GREETINGS FROM PENN YAN, 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 WEBSTER, NEW YORK THIS MORNING.  THIS IS WHAT TRANSPIRED TODAY.

 

 

 

PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS

 

The Strategy

                                                                                        

Successful trackchasing at the highest levels is all about information management.  He who has the best information gets the most out of his trackchasing effort with the least amount of hassle.

 

Andy Ritter and I stayed overnight at the Super 8 Motel in Webster, New York.  This was a modern Super 8, but it did not have wireless internet.  Of course, without the internet on a trackchasing trip I am like a fish out of water.  This was especially troublesome since I would be facing one of the rainiest weather days of the season.

 

I will tell you more about the impact of the internet and information access in the sections below.

 

The Trip

 

Today’s race was not scheduled to begin until 2 p.m.  However, it was raining when we woke up and the forecast called for rain all day.  Things did not look good.

 

We headed out to breakfast to consider our options.  Our first stop at an IHOP showed a wait time longer than we wanted.  We ended up in a Tim Horton’s.  Our cashier could barely speak English and had the most difficult time understanding that I was ordering an egg salad sandwich.  On the plus side, the food we ordered was delivered quickly.

 

Andy and I discussed what our trackchasing plans might be.  It seemed a foregone conclusion that our race at the Yates County Fairgrounds in Penn Yan, New York would be rained out.  It was raining as we glanced out the window, it had been raining all morning and Penn Yan was less than 50 miles away.  What were our other options?

 

There was a figure 8 race up in Drumbo, Ontario, Canada.  That was just four hours away.  This one might work for both Andy and me.  Another option was the Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, Vermont.  That track was seven hours away.  If I went there, I would have to drive back to where we were now (another seven hours) and then meet trackchaser P.J. Hollebrand for an eight-hour round-trip to Tillsonburg, Ontario, Canada on Sunday.  I share these details with you so you can get an understanding on how the mind of a serial killer, I mean a trackchaser works.

 

This is what we decided upon.  Andy would go to the Yates County Fairgrounds, just 50 miles away, and see if they might be racing.  If they were rained out, he would likely head back to his home in Mansfield, Pennsylvania.  I would head for Vermont.  I didn’t want to drive that far, but that looked like my best option given the widespread rain showers.  All of this decision-making was done without the aid of a computer, just like our trackchasing forefathers used to do it.

 

We bade each other farewell in the Tim Horton parking lot with a promise from Andy that he would call me if Yates County were actually going to race.  I would likely get the call before I was too far from Yates County and could make a u-turn and cancel my Vermont plans.

 

I just didn’t feel good about driving to Vermont.  I stopped near the interstate and intercepted a Microtel Motel’s wireless connection.  Weather.com told me the rain chances in Vermont were 50%.  That sealed the deal.  I was not going to Vermont.  Just at that moment, I received a call from Andy.  Yates County was going to race.  I had just enough time to make it down there for their 2 p.m. start.

 

Evening update

 

You will find out below that Andy and I were able to see countable racing at the Yates County Speedway.  I still had to fill my dance card for Saturday evening.  My originally scheduled trackchasing double up by Rochester looked like a no go.  I headed down into Pennsylvania.

 

This geographical explanation might only be valuable to folks from the area, but here goes.  We left Penn Yan, New York at about 4:30 p.m. when the final checkered flag waved.  It was raining but I figured I could out drive the wet stuff, even though I didn’t know for sure where I might end up.

 

The inadequacy of short track racing management continues to raise its ugly head.  Would you think on a rainy day, the track would either have a live person answering their phones or at least at update on an answering machine that was current?  You can always expect from the short track racing industry but you will rarely see your expectations delivered.

 

I made it past Mansfield, Pennsylvania.  This is a beautiful rolling hills and maybe even mountainous area that is lush with greenery.  The Ritter family picked out a nice spot.  I made it down to Williamsport, Pennsylvania home of the Little League World Series.  I considered the Greenwood Valley Action Track in Millville, PA but their answering machine message regarding the weather was inconclusive.  To go there and find them rained out would eliminate other options.

 

It had stopped raining now.  I hoped that I would get a score for Saturday night.  I reached a live person (better than the alternative) at the Hesston Speedway in Huntingdon, PA.  They were racing!  Of course, they were the furthest away of all of my options.  I would keep them as a backup. 

 

I was going to try to get the Hummingbird Speedway in Falls Creek, PA.  If I could get there by 8 p.m. I might be in luck and it was closer to where I needed to be tomorrow.  Unfortunately, just 15 miles from the track it began to rain hard.  I figured that Hummingbird was a dead duck, so to speak.

 

I backtracked down toward the Hesston Speedway.  I was now in State College, PA home to Penn State University.  It was 9 p.m.  I had been trying to reach Hesston by phone again, but the line was continuously busy.  Finally, I reached the man I had talked too four hours ago.  They were rained out.  They had cancelled just 30 minutes ago during their feature races.

 

I was now out of Saturday night options.  I had tried.  I had driven about 300 miles since our Saturday afternoon show and ended up staying in Clearfield, PA for the night.  At least my trackchasing day was not a total waste as I saw the Saturday afternoon track, but I had tried for more and was not successful. 

The People

I had a fine time trackchasing with young Mr. Ritter.  Andy is a fine family man and represents the next generation of trackchasing.  You might recall that Andy has become the youngest member (age 34?) to join the trackchasing 50 state club.  He has also cracked the worldwide trackchasing top 40 and hopes to remain there for good.

