













GREETINGS FROM
EXTREMELY BIG NEWS
Today was a milestone event for Carol.
Seeing a race in
#5 – Queen City Speedway,
#10 –
#15 –
#20 – N. Wilkesboro Spdwy,
#25 – Ponderosa Spdwy,
#30 – Speedway 95,
#35 – Proctor
#40 – Devil’s Bowl
#45 – Enid Motor
ALL PICTURES HAVE BEEN UPDATED FROM THIS
TRACKCHASING TRIP AT WWW.RANLAYRACING.COM
WE WOKE UP IN
PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL
NEWS
The Strategy
In the world of trackchasing, we have so many different categories, that
a trackchaser can decide to be a specialist in just about any area that suits him
or her. I focus on overall quantity of
tracks. Some have made it their mission
to lead in an individual state, while other’s preferences have led them to be
leaders in either ovals, road courses or figure 8 tracks. There seems to be a little bit of recognition
for everyone and that is the way it should be.
Although Carol has visited all 50 states, her trackchasing state total
sits at 45. I suspect that only a
fraction of the American population has been to all 50 states. We enjoy traveling all over the world for
there is a lot to see. However, there is
so much to see in
There’s going to be a good deal of travel strategy involved in getting
Carol her final five states. There’s
probably a reason why these five places remain.
There are some very competitive battles going on in the 2006 season
trackchaser standings. Don’t forget to take
a look at how close several positions are.
The Trip
The “12/24” rule came into effect on
this trip as it does on most of my airline trackchasing adventures to the
We left the Enid Motor
Gas prices in
My XM radio is on the blink so we were forced to listen to local radio
channels. This reminded me of why I got
XM in the first place. One radio ad
headline got my attention. The announcer
exclaimed, “Who says you have to leave your house
to find a job?” This was an ad
for an online job search firm.
The People
The people I meet up with in trackchasing are almost always very
nice. That would be the case today at
the Enid Motor
The stadium has a huge stone/concrete façade, that you are unlikely to
see at most other racing venues. My
research indicates this was a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project from
the depression era.
When Carol and I arrived at the stadium we were greeted by Cheryl
Licklider, who is the auto-racing writer for the Enid News and Eagle daily
newspaper in
Cheryl arranged for photos to be taken of our visit as well as an at the
track interview with the track’s announcer.
I made sure I got a plug in about Carol’s 45th trackchasing
state during my interview. Cheryl is
working on a story about our trackchasing visit and when it is completed, I
will add it to the Media Contacts page at www.ranlayracing.com.
Most local tracks don’t get much coverage from their local papers. That’s probably the track’s fault as much as
it is the papers. Cheryl has covered each
one of the 11 Street Stock Nationals events at
RACE TRACK STATS:
This was my 13th lifetime
track to see in the Sooner state. It was
also my first trackchasing visit to
As noted above this was Carol’s
first ever trackchasing visit to
RACE TRACK NEWS:
Today’s program was a one-division show, street stocks, and the third
day of a three-day program. There were
some 90 racecars in the pit area. I must
admit that most of them looked more like late models than street stocks. That might have had something to do with the
fact that today’s feature event paid $10,000 to win.
This was our best racing venue of the weekend by far. In addition, Sunday afternoon is my favorite
time of the week to watch short track racing.
The weather was very good and the grandstand was huge. Even though a crowd of 3,000-4,000 was on
hand there was lots of space for us in the middle of the 30-40 row tall
grandstands. During intermission, they
played good country music over a P.A. system that was stout.
The race program called for seven last chance qualifiers. Two cars from each of these races transferred
to the “B” main. The “A” main started 24
cars from the preliminary events and last year’s
Although there was a good deal of rubber laid down on the track, the
last chance races were marred by dust problems.
The dust didn’t make its way into the grandstand, but it did obscure our
view. At intermission, they watered the
track and that took care of the dust for both of the main events. By the time the championship race was
completed the entire track, from top to bottom, had a black asphalt looking
appearance.
