GREETINGS FROM ARMADA, MICHIGAN

 

It may take me a few days to get photos up for these tracks.  Don’t worry, soon you can click on www.ranlayracing.com to see photos of this week’s trip.

 

I WOKE UP IN SHARON, PENNSYLVANIA THIS MORNING (THIRD NIGHT IN A ROW).  THIS IS WHAT TRANSPIRED TODAY.

 

 

 

PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS

 

 

The Strategy

                                                                                        

This is my fourth county fair figure 8 race in the past four days.  Strategically, that’s good because most of these tracks race just one time per year.  Better to burn those tracks, than a track that races 20-25 times per year.

 

Today was a driving day.  I put on a cool 463 odometer miles and covered two countries.  This puts me at about 3,000 driving miles for the entire trip.

 

By the way, I had to ask Carol for a procedural ruling regarding the statistics of this trip.  My original itinerary called for me to make a round-trip flight from Los Angeles to Minneapolis.  After I had purchased that ticket, I came up with the idea to stay on the trip a little bit longer.

 

This meant I would purchase a Minneapolis to Pittsburgh ticket and then a Pittsburgh to Santa Ana return ticket.  Was this one airline trip or two?  Carol ruled that it is just one airline trip since I did not return home.  Then that is the way it will be.  This one and only airline trip covering 13 days is my 21^st trackchasing airline trip of the year.

 

 

The Trip

 

Following the race in Michigan tonight, I would be staying somewhere in Canada.  The Canadian border was only about 50 miles from the racetrack.  Actually crossing the border was a snap.  The woman border agent asked me a few questions and didn’t even look at my passport!

 

Following the race, I needed to drive as far across Ontario, Canada as I could.  Why?  I had a 10:36 a.m. tee time at the Whirlpool Golf Course in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada on Friday morning.

 

I ended up driving as far as Stoney Creek, Ontario.  This location was only an hour from the golf course.  It was nearly 1 a.m. when I spotted the “Stop 50” Motel.  The motel was part of a truck stop.  In order to “Check-in”, I needed to go into the restaurant area of the truck stop.

 

The clerk told me the rate was $67 Canadian.  No, they did not have a senior discount or a AAA discount.  I guess that shouldn’t surprise me that they don’t have an American Automobile Association discount.

 

The clerk was on the phone when I was checking in.  He was having a hard time understanding the caller.  Finally, he called for a waitress from the restaurant to come over and take the phone.  She was on the phone standing next to me for a couple of minutes.  She was a lady a bit past middle aged and she was also having a hard time with the caller.

 

Finally, she said something rude and hung up.  Then she told everyone within earshot that she had just been talking to a pervert.  She looked at me at said, “The guy told me that he’s standing in his living room in a dress and would I talk to him.”  What do you say to that?  I had no response.  I’ve never had this type of encounter when checking into a Ritz Carlton.

 

Editor’s note:  Even with the vivid imagination I have, I couldn’t make up stuff like this!

 

When I was able to get the cashier/clerk’s full attention, he asked me if I wanted to see the room.  It was 1 a.m. and there didn’t look like there was much else in the area.  No, I didn’t need to see the room.  That was probably a mistake on my part.

 

This motel (hotels are restaurants here, not places to stay overnight) was similar to what we ended up with in Manitoba last week.  There were about eight rooms and they were probably built in the 50s.

 

I walked up to the wooden door with a #3 on it and was a bit startled.  The door had a normal doorknob as any door would have.  The troubling part was that this door used to have a doorknob located just above the one it had now.  Somehow, the old hole had not been covered over in any way.  It simply had a rag stuffed in the hole!  I kept imagining that someone with bad intentions could reach through the hole and unlock the door.  I slept with one eye open throughout the night.

 

I usually do a little computer work before I hit the sack.  That was difficult tonight.  There were no lights whatsoever anywhere near the bed.  No ceiling lights and no reading lights.  I pulled out a portable light that attaches to my computer for a little bit of illumination.  There was also no AC and it was hot in that room.  This was not the most comfortable night I’ve ever spent on the road.  I was happy Carol was no longer with me.

 

The People

I would like to thank “Scott” for his wireless internet connection.  I have never met Scott and I don’t suspect I ever will.  When I pulled into the Armada Fairgrounds and paid five bucks to park, I had a few extra minutes.  I fired up the computer on the hunch I might be able to get one of the neighbor’s wireless connections. 

