GREETINGS FROM CLAREMONT AND THEN CANAAN, BOTH FINE CITIES IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

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.

 

 

REALLY IMPORTANT

 

Don’t miss the people section today.  I ran into a lot of interesting folks.

 

 

 

THIS MORNING CAROL AND I WOKE UP IN VICTOR, NEW YORK.  THIS IS WHAT TRANSPIRED TODAY.

 

 

 

PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS

 

The Strategy

                                                                                        

Did you know that more than 90% of the 1,000+ Trackchaser Report readers are not official trackchasers?  I always need to keep that in mind when I write.  I suspect non-trackchasers may think somewhat differently than a full-fledged trackchaser.

 

As a non-trackchaser, can you ever imagine planning a family vacation to Disneyland?  When you arrive at Disneyland, you find it is raining.  Alternatively, maybe there were not enough employees that showed up for work to staff all of the Disney characters.  Therefore, because it was raining or there weren’t enough people to run Disneyland, the entire park closed for the day.

 

It’s always a tough conversation with the kids when you have to say, “You know kids, we’ve been planning our trip to Disneyland for a long time.  Disney isn’t going to open today, so we’re going somewhere else.  The Grand Canyon is running today.  It’s only 550 miles up the road.  Get in the car, we’ll be there in no time.”

 

In the above example, you have just experienced the thought process of the trackchaser.  Of course, the above “Civilian” example would never happen in real life.  In trackchasing, it happens on nearly every trip.  Virtually none of my 25-30 annual trackchasing trips goes exactly as I planned it once my plane touches down.

 

We were supposed to be in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada tonight.  I had sold Carol on the idea of making a New England trip with stops in both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.  Just as the parent must sit down with their child and tell them that Disneyland will not be opening today, I needed to sit down with Carol and give her the bad news.

 

I picked a quiet and secluded spot to explain that Nova Scotia was going to be wet this weekend.  Even though we could not go there, we could visit lovely New Hampshire, the granite state.  I went on to extol the virtues of a New Hampshire vacation for several minutes.  When I paused to take a breath, Carol asked just one question, “How many tracks?”  It was then that I knew that we were still going to have a successful trackchasing trip, despite our change in venues.

The Trip

 

When I go trackchasing with Carol, I do my best to keep our driving distances to a minimum.  Nevertheless, the “Trip A” trip odometer on the National Rental Car Racing Pontiac Grand Prix read 1,037 miles when we pulled into the Twin State Speedway parking lot.  At that very moment, we had driven more than 1,000 miles and seen one countable track!

 

I’ve been using www.factorytoursusa.com as a source for our TTAs.  Yes, that’s Trackchasing Tourist Attractions.  We’ve taken our share of brewery tours.  We’ve done the Heineken tour in Amsterdam and the Budweiser tour in St. Louis among others.  Today, we were going on another brewery tour.  This time, we would be visiting the Matt Brewing Company in Utica, New York.

 

The Matt Brewing Company (http://www.saranac.com/) is the oldest family owned brewer in the world.  I have a unique connection to the company.  I worked with Nick Matt during my 13 years with the Richardson-Vicks (makers of Vaporub, Vicks Nyquil, Clearasil, Oil of Olay, etc.)  Nick worked in our marketing department after serving as a naval officer and graduating with a Cornell M.B.A.  In the late 80s, he left the Vicks organization as the President of the Health Care division to run the family business.

 

He left our company to return to his family’s brewing company in Utica, New York.  Today, Nick is the President of the Matt Brewing Company.  I was looking forward to seeing Nick again after more than 20 years.  Unfortunately, he was out of town for a wedding, so the best I could do was leave a message on his voicemail.  I’m sure he’ll be surprised to hear from me.

 

The brewery tour was great.  It’s free and lasts about an hour.  At the end of the tour, you’ll get coupons for two full sized beers.  You’ll see some photos of their production process at www.ranlayracing.com soon. The company’s leading brands are Saranac and Utica Club beer. 