There were a few other noteworthy items about the speedway. First, the flagman does his work from a flag
stand located on the inside of the track rather than the outside, as is normally
the case. The track announcer even
announced part of the “A” main event while standing on the flagman’s
perch. The cars pit inside the
track. Peoria Speedway, the track I cut
my teeth on, pitted their cars inside the track. I like it that way except when the
backstretch gets blocked, as it does at Eldora, by today’s huge racecar haulers.
I would like to extend my advance condolences to the track worker who
works between the flagman and turn one.
I am sad to say that he will be dead soon. He stands way out on the track and the cars
miss him by only a few feet when they pass at speed. R.I.P., friend.
The track also has a fly problem.
We actually encountered our share of these pesky insects throughout the
weekend. The condiments section of the
concessions area was a real fly fest.
This made Carol’s Frito pie and my cheeseburger somewhat less
appetizing. Carol told me the woman’s
restrooms were smothered in flies. I
don’t see that very often at the tracks I visit (speaking of flies and not
women’s restrooms!).
Before the “A” main started, each driver was introduced individually to
the crowd. The “Gentleman
start your engines” command was given at 6:37 p.m. The first last chance race of the day took
the green at 4 p.m. It was still light
out and warm enough for shorts when the feature started. We didn’t need to be anywhere anytime soon,
so the introductions were welcomed.
Carol picked out a couple of favorites and I kept my eye on drivers who
had won the Nationals in the past.
There was a good deal of passing in the 25-car field. I would estimate there were 8-10 different
race leaders, which is unusual in today’s follow the leader racing world. There were also a large number of tire
failures. As an example, on lap 41, the
cars running both first and second both went to the “Hot
pits” with flat tires.
I was listening to the action over the track radio frequency of
462.1125. They had a good deal of
interesting commentary and it made my viewing much more enjoyable. Although I thought the main event was going
to be 50 laps, they kept referring to “Lap 70”
over the radio. It turned out they were
referring to the combined total of both green AND yellow flag laps. When they reached 70 total laps, they would
have a five-minute fuel stop. During
this stop, they could do anything they wanted to the racecars except change
tires. There were just 31 green flag
laps in the books when the fuel stop was called for at 7:22 p.m. Almost all of the yellow flag laps were for
cars with tire problems.
The crash wall in turns one and two is only about four feet high. There is no wheel fence with this wall. One driver rode over the wall ala Cale
Yarborough at Daytona. That was
exciting.
Carol was actually using her arms to motion her drivers forward in the
race. She almost never does that. There was a good deal of passing for the
lead, and the fast cars who returned to the track following a tire stop passed
up through the field constantly. The
race checkered at 7:55 p.m. The winner
had come from the very last row! This
driver won the race last year and became the first person to ever repeat in the
11 year history of this show.
CAROL’S
COMMENTS
Carol’s reaction to seeing racing in
her 45th state: the facility was great, at least it wasn’t one of those
tracks that’s kinda stupid. The yellows
got a little out of hand, but overall I liked the racing. My Frito pie was great; it was like having
crackers on top of chili. The flies in
the women’s bathroom were terrible! Oh
my! They need a bug zapper. If they had a bug strip, it would fill up in
30 seconds.
WEATHER
CONDITIONS
Two bank thermometers disagreed as
to what the temperature was when we entered
RENTAL CAR
UPDATE:
I am using the National Rental Car
Racing
Friday total driving miles – 89
Saturday total driving miles – 163
Sunday total driving miles – 288
Monday total driving miles – 66
The driving portion of this trip
covered just 606 miles. We stopped for gas
once with a final top off. I paid an
average price of just $2.02 per gallon.
The
LIFETIME
TRACKCHASER STANDINGS UPDATE:
These worldwide trackchasers are
within 100 tracks (plus or minus) of my current trackchaser total.
1. Randy Lewis,
2.
Guy Smith, Effort,
3.
Rick Schneider –
4.
Gordon Killian, Sinking Spring,
5.
Andy Sivi,
6.
Allan Brown,
7.
Ed Esser,
* 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.
Johnny Gibson,
35. Carol Lewis,
36.
Sammy Swindell,
2006
TRACKCHASER STANDINGS
1. Randy Lewis,
2.
Mike Knappenberger,
3.