 

This is when I discovered that Scott had not thought to password protect his wireless connection.  I spent a few minutes checking out weather.com for the remaining days of the trip.  I was just about ready to steal money from Scott’s bank account when I heard the announcer telling everyone the races were about to begin.  We’ll catch you next time, “Scott.”

 

 

 

RACE TRACK STATS:

ARMADACOUNTY FAIRGROUNDS (FIGURE 8), ARMADA, MICHIGAN - TRACK #1,095 – 8/17/06

This is my 54^th lifetime track in the Wolverine state.  This gives me a ninth place ranking in the state.  I’m just four tracks behind Mssrs. Sivi and Erdmann.  Michigan was the 33^rd state I’ve been trackchasing in this year.  I am unlikely to make any real progress in Michigan this year, after it was my most prolific state in 2005.

RACE TRACK NEWS:

 

ARMADACOUNTY FAIRGROUNDS (FIGURE 8)

I didn’t like the idea of paying to park.  That didn’t seem like a good value.  Unlike last night’s fair, the food choices weren’t very plentiful or very good.  I went with a smoked sausage and regretted my decision because the sausage was small and the bread was stale.

The figure 8 grandstands were jam-packed.  I estimate there were 2,000 people in the stands to see the big car figure 8 races.  Those folks were all nearly seated in the stands at least 30 minutes before anything began.

 

The state of Michigan probably has the very best county fair figure 8 racing.  They run mainly V-8 powered automobiles from the 1980s era.  They are fast and make a lot of noise.  Tonight there were nearly 60 of them spread across eight heats.

 

The winner of each heat went to the “A” main, second place to the “B” main and third place to the consi.  Everyone of the heat winners received a trophy except the winner of heat #8.  It turns out they were only expecting enough cars for seven heats and that’s all the trophies they bought!

 

I spent most of my time in the press box.  I got roped into counting laps for the cars in the race.  There were seven people in the press box.  Each of us had a counter.  When the car we were responsible for crossed the finish line, we pressed the counter.  The heat races were all 15 laps in duration.  I don’t think I would like to count laps very often.

 

The racing was good and there were some hard hits.  However, they drug the program out too long considering they had 11 races to run.  After seeing figure 8s for four nights in a row, I feel qualified to make the comment.  “Figure 8 racing is very repetitive.”

 

 

WEATHER CONDITIONS

 

Although it was overcast, it was comfortable with no chance of rain.

 

 

 

RENTAL CAR UPDATE:

 

I will have two rental cars on this trip.  One was picked up and returned in Minneapolis.  The second was picked up in Pittsburgh.

 

 

Minneapolis Rental Car

 

Wednesday total driving miles – 288 miles (corrected)

Thursday total driving miles – 119 miles

Friday total driving miles – 512 miles

Saturday total driving miles – 559 miles (that’s a lot of miles to get zero racetracks!)

Sunday total driving miles – 663 miles

Monday total driving miles – 7 miles

 

 

The driving portion of this trip covered 2,148 miles.  We stopped for gas five times.  I paid an average price of $3.03 per gallon.  The Chevy Impala gave us 28.0 M.P.G. in fuel mileage at an average cost of 10.8 cents per mile.  The car cost 1.5 cents per mile to rent, all taxes included.

 

 

Pittsburgh Rental Car

 

Monday total driving miles – 175 miles

Tuesday total driving miles – 248 miles

Wednesday total driving miles – 49 miles

Thursday total driving miles – 463 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 – 1,095

2.  Rick Schneider – Bay Shore, New York - 1,056 (-39)

3.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,052 (-43)

4.  Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 1,021 (-74)*

5.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania – 1,019 (-76)*

6.  Andy Sivi, Clairton, Pennsylvania – 1,018 (-77)*

7.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 926 (-169)**

 

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

 

** Special exemption.

 

 

 

 

Other notables

 

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

 

34.  Sammy Swindell, Bartlett, Tennessee – 279 (+2)

36.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California - 277

37.  Dale Danielski, Onalaska, Wisconsin – 269 (-8)

38.  Bob Schafer, Oshkosh, Wisconsin - 267 (-10)

 

 

 

2006 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS

 

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California - 104

2.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 66

3.  Paul Weisel, Orefield, Pennsylvania – 59

4.  Roland Vanden Eynde, Vilvoorde, Belgium – 58

5.  Mike Knappenberger, Reading, Pennsylvania - 54

6.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 47

7.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania - 47

8.  Roger Ferrell, Majenica, Indiana – 45

9.  Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan - 42

10. Gordon Killian, Sinking Springs, Pennsylvania – 33

10. Pam Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 33

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,

Randy Lewis

#1 Trackchaser Living West of the Mississippi

 

I’m very good with figures and wish people asked me to multiply things more often.

