











GREETINGS FROM
ALL PICTURES HAVE BEEN UPDATED FROM THIS
TRACKCHASING TRIP AT WWW.RANLAYRACING.COM
WE WOKE UP IN
PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL
NEWS
The Strategy
I always enjoy the planning of any particular trackchasing trip. I love to be able to anticipate how things
might turn out and plan accordingly. Of
course, things don’t always turn out as planned. An example of this is when I see things at a
racetrack that I have never ever seen before.
You might think that after I’ve seen more than 1,100 tracks I would have
seen everything. Nothing could be
further from the truth.
Just today I saw three separate activities that I had never seen
before. Here’s what they were:
-
A golf cart used to push start a
micro sprint
-
A flagpole race
-
A trackchaser running out of gas in
the parking lot of the track
I’ll tell you more about all of this in the body of this Trackchaser
Report.
The Trip
Back when I was in my 40s, I would play golf in the morning, come home,
and take a nap. Now that I am in my 50s,
I don’t have time for naps! There is too
much in life to do.
Back in the olden days of trackchasing, almost all tracks were seen from
Memorial Day to Labor Day. A few
trackchasers went out before or after these dates, but not often. Now trackchasing is a year round
activity. That just shows how
competitive the hobby has become regardless of how some try to say it
hasn’t. People often speak with their
feet.
Again, back when trackchasing was just a sport and not an industry,
Carol and I would have simply been enjoying the cool ocean breezes under a
sunny sky as the sounds of the ocean wafted over our Saturday morning
breakfast.
However, trackchasing IS now an industry replete with press releases,
radio interviews, TV pilots and that’s not a bad thing. That being the case, we would not be able to
enjoy the ocean breezes or even a traditional American breakfast. Today was a busy day. Even though we had a hectic schedule, we
would achieve three major wins. Permit
me to explain.
The morning was reserved for golf with my buddies at the club for me. Carol had a wedding dress fitting with our
daughter Kristy. I understand they
scored a coup with their dress acquisition.
Somehow, I knew it was going to be a great day. My golfing buddy George R. and I won the
day’s golf tournament and the grand sum of $35.
I suspect, I’m going to have to win a lot more than that to pay for
designer wedding dresses. This was win
number one for the day.
Carol and I both rushed home from our morning activities to unite for
our drive to the Rose Bowl. UCLA was
playing the
By the way, there are two golf courses located adjacent to the Rose
Bowl. On game days, these golf courses
are used to park cars for people attending the football game. Because of our morning activities, we didn’t
arrive at the game until nearly kickoff time.
Our late arrival (which was also partially caused by our stop at In N’
Out for lunch) put is in the far reaches of the parking lot. It was a 20-minutes walk (no exaggeration)
from our car to our seats. Nevertheless,
we were in our season ticket seats for the kickoff.
Following the game, we were off to “LAX.” We would be taking the “Red-eye” to
We needed to take the overnight flight because that was the only option
that allowed us to watch the UCLA football game and still get us to the
Londonderry Speedway for their 11:30 a.m. starting time. What was the third win of the day? We were upgraded to first class! Tonight’s first class was not anything compared
to United Airlines, “First Class Suite”
service that I experienced on Friday from Chicago to Los Angeles but it was
certainly better than coach.
Carol and I had a great day and this was just our trackchasing travel
day. We were expecting things might get
even better and they did.
I know that some people may repeat our Sunday trackchasing double in
If you stay in
The People
Carol and I had the pleasure of meeting up with Bruce Spencer of Bristol,
Bruce had given me a heads up on the second half of my trackchasing
double for today. He reminded me that
today’s tracks were just 15 miles apart.
With the planned starting times of 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., it was a
natural for a trackchasing double.
What was great about viewing the action with Bruce was he had the
complete histories of these places. He
had not been to
Ollie Silva
Eddie
Don MacLaren (the flying Scotsman)
Charlie Elliott (promoter) 1936 #1
There were several others listed on the board as well. Bruce’s all-time favorite driver is Ollie
Silva. He described him as driving a
black and silver car and using dark sunglasses to intimidate the other drivers.