Ed Esser,
4.
Paul Weisel,
5.
Roland Vanden Eynde,
6.
Guy Smith, Effort,
7.
Allan Brown,
8.
Roger Ferrell,
9. Carol Lewis,
10. Pam Smith, Effort,
Thanks for reading about my
trackchasing,
Randy Lewis
#1 Trackchaser Living West of the
Ginger Rogers did everything Fred
Astaire did. She just did it backwards
and in heels!
CUMULATIVE TRAVEL DISTANCES:
AIRPLANE
Los Angeles, CA – Dallas, TX – 1,256
miles
Dallas, TX – Wichita, KS – 346 miles
RENTAL CAR -
AIRPLANE
Dallas, TX – Los Angeles, CA – 1,256
miles
Total Air miles – 3,204
Total auto and air miles traveled on
this trip – 3,810 miles
TRACK ADMSSION
PRICES:
Enid Motor
Total race admissions for the trip –
$23
Some of my standings data comes from
trackchaser.com
It’s time to begin working with my
airline sponsors. This coming weekend’s
trip is one I would never have planned on making without the support of my
sponsors.
992.
Watermelon Capital
993.
Cross Roads Motorplex (asphalt oval), Jasper,
994.
995.
Qualcomm Stadium,
996.
997.
998.
Thunderbowl Speedway of
999.
Cross Roads Motorplex (dirt oval), Jasper,
1,000. Auburndale Kartway,
1,001.
1,002. Speedworld Speedway,
Surprise,
1,003. Lowe’s Motor
1,004.
1,005.
1,006.
1,007.
1,008.
1,009.
1,010.
1,011.
1,012.
1,013. East
1,014. Margarettsville Speedway,
1,015. Sunny South Raceway,
1,016.
1,017. Coldwater Raceway,
1,018.
1,019. Ballymena Raceway,
1,020.
1,021.
1,022. Mendips Raceway,
1,023. Oval Raceway,
1,024.
1,025. Southside Speedway,
1,026. Motor Mile
1,027. Wythe
1,028. Summit Point Raceway, Summit
Point Circuit, Summit Point, West Virginia - April 30
1,029. Old Dominion
1,030. Shenandoah Speedway,
1,031.
1,032. Empty Jug,
1,033.
1,034.
1,035. Motocross 338,
1,036.
1,037.
1,038.
1,039. Blackhawk Farms Raceway,
1,040. The
** Angell Park Speedway, Sun
Prairie,
1,041. Park Jefferson
1,042. Superior
1,043. Brainerd International
Raceway,
1,044. Canby
1,045.
1,046. Tri-State
1,047.
1,048.
1,049. The Bullring at
1,050.
1,051. Buena Vista Raceway,
1,052.
1,053. Rocky Top Raceway,
1,054. Midvale
1,055. Midvale
1,056. Spring Valley Raceway,
1,057.
1,058. Lawrenceburg Speedway (figure
8),
1,059. Lawrenceburg Speedway
(temporary oval),
1,060.
1,061. State Park
1,062.
1,063. Lucas Oil
1,064. Lucas Oil
1,065. Tri-City
1,066.
1,067.
1,068.
1,069.
1,070.
** Windy Hollow
1,071.
1,072. Thunderhill Speedway,
1,073. Little Valley
**
1,074.
1,075. Canaan
**
1,076.
1,077. Legion
1,078. Devil’s Bowl
1,079. Stafford Motor
1,080. Little Log House
** Elko Speedway (outer oval),
** Elko Speedway (inner oval),
** Elko Speedway (figure 8),
1,081. Chickasaw Big
1,082.
1,083.
1,084. Atomic Motor Raceway, Atomic
City,
1,085.
1,086. Rock Creek Race Track,
1,087.
1,088.
1,089. Miller
1,090.
1,091.
1,092.
1,093.
1,094.
1,095.
1,096. Spencer Speedway,
1,097.
1,098. Tillsonburg County
Fairgrounds,
1,099.
1,100.
1,101.
1,102. Oakwood Fair,
1,103. Western Fair,
1,104.
1,105. Iowa
1,106.
1,107.