 

CUMULATIVE TRAVEL DISTANCES:

 

AIRPLANE

 

Los Angeles, CA -  Minneapolis, MN – 1,530 miles

RENTAL CAR - MINNEAPOLIS

 

Lindbergh International Airport – trip begins

Morris, MN – 177 miles

Ada, MN – 351 miles

Miller, SD – 812 miles

Gimli, Manitoba, Canada – 1,495 miles

Bemidji, MN – 1,825 miles

Lindbergh International Airport – trip ends – 2,148 miles

 

 

AIRPLANE

 

Minneapolis, MN – Chicago, IL – 287 miles

Chicago, IL – Pittsburgh, PA – 416 miles

 

RENTAL CAR - PITTSBURGH

 

Pittsburgh International Airport – trip begins

Dayton, PA – 80 miles

Millersburg, OH – 323 miles

New Castle, PA – 479 miles

Armada, Michigan – 818 miles

 

TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:

 

Stevens County Fairgrounds - $8

Norman County Fair Raceway - $10

Miller Speedway - $5 with senior discount (Regular admission $10)

Gimli Motorsports Park – Free

Bemidji Speedway - $8

Dayton Fair - $7

Holmes County Fairgrounds - $4

Lawrence County Fairgrounds - $9

Armada County Fairgrounds - $7 ($5 to park)

 

 

 

 

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

 

Finally, I don’t have to watch anymore figure 8 racing for a couple of days.

 

 

 

 

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

 

** Twin State Speedway (oval), Claremont, New Hampshire – July 14

 

1,074. Twin State Speedway (figure 8), Claremont, New Hampshire – July 14

 

1,075. Canaan Speedway (asphalt oval), Canaan, New Hampshire – July 14

 

** New Hampshire International Speedway, Loudon, New Hampshire – July 15

 

1,076. White Mountain Motorsports Park, North Woodstock, New Hampshire – July 15

 

1,077. Legion Speedway, Wentworth, New Hampshire – July 15

 

1,078. Devil’s Bowl Speedway, Fair Haven, Vermont – July 16

1,079. Stafford Motor Speedway, Stafford Springs, Connecticut – July 17

1,080. Little Log House Speedway, Hastings, Minnesota - July 28

 

** Elko Speedway (outer oval), Elko, Minnesota – July 28

 

** Elko Speedway (inner oval), Elko, Minnesota – July 28

 

** Elko Speedway (figure 8), Elko, Minnesota – July 28

1,081. Chickasaw Big Four County Fairgrounds, Nashua, Iowa - July 29

1,082. Buffalo River Speedway, Glyndon, Minnesota - July 30

1,083. Miller Motorsports Park, Tooele, Utah, - August 4

 

1,084. Atomic Motor Raceway, Atomic City, Idaho - August 4

 

1,085. Mission Valley Speedway, Polson, Montana - August 5

 

1,086. Rock Creek Race Track, Kimberly, Idaho - August 6

 

1,087. Stevens County Fairgrounds, Morris, Minnesota - August 9

 

1,088. Norman County Raceway, Ada, Minnesota - August 10

 

1,089. Miller Speedway, Miller, South Dakota - August 11

 

1,090. Gimli Motorsports Park, Gimli, Manitoba, Ontario, Canada - August 13

 

1,091. Bemidji Speedway, Bemidji, Minnesota - August 13

 

1,092. Dayton Fair (figure 8), Dayton, Pennsylvania - August 14

 

1,093. Holmes County Fairgrounds, Millersburg, Ohio - August 15

 

1,094. Lawrence County Fairgrounds, New Castle, Pennsylvania - August 16

1,095. Armada County Fairgrounds, Armada, Michigan - August 17