 

To promote the Matt Brewing Company brands as well as reward the loyal readers of the Trackchaser Report, I have a special offer for you.  If you are a primary recipient of the TR, you can get up to two free six-packs of either Saranac or Utica Club beer.  Simply send me your receipt with the brand name circled by no later than August 31, 2006.  My mailing address is:

 

RANLAY Racing

P.O. Box 4275

San Clemente, CA 92674

 

You will be reimbursed for up to two six packs of these Matt Brewing Company brands.  Please allow six weeks for processing and handling.

 

If you are in Utica, New York for the tour, please don’t miss Stanley’s corner bar located just a block or two from the Matt Brewing headquarters.  Carol and I had lunch here.  They offer only two menu choices, a ham and cheese sandwich or a Kielbasa sandwich.  We went with Kielbasas and Utica Clubs.  This is a true corner bar.  The locals recognized that we “Weren’t from around here”.   I may have been the first person ever to darken their door wearing an Aloha shirt.  They made us feel welcome anyway.  For a great local experience go to Stanley’s.

 

You might enjoy Utica as well.  It is an old old town.  Following our tour of the Matt brewery, we headed toward New Hampshire.  This area has been getting a ton of rain over the past few weeks.  We passed the Fonda Speedway, which was totally under water just a couple of weeks ago.  I wanted to stop to see what kind of shape it was in today.  From the looks of things, the track surface is back to normal and they can run right now.

 

While getting gas across the street from the Fonda Speedway, we noticed the McDonalds next door.  This  McDonalds is home to the Fonda Speedway Museum.  We couldn’t miss that.  They have lots of photos, model cars and Fonda Speedway memorabilia from the 50s to now.  It’s definitely worth a stop.

 

Our first planned racing stop of the day was going to be at the New Hampshire International Speedway.  I visited the track in 2002, but Carol had never been there.  However, we were stuck in some very slow traffic in Vermont on Route 9 and bagged the idea of a visit to NHIS.  We motored on to the Twin State Speedway in Claremont, New Hampshire.

 

The People

We met some interesting people today and yesterday.  Let me tell you about them.

 

 

#1 Local Utica, New York residents

 

When we was within three blocks of the Matt Brewing Company, I took a wrong turn and got lost.  A brief stop into a convenience store hooked me up with the local culture.

 

My request for directions quickly had three different New York young men competing to give me directions.  Two were wearing a shirt and tie.  It reminded me of three wild animals fighting over a piece of meat, until two were shoved out of the way by the strongest of the three.

 

In heavy New York accents, they each spoke louder than the other, while waving their hands and painting a directional word picture.  After a few moments I had to take charge of the group and told them I couldn’t hear anyone’s directions when they were all speaking at the same time.

 

This prompted the largest guy to put his arm around me in a “Have I got a deal for you” fashion.  He walked me over to a corner of the store and used a Budweiser beer display to quickly sketch out a map.

 

My conclusion of my convenience store encounter?  All three of these people were trying to help.  I grew up in a small town in Illinois.  People in Illinois didn’t act like these fellas.  However, that didn’t matter, I wasn’t in Illinois or California for that matter.  These people were in their home environment and acting like they do at home, as they attempted to help a stranger.  I was pleased they took the time to offer their unusual (to me) form of help.  Encounters like this help me better understand and appreciate the died in the wool New Yorkers who are members of our golf club.

 

 

#2 Mike Knappenberger and his racing buddy, Jeff

 

Yesterday’s TR did not permit me to explain the various people contacts I had at the Little Valley Speedway.  With a bad weather forecast for our planned track in Maine on Thursday night, Carol and I were planning a lovely Maine lobster (O.K. not really a Maine lobster, but maybe Alaskan lobster tail dinner), when we I came across an email from trackchaser Mike Knappenberger.  I had not done any trackchasing research for New York tracks.  I was not planning to visit New York on this trip.  Mike’s message told me about a special Thursday night show in New York.  Now our leisurely dinner in Maine would be replaced by long and torturous drive to New York.  Thanks, Mike!

 

I expected to see Mike at the race.  As soon as I peeked into the nearly full grandstand of 2,000 people, a hatless (this would soon be remedied) Mike Knappenberger spotted me and motioned for Carol and me to join him in the stands.

