the field driving a car that looked very much like his dads.  He ended up running in the back of the “B” main.  Unfortunately, the cars all hugged the bottom groove after a lap or two and the heats were a bust.

 

It was now nearly dark.  Something unusual was happening to me.  I was starting to itch.  I was wearing a t-shirt, surfer shorts and desk shoes.  Almost everyone else had long pants on and it was still nearly 90 degrees.  My ankles were starting to itch.  Then I began to itch around my elbows and on the inside of my wrists.  I had seen a race fan earlier in the evening carrying a can of bug spray.  I was being attacked!

 

You may recall I have an 80-point checklist I use so that I don’t forget anything for each trackchasing trip that I take.  Bug spray is not on that list.  I almost never have any bug problems at tracks I visit.  Nevertheless, I did buy a can during my recent Minnesota trip although I didn’t need to use it.  I took the can out of my travel bag after the last trip thinking that the upper Midwest was the only place I’d ever need it.

 

Boy was I starting to itch now.  The heat races were taking forever.  The slight breeze was blowing the track dust into the grandstands.  I could only thank the lord that my guests, Bud and Florene, had come to the races last night and not tonight.  Now my hands were in constant motion.  First, they scratched my ankles, then my elbows, my wrists and the back of my legs.  When one circuit was over, it was repeated.

 

What would come next?  How about the mod lite division and their two heat races.  Then, the Pure Streets came out and ran two heat races.  My blood pressure was rising.  Next out?  The cruisers, a two-man novelty class had enough cars for two heats.  We had now seen SEVENTEEN heat races.  Oh my!

 

At 10:03 p.m., the “Heat race hell” that is so common to poorly run shows was completed.  We were now three hours after the scheduled start time.  The heat races were followed by a four-lap dash for the late models and two “B” features for about 12 cars each in the late model division.  It was now about 10:45 p.m.

 

The announcer told us we would be watching two more “B” modified features and what I really wanted to see, the “B” mod lite (similar to dwarfs or legends) feature.  They would then “Turn all the lights out” and light “Them firecrackers.”  After that they would begin the six divisions of “A” mains in an order that was unknown to me.  Oh my, I needed to take action.

 

I decided to return to the car for a moment.  I had two things to accomplish.  When I got to the car, I wanted to call Carol and have her program my TIVO unit to record the Daytona NASCAR race.  I had forgotten to do that.

 

The second objective of returning to the car didn’t work out so well.  As I temporarily exited the track, I looked over my shoulder at the very long line of beer drinkers entering the men’s room.  That line didn’t look very inviting.  I was nearly at the car now and there wasn’t anybody near me.  So…….well, you can do the math.

 

I did make a couple of logistical mistakes while bypassing the track men’s room.  First, I left the car door open while I had placed my race scanner and other equipment on the seat.  Secondly, I left myself in a vulnerable position when I discovered the area was thick with mosquitoes. 

 

Now I know you’re reading this Trackchaser Report in the comfort of your opulent office.  There probably isn’t a mosquito within a mile of you.  You need to imagine what it might be like in near complete darkness out in the boonies of southern Missouri on a warm and humid summer night at nearly midnight.  As I waved my hand through the air I could hit multiple large mosquitoes.

 

After I had finished my business (as we used to say where I grew up), I jumped in the car.  My entire body was on fire from itching.  It was past 11 p.m.  I had been at the track for five hours.  There were still three “B” mains to run and fireworks before they even thought about running the six “A” mains.

 

That’s it, I started the engine of my completely dust shrouded National Rental Car Racing Chevy Impala and began to make my exit.  What I did not realize is the interior of the car must have had 50 large mosquitoes in it.  I lowered all four windows in the hopes they would leave the car.  I didn’t know if this plan was subtracting or adding mosquitoes.

 

I was swatting like crazy in the car for the next two hours as I drove toward Indiana.  Occasionally, I would instinctively duck when one of the large mosquitoes flew in my line of sight and the oncoming headlights of the past midnight traffic.

 

I finally stopped for the night in Marion, Illinois.  I hustled into my room.  The next morning I opened the car door, and I’m not exaggerating, 20 large mosquitoes flew out of the interior.  I opened all four doors for 15 minutes so the rest of my “Friends” could leave.  I have not been any more uncomfortable at a racetrack in warm weather in years.  It was a bummer to miss the “A” main for the Summer Nationals but it just wasn’t worth it, especially on a track with so little passing. 

