GREETINGS FROM LITTLE VALLEY, NEW YORK

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.

 

 

 

CONTEST WINNERS REWARDED

 

Recently I offered a contest for all Pacific Golf Club members who read the Trackchaser Report.  The contest offered a Wal-Mart gift certificate to the first two members who would recognize my Van Der Geest Dairy Farm golf hat (could also be a farmer’s hat) and tell me they read about it in the Trackchaser Report.

 

The first day back, as I approached the driving range, I heard a voice yelling, “Where’s my Wal-Mart gift certificate?  I know about your hat!”  Of course, at this point all 20 golfers who were busy on the driving range stopped to see what all the ruckus was about.  Yes, Mr. Laub had correctly qualified for the contest and was awarded his gift card.  Now the other golfers were wondering how they could get involved in the RANLAY Racing frequent reader prize brigade.

 

The second winner informed me that he had stayed up late reading my reports.  Initially, I was quite flattered.  However, when he told me he’s been having a case of the gout and can’t sleep very well and that’s why he was reading the reports, my balloon was burst.  He was also a little vague on the tie-in between my Van Der Geest Dairy Farm hat and the contest.  When pressed, he told me the “Hat came from the Dairy Queen or something like that.”  Close enough!  Mr. Bock is the second qualifier in the Wal-Mart/Van Der Geest Dairy Farm promotion.

 

Congratulations to the winners!  Don’t neglect to read every word.  You could be a contest winner soon yourself.

 

 

 

 

CAROL AND I WOKE UP (VERY EARLY) IN SAN CLEMENTE, CALIFORNIA, THIS MORNING AND THEN WE WOKE UP IN ALBANY, NEW YORK BEFORE WE EVER SAW A NEW RACETRACK.  THIS IS WHAT TRANSPIRED TODAY.

 

 

 

 

PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS

 

The People

I believe balance is extremely important in having a healthy, fun and robust life.  I’ve spent several days trackchasing over the past few years.  Although when I go trackchasing, I get to travel and see some wonderful sights, too much of just about anything is usually bad.

 

That being the case, I decided to take eight days off from trackchasing.  We had a wonderful Fourth of July celebration that featured fireworks being shot off just 500 yards in front of our home.  During the next seven days, I was able to play golf five times (scores:  80, 82, 84, 80, and 78).  I worked out every day.  Carol and I went to the movies a couple of times (Word Play was entertaining) and ate out several evenings.  I figured that since I’m in the #1 trackchasing position, I deserved to take a little time off.

 

Wouldn’t you think the other trackchasers might respect my position and take a little time off themselves?  Not a chance!  My toughest near term competitor is Ed Esser.  You might wonder why I would say that, since Ed is in only seventh place in the worldwide rankings.  Well, Ed has seen 540 tracks since the beginning of 2000.  That’s between 175 and 300 MORE tracks that any of the trackchasers ranked in the #2, #3, #4 or #5 positions during this same period.  At this rate, Ed will become the #2 trackchaser in the next couple of years.

 

If Ed can pass so many of these people, couldn’t he also pass me?  While I was out on the golf course and back at the house relaxing with family, what was Ed doing?  He was seeing four new tracks!!  That’s right.  Ed showed no mercy to my taking a break.  As a matter of fact, he tried to take advantage of my good heartedness. 

 

You might say “Don’t worry, Randy.  You’re still 160 tracks ahead of Ed.”  You would make a valid point with that statement.  However, if Ed beat me by four tracks every weekend, in just 40 weeks he would have erased my lead.  I know Ed.  That is exactly what he would like to do. 

 

We can’t let that happen.  I’ve worked too hard to get to the #1 position to have someone sneak up on me.  I guess I’ll have to get back on the road and find some new tracks to keep Mr. Esser behind in the standings.  Although Ed is not within 100 tracks of my current total, I’m going to add his name to the list of trackchasers (below) who are.  That way all of the loyal Trackchaser Report readers will see exactly how fast Ed is catching up to those between him and me.

 

I have SIGNIFICANT people information to share with you.  In the interest of brevity, I will tell you all about that in tomorrow’s report.  Don’t miss it.  I will have big news to share.