 

Mike was with his trackchasing buddy, Jeff.  This was Carol’s first meeting with Mike.  It was important for Carol to meet Mike for one big reason.  Mike is on Carol’s radar list of trackchasers to pass.  Now that she has met up with Mike, she can imagine just what it is going to take to pass up Mr. Knappenberger.  Although she will be trying to beat him into the trackchasing ground, she did admit as I had suggested, that Mike is a very nice guy.

 

 

#3 Marcia & Dave Sully

 

Just as we were saying hello to Mike, a young couple sitting just two rows behind Mike and Jeff yelled a greeting our way.  It was Dave and Marcia Sully.  Dave is the Media Relations person for the Little Valley Speedway.  Dave was also the first person to ever write a major trackchasing story about my hobby.  He did a very complete write-up (check it out at www.ranlayracing.com and click on “Media contacts”) in the Buffalo Sports & Leisure Magazine.

 

Carol and I have been out socially with the Sullys during a trip to Niagara Falls and the Sullys have visited our home during its construction stages in Southern California.  It was great seeing Dave and Marcia.  During intermission, Dave and I recorded a radio interview for his one-hour racing radio program.  I didn’t get the channel his program airs on, but maybe Dave will share that with us.

 

 

#4 Little Valley Speedway congregation

 

At intermission, the Little Valley Speedway track announcer invited me down for an interview.  I’ve revamped my trackchaser press release and the results were the best ever during this trip.  The Little Valley Speedway has a covered grandstand.  The announcers sit out in the open at the very bottom of the grandstand between the crowd and the racetrack. 

 

The announcer had a creative way of introducing his trackchasing guest.  First, he asked everyone in the crowd to raise their hand if they had been to 5 different tracks, 10 different tracks, 25 different tracks, 100 different tracks.  Finally, he asked if anyone had been to more than 500 different tracks before offering his introduction.

 

In some ways, the announcer wasn’t much of an interviewer.  He simply told the crowd, “We have a celebrity in the crowd tonight.  He’s Randy Lewis from San Clemente, California.  He is the world’s #1 ranked trackchaser.  Randy, tell us about your trackchasing.”

With that, he handed me the microphone and it was just me and 2,000 of my closest friends.  Of course, I have been trained for just these encounters.  First, I thanked Mike K. for his Little Valley heads-up.  I went on to explain about the trackchasing group and, loosely, how the hobby and competition works.  I invited anyone in the crowd who might have 200 or more tracks to come down and meet me.  They could be eligible to become a listed trackchaser.  I mentioned that such racing luminaries as Chris Economacki, Kenny Schrader, Steve Kinser and Sammy Swindell were members of the worldwide trackchasing crowd.  These crusty old Eastern race fans were starting to warm up to this brash California trackchaser.

 

After I finished speaking, several people came down to talk.  I’m not sure if the racing program was delayed because of so many people milling about the announcing stand or not.  One nice fellow came down to chat.  He told me he was just two days shy of his 69^th birthday and was proud of the 33 tracks he had attended.  I quickly shoved him aside since he was such an unaccomplished trackchaser.  Of course, I’m kidding!  He was a very nice guy.

 

Another fellow told me he had 215 tracks to his credit.  I gave him my card and asked him to send me his list.  If he does, I will work with him to get it in an acceptable format for submission to www.trackchaser.com.

 

#5 Grant Young

 

There was a guy in the stands who just kept looking at me after I returned from my trackchaser interview.  He bore a striking resemblance to top 10 trackchaser Gordon Killian.  After a while, I was starting to feel uncomfortable, just like I would if Mr. Killian were here.

 

Finally, the man spoke up.  He told me he had been to a large number of tracks.  Actually, he said, “I’ve been to 2,021 tracks.”  Wow!  Extra wow!  I’ve been trackchasing like crazy for a very long time.  I have only 1,075 tracks.  This fellow was telling me he had nearly twice as many as I had or any other known trackchaser.

 

The man introduced himself as Grant Young.  I’m pretty sure he’s from Ontario, Canada.  Grant Young is known to some other trackchasers as a critic of the trackchasing process.

 

I will say that Grant appears to be both sincere and genuine.  On the other hand, his claim might not be genuine or at the very least accurate.  Grant is 55 years old and saw his first track when he was five.  He told me his father would take him to races in “Farmer’s fields” nearly every day of the week when he was a child.  Apparently, his father kept records of the visits. 