Following a day at the races, it was time to head in our separate
directions. When we reached the parking
lot, Bruce reminded us that his car had “burped”
while entering the parking lot. Heck, I
do that all the time and Carol doesn’t seem to mind too much. However, Bruce meant he was low on gas. No, that’s not quite accurate. The most accurate way to describe Bruce’s gas
situation, would be to say he was out of gas entirely. The car wouldn’t start.
However, that would not prove to be a problem. He had AAA coverage in the form of the #1
trackchaser living west of the
RACE TRACK STATS:
LONDONDERRY RACEWAY,
These tracks were my 8th
and 9th to see in the Granite state.
I’ve now moved into a tie for 16th place in
Carol has now tied John Moore for 18th
place in the state. Paul Weidman leads
his wife Eleanor for the state lead 27-25.
RACE TRACK NEWS:
Carol and I arrived at the
This was my third attempt to get this track counted. I was at the track a few years ago, to find
they were rained out. I was at the track
a few weeks ago, to find out they cancelled because they didn’t have enough
cars show up. Trust me, this track is
definitely not worth going back to three times, but I did.
Actually, there were several positives about
The weather was perfect. It was
sunny, with little or no wind and a temperature of at least 70. Carol, Bruce and I observed the driver’s
meeting from a distance, before finding a seat in the turn one and two grandstand. We were joined by about 10 other people.
During the driver’s meeting we did hear something about time
trials. It was now 12:20 p.m., nearly an
hour after the scheduled starting time.
I wanted to finish the afternoon with a trip to nearby
However, the news was about ready to get better, much better. At 12:20 p.m., three senior champ karts took
to the track for a heat race. In less
than three minutes they had completed their race and this track was in the
books. We had some more time at the
track. What else did they have to offer? The real answer was not much, but you paid
for a full subscription to the Trackchaser Report, so I am contractually
obligated to tell you what else we saw.
Following the champ karts, three 500cc mini-sprints ran a heat
race. The engines sounded more like lawn
mower engines than the motorcycle engines I’m accustomed to seeing in
mini-sprints. They even used a golf kart
to try to push start a mini-sprint. That
didn’t work, but it was a first for me to see.
Next was a race for one Classic Light racecar aka Legend or Dwarf. Bruce told us this was a milestone race for
him. It was the first time he had ever
seen a race for one car. Bruce, come
along with me, it’s not that unusual!
The next race was for three one-quarter midgets. They’re not countable so I tried not to
watch. I did hear one father yelling at
his kid from the infield to change lines.
Ya, this is the racing version of little league.
The next race was for one 600cc mini-sprint. This was actually a very competitive
car. What I found most noteworthy was
that in the space of about 15 minutes Bruce has replicated his “first ever” experience of seeing just one car in
a race.
There were going to be two special events. I believe they were having special 75-lap
features for mini-cups and junior champ karts.
They time trialed 8-9 mini-cups. I’m
not sure if there were adults driving the mini-cup cars. They then ran two junior champ karts heats
and then began to time trial them. We
had been at the track for about one hour and 45 minutes. It was time to leave.
This track will go down at being my 5th blended double
without a feature at the first track of the 2006 season. Three of those five doubles have been when
the first track had either senior champ karts or junior late models with a
maximum of four cars in their class. The
other two involved
The
The
Upon entering, the first thing I noticed was that about 40% of the
grandstand was condemned! Yes, I said condemned. It was roped off and the weeds had taken full
growth. That wasn’t a very good first
impression.
Today they were racing Rookies, Thunder Lites, Northeast Classic Lites
and Spectator Drags. They would also
have triple enduros and a flagpole race.
By the mid-afternoon it was hot.
We sat in the main grandstand and the sun sat to our left off of turn
four. For more than three hours, I felt
like I was being tortured under some spotlighted interrogation by some
disenchanted Eastern based trackchasers.
You know the feeling.
They didn’t throw many yellow flags, but they just kept racing. They kept racing and racing and racing. Just when you thought they couldn’t have any
more races, they put more cars on the track.