 

The Strategy

                                                                                        

During the last 24 hours, the weather forecast for tonight’s first trackchasing stop in Winchester, New Hampshire has turned bad.  The rain is moving in.  The rain probability increases from 20% at 2 p.m. to 50% at 3 p.m. and then tops out at 70% at 7 p.m.  What time does the race start?  7 p.m.!

 

We have only one fallback position.  That would be a race in Accord, New York.  Unfortunately, the rain is supposed to hit them a few hours before it gets to New Hampshire.  It’s been more than two years since I’ve been rained out on the first day of a flying trackchasing trip.

 

If I were a driving trackchaser, I would have the luxury of simply saying to myself, “The weather where I’d like to head is terrible.  I won’t go trackchasing today.”  The driving trackchaser has the option of canceling such a trip without being docked for a “Rainout.”  Because I can’t cancel my airline trip without huge financial penalties (up to 100% of the ticket price), I must continue the trip regardless of the weather I will be flying into.  If all of available tracks for tonight are rained out and I don’t get a new track, I will be credited with a rainout regardless of whether I even leave the Boston airport for the track.  No problem, I can’t complain after the good weather luck I’ve had over the years.

 

The Trip

 

The morning dawned early for my 21^st trackchasing trip of the year.  Eighteen of those trips have been done with the aid of an airplane.  Carol and I arose at 3:45 a.m. and were on the road by 4:28 a.m.  At that time of day, there is no traffic in an area where the traffic is bad if you go at the wrong times.  There aren’t many spouses who would support their loved one the way Carol does.  Of course, it’s great to have such support.

 

We’ll be flying from the Los Angeles International Airport today.  LAX is about 65 miles from home.  Fourteen of my eighteen trips have emanated from this airport (4-Orange County & 2-San Diego).  The airport is a zoo, but they offer the best destinations with a minimum of stops as well as good prices.

 

This morning’s flight puts me over 100,000 miles for the 2006 trackchasing season.  That includes mileage in both airplanes and cars.  Yes, that’s a good deal of “Seat time.”

 

When we arrive at the airport, I drop Carol and the bags while I park the car.  Our frequent flyer status with American Airlines (Randy-Platinum, Carol-Gold) allows us to bypass most of the check-in lines at both the ticket counter and at the gate.  When I return from the Parking Spot (Rooftop parking $12.95 per day before my 25% discount), the bags will be checked and Carol will be sitting on a bench reading a book with our boarding passes in her purse.  The entire thing runs like clockwork.

 

I am not a big fan of certain elements that I encounter when I travel to the East coast.  Before I explain further, I know that I have several loyal readers and friends who reside in this area.  Please don’t be offended.  If you come to California and the lines are too long at Disneyland or the traffic is bad, I won’t be offended in the least if you become a bit ill tempered. 

 

Now, with that being said…….I don’t care for the East coast infrastructure.  It seems old and outdated.  It took us forever to get out of the Boston airport.  Just riding in the rental car bus took forever.  Once we did get off airport property we ran into the mother of all traffic jams trying to go through the tunnels that surround the airport.  We were underground for more than one hour!

 

Later in the evening, we would learn that one of the airport tunnels was closed.  Apparently, just two days ago, several ceiling tiles fell from the ceiling killing a woman who waited in traffic inside the tunnel.  If that’s not a damning statement about the state of the East coast infrastructure I don’t know what is.

 

Since it was pouring down rain (another reason to love the East coast?), the traffic delays didn’t bother us so much because we really had nowhere to go for the evening.  It would have been a different story had we traveled only 40 miles in four hours (like we did) and needed to meet some deadline.  Additionally, hotel prices in New England are the highest of anywhere in the country.

 

By the way, I speak with some local East coast experience.  We did live in Ridgefield, Connecticut for 15 months (1979-80).  Nevertheless, the East coast is not without its good points (now trying to suck up.)

 

The rural parts of this area are gorgeous.  Much of it is just what you find in a Norman Rockwell painting.  We also encountered some toll road (I-90) “Travel centers” that come as close as anything (but don’t quite match up) to England’s very consumer friendly “Welcome Breaks.”  More on our Eastern tour as the days roll by.