 

There were several things that Mr. Young said, that led me to question his claims.  You the reader will have to decide on the validity of his data.

 

1.     From the conversation, I deduced Mr. Young had not traveled very far for his racing.  I asked him where he had been trackchasing.  He told me he had been all over, “Even Florida.”

 

 

2.     He told me he had seen multiple tracks at many locations.  He said he had seen nine separate tracks at the Oswego Speedway alone.  He all told me he had seen racing at “700 or 800” racing facilities.  With a total of 2,021 different tracks that would average at nearly three tracks for each and every facility.

For comparison purposes, I have been to approximately, 960 different facilities while seeing 1,075 countable tracks.  This means I’ve seen about 1.12 countable tracks per facility.  Mr. Young’s numbers indicated his incidence of multi-tracks per facility is nearly three times greater than mine.  I may have seen more multi-tracks than any other trackchaser known at this time and my ratio is only 1.12.

 

3.     I told Mr. Young that if he had seen so many tracks, he should simply submit his list for authentication.  His response was “I’m a racechaser, you’re a trackchaser, I go to see racetracks I like and you go to see a new track.”  That is correct, I do going racing for the purpose of seeing a new track.  Mr. Young’s response did not make much logical sense.  However, in my experience, many of the trackchasing discussions I’ve had to date were short on logic, so Mr. Young’s response was not totally unexpected as an answer to my question.  Nevertheless, I gave Mr. Young my card and told him to follow up if he wished.

 

#6  P.J. Hollebrand

 

My next “People” contact came at the Twin State Speedway.  Carol and I had just  entered the gate and we were approached by an unshaven man wearing a v-neck white t-shirt.  It was none other than Mr. P.J. Hollebrand.  P.J., just one day after celebrating his 57^th birthday was making a cameo appearance at Twin State for the figure 8 track only.  Mr. Hollebrand is the #9 ranked trackchaser in the entire world.

 

This was my 83^rd track of the 2006 season.  It was only my third track of the season where I had unexpectedly run into another trackchaser when we were both trackchasing.  The others were both with Ed Esser in Ocala, Florida and Grand Bay, Alabama.  The incidence of top trackchasers running into each other on an unannounced basis is rare and will become even rarer in the future.

 

This was Carol’s first meeting with the Mr. P.J.  They hit it off immediately.  P.J. had driven nearly seven hours ONE WAY for the five car, five minute figure 8 race.  He had already seen the track’s oval and just needed to see the figure 8 race.  When the race was over, he bade us farewell with the words, “I hope to get back home (Webster, New York) by 3 a.m. or so.  Yes, that’s a 14-hour drive for a five-minute race.”

 

P.J., recounted his 2006 trackchasing activity.  I promised not to share the specifics, although P.J. has been out on the trackchasing trail.  P.J. will share his season information when the time is right.

 

 

#7 Colonel Sanders

 

Our final people contact was most unusual.  We were out in the New Hampshire countryside with the sun rapidly going behind the White Mountains.  I was minorly lost while trying to get from the Twin State Speedway to the Canaan Speedway and a blended double with features on both ends.  As a last minute timesaving idea, I turned on my laptop to get street-by-street directions.

 

As we were sitting at a stop sign on this rural road in the fading twilight, a motorcyclist pulled up beside us.  Had the fellow been a Hell’s Angel type rider our reaction would have been different.  As it was, the rider looked more like Colonel Sanders with a big bike and leather saddlebags with lots of leather streamers.  I’m sure you know the type.

 

We lowered our window.  In a heavy New England accent, he asked “Where ya goin.”  I replied, “Canaan Speedway.”  His response was, “I’m headin’ up to Goose Creek, and Canaan is on the way.  I’ll lead you up there.  When I turn left, you go straight.”  With a nod of his head, the conversation ended with him saying, “Let’s go!”  We were off. 

 

The cyclist drove the roads like he knew where he was going.  He also did not seem to mind breaking the local speed laws on the winding and up and down hill two lane roads.  In what seemed like no time we were pulling into the Canaan Speedway parking lot just in time for their 100-lap open competition modified feature event.

