GREETINGS FROM WILLIAMSON, NEW YORK

 

 

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 STONEY CREEK, ONTARIO, CANADA THIS MORNING.  THIS IS WHAT TRANSPIRED TODAY.

 

 

 

PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS

 

The Strategy

                                                                                        

I think a good overall trackchasing strategy is to get an entertaining Trackchasing Tourist Attraction on each day that I trackchase.  Of course, with the long driving distances that are sometimes necessary that is not always possible.  Nevertheless, it is what I shoot for each time I go out on a trip.

 

Some of you may notice that I am in violation of my planned trackchasing moratorium during the PGA’s four “Majors”, those being the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and the PGA Championship.  This is the weekend of the PGA Championship.  I simply wanted to get one more week of trackchasing in before my summer season ends.  I was able to listen to the first three days of the tournament on XM Radio.  When I return home, I will watch all four days of the tournament on TIVO TV.  I won’t miss a second of the coverage.  I do expect to stay home for most of the future major events.

 

The Trip

 

First, I was able to successfully check out of the “Stop 50” Motel on Friday morning.  Although it was not in any way a comfortable hotel stay, it probably beat sleeping in my car.

 

This was a relatively light driving day, only 164 miles.

The People

TRACKCHASING TOURIST ATTRACTION #1

 

My first stop of the day was for a 10:36 a.m. tee time at the Whirlpool Golf Course (www.niagaraparksgolf.com) in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.  If I cannot play on a good golf course, I would rather not play.  My internet research told me the Whirlpool course (named after the whirlpools in the Niagara Falls area) would fit the bill.

 

Just to make sure I wasn’t stuck in traffic, I arrived early for my tee time.  I was disappointed the course did not have a driving range.  This was the second of the three courses I have played during the trip without a range.  That was really the only thing I found lacking in the course all day.

 

The course is a traditional golf course built in 1951.  It is a municipal course and owned by the city.  I was very impressed with all of the colorful flowers planted here.  It was one of the more beautiful courses I have ever played.  The course was tree lined and the fairways and greens were in great shape.

 

I played the blue tees.  They measured 6,701 yards.  That’s not much compared to the 7,500+ yards in this weekend’s PGA Championship but it was long enough for me.  The layout carried a course rating of 71.9 (The PGA at Medina was 78.1!) which indicated it was long.  Its slope rating was 123.  That told me it wasn’t rated as being too difficult.  I shot an 81 and was happy with my play on a long course.

 

The highlight of my day ended up being my playing partners.  These two Canadians, Ed and Randy, were about my age and retired from their business of commercial construction where they owned their own company.

 

They were both decent golfers and easy to play with.  The round was somewhat slow with a foursome in front of us, so we had lots of time to swap stories and enjoy each other’s company.  I am nearly always pleased with the partners I meet when I show up at a course as I did today.

 

My fellow playing partner, Randy, has been a racecar owner for nearly 40 years.  We both had several common acquaintances among the Ontario racing fraternity.  I think both Ed and Randy were a little amazed and at the same time skeptical about my unusual hobby of trackchasing.  Most people are!

 

As we reached the 18^th tee box, Ed told me about a tradition that some players have when they play the Whirlpool course.  The Great Gorge at Niagara Falls runs parallel to the 18^th fairway.  It seems that players like to tee up a ball and hit it from the tee box into the gorge.  There are a couple of minor complications.

 

However, the golf course forbids this and if they see you doing it, you will most likely be asked to leave.  But, hey, I had already played 17 holes.  What did I have to lose?  More importantly, there is a heavily trafficked two-lane highway between the tee box and the gorge.  There is also a good deal of pedestrian and biker traffic.  Nevertheless, I waited for a slight break in the traffic and proceeded to hit a high fade out of sight into the gorge.  It was a fun day of golf with Ed and Randy on a beautiful golf course.

 

TRACKCHASING TOURIST ATTRACTION #2

My second TTA of the day was visiting Niagara Falls.  Carol and I have been here a couple of times.  The falls are absolutely magnificent.  It was a beautiful weather day and there were tons of tourists enjoying the sights.  I took a few pictures that I’ll share at www.ranlayracing.com soon.

 

I want to come back someday with Carol so we can ride the Maid of the Mist (www.maidofthemist.com).  This is a boat that actually sails under the falls.  Everyone has to wear a raincoat and it looks like a spectacular experience.  We’ll do that someday.

 

 

RACE TRACK STATS:

SPENCER SPEEDWAY, WILLIAMSON, NEW YORK - TRACK #1,096 – 8/18/06

This is my 45^th lifetime track in the Empire state.  This gives me an 18^th place ranking and no hope of any National Geographic Diversity points in my lifetime.

RACE TRACK NEWS:

 

SPENCER SPEEDWAY

I’m going to tell you right now that I went to the Spencer Speedway with the express purpose of meeting up and coming trackchaser, Andy Ritter.  I hope that this information does not hinder Andy’s trackchasing political future by any members of the Trackchaser’s equivalent of the “Easter Taliban.”  Andy has a right to go trackchasing with anyone he wants without fear of reprisal or discrimination in any way.  I’ll have more about Andy in tomorrow’s Trackchaser Report.

 

The track started on time at 7:30 p.m.  There is a good deal of seating in the 20 row wooden grandstand that runs the length of the front straight.  Although they had a large crowd, with this much capacity there was plenty of room to spread out.

 

The track itself is a relatively flat half-mile asphalt oval with very long straights.  We sat about half way up in the grandstands and it was difficult to see the action in the far turns of three and four.  The announcer was good and kept everyone informed about the program and the drivers.  The P.A. was also strong.

 

They ran two classes of modifieds.  The NASCAR mods brought 14 cars and the SST modifieds had 30 cars for their special 75-lap feature.  They also had 4 mini-stocks and about 14 street stocks.  The side-by-side racing was some of the best I’ve seen this year.  With such a flat track, I was surprised to see such good racing.

 

The finale of the night was the 30-car, 75-lap SST main.  Both Andy and I predicted this would probably be a wreck fest and it was.  They had to red flag this race a time or two.  I would much rather see 14 street stocks race side by side on a quarter mile dirt track than 30 cars have frequent cautions in a long race.

 

After the races were over, we sauntered down to the pit area.  The weather was beautiful, although the bugs were biting.  With our hotel being just a few miles away, there was no rush to leave.  When we did finally head for the darkened parking lot, it was about 15 minutes past midnight.  I am rarely at a racetrack at that time of day.

 

 

WEATHER CONDITIONS

 

The weather was cloudy but warm enough with temperatures in the low 70s.  I think that is great racing weather.

 

 

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

Friday total driving miles – 164 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 – 1,096

2.  Rick Schneider – Bay Shore, New York - 1,056 (-40)

3.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,052 (-44)

4.  Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 1,021 (-75)*

5.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania – 1,019 (-77)*

6.  Andy Sivi, Clairton, Pennsylvania – 1,018 (-78)*

7.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 926 (-170)**

 

* 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.

 

35.  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 - 105

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

Spencer, New York – 1,164 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)

Spencer Speedway - $13 with senior discount (Regular admission $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

 

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

1,096. Spencer Speedway, Williamson, New York - August 18