 

 

RACE TRACK STATS:

LITTLE VALLEY SPEEDWAY, LITTLE VALLEY, NEW YORK (OUTER OVAL) - TRACK #1,073 – 7/13/06 & CAROL’S TRACK #260

 

This track was my 44^th track to see in the Empire state giving me undisputed control of 18^th place just one track from 50^th stater, Andy Ritter.  This was Carol’s ninth track in New York vaulting her to a 38^th place ranking and once again pushing Steve Kinser behind her into 39^th.  Guy Smith leads P.J. Hollebrand 140-139 in a torrid battle for New Yorker supremacy.

 

 

CAROL’S COMMENTS

It was a slow day, the airport lines were long, the Burger King line was long, the bags took a long time to come after our flight, and we couldn’t get out of Boston.  The biggest bummer was that both of our Wednesday night races were rained out.  I haven’t been on American Airlines for a long time.  They can’t even give you a bag of pretzels.  (Editor’s note:  Carol did benefit from being a Gold AAdvantage member by getting preferential treatment when checking in, boarding the plane and receiving an exit row seat, even though her tiny feet could barely reach the floor.)

LITTLE VALLEY SPEEDWAY, LITTLE VALLEY, NEW YORK

We had absolutely no intention of attending the races at the Little Valley Speedway tonight.  I had not looked at the race schedules of any tracks in New York.  We were totally focused on New England and several Canadian provinces.

 

The Little Valley Speedway runs just 5-6 times per year.  They have a couple of Thursday shows (like tonight), a Monday and a couple of Saturday events.  During this trip, I happened to catch an email from rookie trackchaser Mike Knappenberger.  He mentioned he was going to Little Valley tonight and that, coupled with a bad weather forecast for our intended target in Unity, Maine,  sparked our interest.

 

It was about 260 miles from our morning hotel to the track.  After our TTA (Trackchasing Tourist Attraction), we left for the track.  More on the TTA tomorrow.  Races were scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.  We pulled into the track parking lot at exactly 7 p.m.  There were several parking attendants all wearing spiffy looking Little Valley Speedway t-shirts.

 

The facility features a huge covered grandstand.  This grandstand has been here for a long time, although the roof looked like it had been updated since the original construction.  The seats were a very comfortable folding wooden chair type commonly seen in older baseball stadiums.  The stands were very full.

 

The concession area is located underneath the grandstands.  Our first stop was for food.  I believe that New York racetracks offer the best track food of any state in the union.  I’m glad we were running a little behind schedule and needed to eat at the track.

 

I settled for a bologna sandwich with peppers and onions as well as a tall cup of chili.  A person cannot get enough chili on an 85-90 degree day!  Carol went with a basic hamburger and popcorn.  The concession area had stools for customers to use while eating.  The offerings even included several kinds of pie.  I had my eye on the blueberry pie with vanilla ice cream, but it was time to go racing.

 

There were four classes of stock cars racing tonight.  The track has very long straights and very short and narrow turns.  In racing parlance, it was a “Paperclip” shaped track.  The racing surface was dry slick and it began to tear up a little in turns one and two.

 

The P.A. was good when the cars weren’t making noise, but once they were on the track, it was most difficult to hear the announcer.  The lights were not very good in the turns.  First, the turns were far from our center grandstand section.  I couldn’t read the racecar’s numbers while they raced in the turns, which is one of my requirements for a good light rating.

 

The track started on time.  Unfortunately, they had far too many spins, which in almost every case resulted in a yellow flag.  On the good side, the yellow flag delays were brief, but all too frequent. 

 

Yesterday, this area received two inches of rain.  Tonight, the track looked like it had not rained in a long time.  Nevertheless, there was no dust as our seating location was a good distance from the track.

 

The super late model feature race started more than 20 cars.  This race was one of the best I’ve seen this year.  Tim McCreadie (son of ‘Barefoot” Bob McCreadie, one of my top 10 all-time favorite drivers) was on holiday from the World of Outlaw late model tour.  He started 10^th and raced hard to a third place finish. 

 

We bade our fellow trackchasers (to be identified tomorrow) farewell as they headed back to their motel’s Jacuzzi.  We stayed for the remainder of the races before heading for the exits.  The track still had nine bags of popcorn for sale upon our departure.  Carol described the corn as “A little stale.”  We also viewed the souvenir stands located under the grandstands.  There was a huge amount of “Garage sale eligible” stuff.

 

Overall, a very good night, more so on the people front than for any other reason.  We drove two more hours and arrived at a Microtel Hotel just east of Rochester.