 

Whew!  That’s a lot of people contact in just a couple of days.  I was hoping to spend some personal time with Carol, but we’ve been so busy visiting with folks it’s been difficult.

 

RACE TRACK STATS:

TWIN STATE SPEEDWAY (FIGURE 8), CLAREMONT, NEW HAMPSHIRE - TRACK #1,074 – 7/14/06 & CAANAN FAIR SPEEDWAY (ASPHALT OVAL), CAANAN, NEW HAMPSHIRE – TRACK #1,075 – 7/14/06

CAROL’S TRACKS INCLUDED –TWIN STATE SPEEDWAY (OVAL) – TRACK #261 & TWIN STATE SPEEDWAY (FIGURE 8) – TRACK #262 & CAANAN FAIR SPEEDWAY (ASPHALT OVAL) – TRACK #263 – ALL ON 7/14/06

These tracks were only my fourth and fifth to see in the Granite state.  This gives me a 22^nd place state ranking, again one track behind Andy Ritter’s 21^st place total.

 

I’m happy to announce that this was Carol’s first ever trackchasing trip to New Hampshire.    She now has been trackchasing in 39 states.  Carol’s three tracks vault her from nowhere to a 23rd place tie with several people including fellow gender mate, Nancy Brown.  Paul Weidman leads his wife Eleanor for the state lead 27-25.  Maybe Eleanor will tell us how Paul got the jump on her in New Hampshire (referring to trackchasing here.)

 

 

 

RACE TRACK NEWS:

 

TWIN STATE SPEEDWAY (OVAL & FIGURE 8), CLAREMONT, NEW HAMPSHIRE

 

I went to the Twin State Speedway oval track, which was called the Claremont International Speedway back in 1988.  For all I now I may have seen the figure 8 track back then, but since we weren’t counting figure 8 tracks back then, I have no recollection of it.

 

Carol and her three children (mine too) were with me on that trip.  We were on a New England family vacation where we stayed in a different state for each of seven consecutive nights.  The family decided to hang out at the hotel while I made a quick visit to the Claremont track on Saturday, September 3.  This was the only race I went too during the entire vacation. 

 

Today, Carol and I arrived at the track at 4 p.m.  It was really hot and very humid.  The track wasn’t open for spectators yet, but we did run into a track employee on our way to use their portapotties.  He was able to give us a great restaurant recommendation. 

 

First, he tried to pawn us off on a Pizza Hut.  I told him that we really wanted to avoid chain restaurants.  He then shared his hidden gem, the China Delight sit down restaurant in downtown Claremont.  Their only Chinese employee is the cook, but that’s enough.  The food was very good and eaten with chopsticks.  It gets a recommendation from us.

 

The racetrack in Claremont is a country track in good condition.  There is ample board seating (meaning 2’by 10” boards attached to one foot round poles placed in the ground.)  The announcer and speaker system is solid.  The announcer got really enthused about our trackchasing visit.  He gave us multiple mentions.

 

P.J. Hollebrand and I are both 57 years old.  On a combined basis, we have seen nearly 2,000 tracks.  We’ve both been trackchasing all over the U.S. and the world.  What are the odds that on this night we would both choose to come to the Twin State Speedway for just the figure 8 race?  Incredible!

 

The racing was O.K. on the oval track.  I’ve got some great photos of the facility.  It’s very unique.  The heat and humidity bordered on unbearable.  We sat in the turn one and two bleachers because the shade would visit this part of the track the soonest.

Following the oval heats, they ran the five-car figure 8 feature race.  There are no figure 8 heats.  This barnburner of an event ended about five minutes after it started at 8:05 p.m.  This signaled both P.J.’s and our departure.  The track was going to intermission where the crowd would be allowed onto the track for “Pepsi night.”  This promotion would allow everyone to get up close and personal with the cars and drivers.  We enjoyed our visit to Twin State Speedway but it was hot.

 

The most significant aspect of tonight’s Twin State visit involved Carol.  This was her first ever trackchasing visit to New Hampshire.  This gives her 39 states where she has seen racetracks.  That puts her in the top echelon of trackchasers in this important category.