The track has a significant amount of deferred maintenance. Yes, it is rundown. The P.A. was one of the weakest I have heard
or not heard in this case anywhere. Both
Bruce and Carol had a very difficult time getting the crowd to quiet down so
the announcer could tell them that one of the world’s foremost trackchasers was
in town.
The 25 row wooden grandstand was a series of rotten boards nailed to
ground posts. The weeds were thick and
they attracted bees.
On the plus side, there is always a plus side, the concessions were
good, and the service was fast and the prices reasonable. We dined on good tasting hot dogs and
hamburgers.
Back to the racing for the moment.
The spectator drags were unique. I’ve see this type of racing many times. Normally, there are 10-20 cars that were
driven to the track by spectators. They
run two cars at a time for a distance of one lap. The winner advances and the loser goes back
to the parking lot. The crowd cheers as
they did in the old Roman days when it was man against lion. They can’t get enough of “civilians” risking their own personal automobile
for five minutes of glory.
Today, the spectator drags were different. There were about 20 cars, but they weren’t
all officially streetcars. Most of the
cars had crude numbers and words spray painted on there cars. Additionally, they did their best to wreck
the car they raced against. In the
track’s defense, they did disqualify those who intentionally wrecked others. Of the 20 cars racing, about 3-4 were
legitimate spectator’s cars. One of
those cars was intentionally driven into, much to the crowd’s shock, awe,
dismay and appreciation!
To my knowledge, I have never seen a “flagpole”
race. Today, they used a tractor tire
for the flagpole. No, I didn’t
understand the symbolism either. The
large tire was placed on the inside of the straightaway. During the race the cars would come out of
the fourth turn and down the straight.
When they reached the flagpole, no I mean the tractor tire, they did a
counter-clockwise circle around the tractor tire and then proceeded down the
front straight and into the first turn.
I found this much more entertaining that figure 8 racing. The cars seemed to come from some unusual angles
at a high rate of speed. There were some
great wrecks and the crowd loved it.
CAROL’S
COMMENTS
We saw two one-car races! The girls drove really well in two of the
classes. The bees were terrible in the
grandstand. (Editor’s note: I gallantly killed a bee for Carol’s
protection. Yes, I was scared to death
but I tried not to let on with either Carol or Bruce.) The first race was countable.
Bruce can attest that I do actually
interview Carol for her viewpoints on each track. I know some of it may sound made up but it’s
not. Here is Carol’s feedback from her
point of view.
I didn’t think the flagman should
have worn a red shirt. That was too
confusing to the drivers. Again, I
didn’t like the bees. I had never seen a
flagpole race. It added some intrigue to
our event, but I think they forgot the flagpole. It was fun seeing Bruce again. He’s a nice guy.
WEATHER
CONDITIONS
I guess I really shouldn’t
complain. Who would ever expect it to be
clear, sunny and 80 degrees in
RENTAL CAR
UPDATE:
This will be my second National Rental
Car Racing
Sunday total driving miles – 87
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.
Ed Esser,
3.
Mike Knappenberger,
4.
Roland Vanden Eynde,
5.
Paul Weisel,
6.
Guy Smith, Effort,
7.
Allan Brown,
8.
Roger Ferrell,
9. Carol Lewis,
10. Pam Smith, Effort,
LIFETIME
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY STANDINGS
2006 (current – 10/1/06)**
1. Gordon Killian, Sinking Springs,
2. Randy Lewis,
3. Allan Brown,
**Lifetime NGD results could be affected
by current track counting proposals
2005 (final)
1. Gordon Killian, Sinking Springs,
2. Allan Brown,
3. Randy Lewis,
Thanks for reading about my
trackchasing,
Randy Lewis
#1 Trackchaser Living West of the
There is no empirical truth that
reading the Trackchaser Reports makes you any smarter, but it does give your
brain a workout.
CUMULATIVE TRAVEL DISTANCES:
AIRPLANE
Los Angeles, CA – Boston, MA – 2,611
miles
RENTAL CAR -
TRACK ADMSSION
PRICES:
Some of my standings data comes from
trackchaser.com
Could Trackchasing’s First Mother
squeeze in one more new state before the snow falls? Probably!
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.