 

Several months ago, Andy volunteered to become the moderator for our trackchaser email conference.  This is home to about 100 people interested in our hobby.  Andy did not inherit a trouble free conference.  About 15 months ago, I had to pull my Trackchaser Reports from the conference due to censorship issues. 

 

I have received very many comments from various trackchasers that the usefulness of the conference has markedly decreased.  That’s really too bad, because it could be a source for sharing on upcoming trackchaser opportunities as well as a recap of past trackchasing activities.  Unfortunately, it has often relapsed into one or two people using the conference to communicate about mundane details of upcoming trips with just one or two other people.

 

I sincerely hope that Andy can come up with some creative ways to resurrect the conference value so that everyone can benefit from the creativity and knowledge of the large group.  Good luck Andy!

 

 

RACE TRACK STATS:

YATES COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS (OVAL), PENN YAN - TRACK #1,097 – 8/19/06

This is my 46^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:

 

YATES COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS (OVAL)

The Yates County Fairgrounds is an old and for the most part run down place.  A young girl was collecting five dollars from everyone who entered the grounds.  I suspect she collected from about 75 people.

 

I arrived right on the dot for their scheduled 2 p.m. start.  Had this been the Daytona 500, I would have seen all the cars lined up on the starting grid with some rock star singing the National Anthem.  That would have been followed up with a “Gentlemen, start your engines” command and we would have been racing. 

 

That would not be the case today.  There were only 12 enduro-racing cars ready for action.  The track looked like a mud bog, but it wasn’t raining.  The oval track is probably about ½ mile in length.  It looked way too big for the old clunker cars that would be racing today.  It looked especially troublesome considering the front stretch ran down hill and the backstretch ran uphill.  I figured with all the mud they would never make it UP the backstretch.

 

When I pulled into the parking lot, I could see Andy manning a top row seating location.  I grabbed a two-dollar draft beer and along with my Spencer Speedway peanuts from the night before joined my fellow trackchaser friend.

 

It was very cloudy although comfortable with the temperature at about 72 degrees.  They didn’t seem in any rush to get the program moving.  This is always a concern because I’ve seen it begin to rain in situations like this and trackchasing folks like us could be aced out.

 

The announcer answered my query that they would race “Rain or shine.”  Somehow, I didn’t really believe him.  It started to rain.  Now the announcer’s promise would be put to the test.

 

At about 2:30 p.m., they finally put the cars on the track.  It was raining pretty good now.  It was raining hard enough that both Andy and I returned to the car to get more protection against the rain.  Even with the added rain gear, we opted not to return to the grandstand.  Instead, we headed for the beer garden that had a nice roof to protect us from the wet stuff.

 

Twelve cars started the 100-lap race.  The track was really just a big mud pit, but on a rare occasion or two, when a car’s spinning tires got the right amount of traction, a small cloud of dust sprang up.  This seemed surreal.

 

It didn’t take long for most of the cars to drop out.  The surviving cars began to attract lots of mud.  I estimated that the leaders had 300 pounds of the wet thick chocolate brown stuff affixed to just about every part of the racecar.

 

The announcer didn’t tell us very often how many laps had been completed.  When the crossed flags signifying that 50 laps had been completed were shown, two cars were still racing!  Yes, for most of laps 25-50 only two cars had still been on the track and moving.  These two cars were called to the starting line.  They were told the race would have one more lap and the checkered flag would fall.  I didn’t see one person who was disappointed in the track’s decision.

 

The race was indeed checkered at 51 laps.  It had taken more than one hour to run those laps.  It was a soggy day.  It had rained throughout the entire race.  We were lucky to get the track in at all.  I cannot think of five oval tracks in the U.S. that would have gotten countable racing in with these weather conditions.

 

WEATHER CONDITIONS

 

It was one rainy day.  At least it wasn’t cold, which would have made it a rotten day.

 

 

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

Saturday total driving miles – 486 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 – 1,097

2.  Rick Schneider – Bay Shore, New York - 1,056 (-41)

3.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,055 (-42)

4.  Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 1,021 (-76)*

5.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania – 1,019 (-78)*

6.  Andy Sivi, Clairton, Pennsylvania – 1,018 (-79)*

7.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 926 (-171)**

 

* 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 - 106

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.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania - 50

7.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 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, MI – 818 miles

Williamson, NY – 1,164 miles

Penn Yan, NY – 1,224 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)

Yates County Fairgrounds - $5

 

 

 

 

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

 

My vacation from figure 8 racing is over. 

 

 

 

 

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

1,097. Yates County Fairgrounds (figure 8), Penn Yan, New York,  - August 19

GREETINGS FROM PENN YAN, 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 WEBSTER, NEW YORK THIS MORNING.  THIS IS WHAT TRANSPIRED TODAY.

 

 

 

PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS

 

The Strategy

                                                                                        

Successful trackchasing at the highest levels is all about information management.  He who has the best information gets the most out of his trackchasing effort with the least amount of hassle.

 

Andy Ritter and I stayed overnight at the Super 8 Motel in Webster, New York.  This was a modern Super 8, but it did not have wireless internet.  Of course, without the internet on a trackchasing trip I am like a fish out of water.  This was especially troublesome since I would be facing one of the rainiest weather days of the season.