 

CAROL’S COMMENTS

I liked the way they kept the races running one after another.  It was weird the way we ran into P.J.  This was my first time to meet him.  I was surprised how he came so far just for the figure 8 race.  He’s a good guy to talk too.  He better get his girlfriend out to the tracks.  She’ll never become a listed trackchaser if he doesn’t. 

 

CAANAN FAIR SPEEDWAY (ASPHALT OVAL), CAANAN, NEW HAMPSHIRE

 

The Canaan Speedway is unusual.  They have a full-sized 3/8 mile asphalt track and a full sized ½-mile dirt track.  The dirt track is located behind the asphalt track’s grandstands.  As far as I know, they never race on the same night.  Tonight we were in line to see the asphalt track.

 

We pulled into the very dark parking lot at about 9:05 p.m.  I didn’t expect much problem seeing some countable feature racing.  The track’s answering machine told us they would be featuring six divisions of racing capped off with a 100-lap open competition modified feature.  The machine also told us that a family of two adults and three kids would be admitted for just $35 and if you didn’t have any kids, then “Bring the neighbor’s kids.”  We took advantage of the vague “Senior rate” of just $10, a hefty saving for us oldsters of five dollars.

 

We were also greeted with this news from the ticket takers.  “We’re getting ready to start our last race.”  Wow!  It’s 9:05 p.m. and you started at 7 p.m. with six divisions and you’re getting ready to start your last race?  We hustled inside.  Carol went to the bathroom and I sent my press release up to the tower. 

 

In a minute or two, the drivers were introduced and the green flag flew on 13 starters.  The cars were blindingly fast in what I call “Richie Evans Modifieds.”  There was an early crash and red flag delay.  This allowed the announcer to get into the trackchasing information I had given him in some depth.  Actually, I think he ready all 283 words of the entire communiqué.  He invited me to join him in victory lane after the race.

 

Two drivers battled nose to tail for the entire 100 laps.  They raced cleanly with Teddy Christopher taking second and a young double ear ringed surfer dude winning.  The feature ended at 9:50 p.m.

 

There was a good crowd on hand in some very dark grandstands.  There were lots of big bugs dive-bombing us that wasn’t very enjoyable.  The entire front stretch lighting system was a series of 10” by 10” shop lights attached to the top of the wheel fence.  Surprisingly, they did a great job.

 

True to his word, the announcer called for me to visit the winning driver in victory lane.  The surfer dude was just happy to meet anyone and we shook hands.  We had been at the track for less than one hour and seen the main race of the night, a 100-lap feature event.  Had we shown up much later we would have missed it.  This was my second traditional double of the 2006 season.  It was Carol’s first three pack of the season.

 

CAROL’S COMMENTS

I loved the cars.  The announcer was great to us with our trackchaser recognition.  It was dark in the grandstands.  They got the races over really quick.  Our motorcycle friend was another gracious New Hampshireite.  The track’s management (announcer and promoter) took the time to talk to us after the races for several minutes.

 

 

WEATHER CONDITIONS

 

It’s hot and humid up here.  It feels somewhat better after the sun goes down.

 

RENTAL CAR UPDATE:

 

The National Rental Car Racing Pontiac Grand Prix is affixed with Massachusetts license plates.

 

 

Wednesday total driving miles – 204 miles

Thursday total driving miles – 462 miles

Friday total driving miles – 428 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 – 1,075

2.  Rick Schneider – Bay Shore, New York - 1,046 (-29)

3.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,035 (-30)

4.  Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 1,021 (-54)*

5.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania – 1,017 (-58)*

6.  Andy Sivi, Clairton, Pennsylvania – 1,015 (-60)*

7.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 913 (-162)**

 

 

* 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 (+4)

38.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California - 263

 

Spike Rixon has been removed from this list.

 

 

 

 

2006 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS

 

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California - 84

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.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 33

7.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Springs, Pennsylvania – 31

8.  Roger Ferrell, Majenica, Indiana – 30

8.  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

Claremont, NH – 1,037 miles

Canaan, NH – 1,074 miles

TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:

Little Valley Speedway – $12

Twin State Speedway - $10

Canaan Fair Speedway $10 senior rate (Reg. $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

 

Tonight Carol was able to see a new track in her 39^th state.  She has plans to see her 40^th state later in the week.

 

 

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