 

The people responsible for adding five support classes (cruisers???) should be #$%^@$% and hung from the nearest tree.  I would have had one support class and had the crowd on the road by no later than three hours after the program was scheduled to begin.  The real reason I am a trackchaser and not a racechaser if that I am unwilling to return to tracks that don’t entertain me.  This is why I have not returned to about 90% of the 1,067 tracks I have visited.

 

 

 

WEATHER CONDITIONS

 

Just like yesterday, it was warm today at 91 degrees when I arrived at the track.  It didn’t cool off that much as the evening wore on.  The weather forecast for the balance of my trip has improved.  As this stage, it looks like I should get all of my tracks in without any weather problems.

RENTAL CAR UPDATE:

 

The National Rental Car Racing Chevy Impala LT is one dusty and filthy rental car.  The parking lot surface tonight had the consistency of cement dust.  I’ll have a photo or two on www.ranlayracing.com soon to show you what I mean.

 

 

Thursday total driving miles – 155 miles

Friday total driving miles – 381 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 – 1,067

2.  Rick Schneider – Bay Shore, New York - 1,043 (-24)

3.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,026 (-41)

4.  Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 1,021 (-46)

5.  Andy Sivi, Clairton, Pennsylvania – 1,010 (-57)*

6.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania – 1,005 (-62)*

 

* 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.

 

36.  Mike Knappenberger, Reading, Pennsylvania - 268 (+9)

37.  Bob Schafer, Oshkosh, Wisconsin - 267 (+8)

38.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California - 259

39.  Spike Rixon, Watford, England - 252 (+7)

 

Steve Kinser’s name has been removed from this list due to non-performance.

 

 

 

2006 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS

 

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California - 76

2.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 40

2.  Roland Vanden Eynde, Vilvoorde, Belgium – 40

4.  Mike Knappenberger, Reading, Pennsylvania - 34

5.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 29

6.  Paul Weisel, Orefield, Pennsylvania – 28

7.  Roger Ferrell, Majenica, Indiana – 23

8.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania - 21

9.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Springs, Pennsylvania – 19

10. Linda Thomas, Watford, England - 15

10. Will White, Quakertown, Pennsylvania - 15

 

 

Trackchasers everywhere are scurrying to be well-positioned by June 30, 2006.  That’s it, times up!  I’ll be sharing my analysis and predictions about the 2006 season in the last Trackchaser Report of this trip.  Stand by.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,

Randy Lewis

#1 Trackchaser Living West of the Mississippi

 

What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so.

 

 

 

 

CUMULATIVE TRAVEL DISTANCES:

 

AIRPLANE

 

Orange County, CA -  Denver, CO – 780 miles

Denver, CO – St. Louis, MO – 832 miles

RENTAL CAR

 

St. Louis International Airport – trip begins

Eldon, MO – 155 miles

Poplar Bluff, MO – 412 miles

 

TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:

Lake Ozark Speedway – $12.50

Poplar Bluff Speedway - $20

 

 

 

 

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

 

Following this trip, I must return to San Clemente and help Carol prepare for her most exotic trackchasing trip of the 2006 season.  She’s not going to pass Mike Knappenberger just sitting at the beach.

 

 

 

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. Lebanon Midway Speedway, Lebanon, Missouri – June 8

 

1,053. Rocky Top Raceway, Coal Grove, Ohio – June 9

 

1,054. Midvale Speedway (oval), Midvale, Ohio – June 10

 

1,055. Midvale Speedway (figure 8), Midvale, Ohio – June 10

 

1,056. Spring Valley Raceway, Millport, Ohio – June 11

 

1,057. Rialto Airport Speedway, Rialto, California – June 17

1,058. Lawrenceburg Speedway (figure 8), Lawrenceburg, Indiana -  June 20

1,059. Lawrenceburg Speedway (temporary oval), Lawrenceburg, Indiana -  June 20

1,060. Thunder Mountain Speedway, Knox Dale, Pennsylvania -  June 21

1,061. State Park Speedway, Wausau, Wisconsin -  June 22

1,062. Dodge County Fairgrounds Speedway, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin -  June 23

1,063. Lucas Oil Speedway (oval), Wheatland, Missouri -  June 24

1,064. Lucas Oil Speedway (figure 8), Wheatland, Missouri -  June 24

1,065. Tri-City Speedway, Pontoon Beach, Illinois - June 25

 

1,066. Lake Ozark Speedway, Eldon, Missouri - June 29

 

1,067. Poplar Bluff Speedway, Poplar Bluff, Missouri - June 30