CAROL’S COMMENTS

It was great talking to Marcia (more on that tomorrow) and meeting Mike (also, more on that tomorrow.)  It’s a nice fair facility and the surrounding landscape is beautiful in rural New York.  The yellow flag was used a good deal for spins, but otherwise they were efficient.  Randy did well speaking extemporaneously.  It was warm with the covered grandstand.  This was a first where I did not have to put even a light jacket on.  We couldn’t hear the announcer well when the cars were on the track.  The covered grandstand roof may have contributed to this.  Everyone is our general seating area wanted to talk to us about trackchasing. 

WEATHER CONDITIONS

 

Not good!  I was wondering if all of the East coast rain could trump my luck with the weather.  Now I know.  The forecast for the balance of our trip, after several weather avoiding adjustments, looks good.  Time will tell.

RENTAL CAR UPDATE:

 

I will be going with a National Rental Car Racing Pontiac Grand Prix.  The Boston Executive Selection lot offered Chevy Impalas, several SUVs and the Grand Prixs.  Driving an SUV for 1,500-2,000 miles didn’t seem like a very economical idea.  The Grand Prix I did pick had only 1,900 miles on it.

 

We are very pleased with its amenities.  Toping that list are individual air-conditioning controls.  The tilt steering wheel works (it didn’t on our last rental car) and we have black leather seats.  These amenities match those on my personal car.

 

When I travel, I harken back to the words of my first ever boss, Major Frank Davis.  During my first week, I asked him to give me some guidelines on how much I could spend when I was traveling overnight on my expense account.

 

His advice was simple, “Spend the money to give you a style just like you would have at home.”  That sounded fair enough to me.  That’s exactly what I did during my 30-year business career.

 

 

Wednesday total driving miles – 204 miles

Thursday total driving miles – 462 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 – 1,073

2.  Rick Schneider – Bay Shore, New York - 1,046 (-27)

3.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,035 (-38)

4.  Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 1,021 (-52)*

5.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania – 1,017 (-56)*

6.  Andy Sivi, Clairton, Pennsylvania – 1,015 (-58)*

7.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 912 (-161)**

 

 

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

 

** Special exemption.

 

The widespread use of the “*” is causing my printer cartridges to run dry much faster than they should.

 

 

 

Other notables

 

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

 

37.  Bob Schafer, Oshkosh, Wisconsin - 267 (+7)

38.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California - 260

39.  Spike Rixon, Watford, England - 252 (+8)

 

 

 

 

2006 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS

 

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California - 82

2.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 52

3.  Roland Vanden Eynde, Vilvoorde, Belgium – 43

4.  Mike Knappenberger, Reading, Pennsylvania - 39

5.  Paul Weisel, Orefield, Pennsylvania – 36

6.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Springs, Pennsylvania – 31

7.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 30

7.  Roger Ferrell, Majenica, Indiana – 30

7.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania - 30

10. Pam Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania - 20

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,

Randy Lewis

#1 Trackchaser Living West of the Mississippi

 

I should never care to argue for anything that would lesson the difficulty of the game because difficulty is its greatest charm. 

 

CUMULATIVE TRAVEL DISTANCES:

 

AIRPLANE

 

Los Angeles, CA -  Boston, MA – 2,567 miles

RENTAL CAR

 

Logan International Airport – trip begins

Little Valley, New York – 547 miles

 

TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:

Little Valley Speedway – $12

 

 

 

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

 

Carol needs some new states.  She still has five Eastern states (MA, MD, NH, RI & VT) where she had yet to see a racetrack.  Those are focus states on this trip.  We also had some exotic Canadian plans in our original schedule.  Unfortunately, the weather has forced us into a major revamp.  Stay tuned.

 

 

 

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

 

1,068. Indianapolis Motor Speedway (road course), Indianapolis, Indiana – July 1

 

1,069. Rush County Fairgrounds, Rushville, Indiana – July 1

1,070. Rock Castle Speedway, Mount Vernon, Kentucky – July 2

** Windy Hollow Speedway (oval), Owensboro, Kentucky – July 2

1,071. Heartland Park Topeka (dirt oval), Topeka, Kansas – July 3

1,072. Thunderhill Speedway, Mayetta, Kansas – July 3

1,073. Little Valley Speedway, Little Valley, New York – July 13