























GREETINGS FROM
ALL PICTURES HAVE
BEEN UPDATED AT WWW.RANLAYRACING.COM FOR THIS TRACKCHASING TRIP.
This is the SECOND
grouping in a multi-part series that will detail our 17-day trackchasing and
touring adventure to
Our activities will be listed
chronologically by day and divided into “Trackchasing”
and “Tourist” categories. You will get a glimpse into how another
family approaches and takes a long and exotic trip like this. I hope you enjoy reading about our
adventures, until you and your family head out on your next tour of the world.
Warning:
If you do not want to experience the feeling of “being
there” I recommend that you not read the descriptions of what
went on or view the pictures of what was seen.
I would not want any future visits to these faraway parts to be ruined
by the realism you are about ready to experience in words and pictures.
If you are receiving this
Trackchaser Report via email, you can view the pictures at
www.ranlayracing.com.
Part II
Sunday, December 31, 2006
TOURIST ACTIVITY
Today we were planning our one and
only trackchasing double of this trip.
We left our
Almost all of our driving in
Our biggest tourist activity of the
day, New Year’s Eve, was a visit to the
Our dining experience almost started
out on the wrong foot. We entered the
quaint little building to what looked like a fun and upscale restaurant. There were maybe eight tables in the place
and three of them were open. The décor
allowed us to see into the kitchen where the meals were being prepared. There was a wood-fired stove for making
pizza. This looked great, especially
when virtually nothing else in town appeared to be open.
When I asked the chef where we could
sit, he told us that since we did not have “booking”
(reservation) that we probably shouldn’t eat at the restaurant. That didn’t sound very friendly. He
went on to explain that nearly all of his staff had gone on holiday. The place had been left to just him and one
server. Since I had driven the streets
of Huntly, I knew we had nowhere else to go.
I assured him that we wouldn’t mind waiting. We did wait but the food was worth it.
Following our meal, we were the only
diners in the place. Stacy the owner, a
native New Zealander came over to chat.
We learned he had spent time gaining his culinary skills in
Following dinner, we retired to the
relative comfort of the North End Motel in
TRACKCHASING
HUNTLY
Our first track of the day was to be
the Meremere (pronounced Mary Mary) Dirt Track.
I had been in contact with Jason Harrison and was really looking forward
to our only daytime racing event of the trip.
Meremere’s schedule called for racing to begin at 10:30 a.m. and
continue until late afternoon.
The weather had been “fine” for the first 4 ˝ hours of our five hour
trip. However……it began to get cloudy
and the clouds we encountered were the dark rain producing ones for the last 30
minutes of our drive.
When we entered the Meremere Raceway
grounds it was raining steadily. I asked
the ticket taker if they had cancelled.
He said he thought so since “about eight
people have already pulled out.”
I would need something more definitive than that before we would pull
out.
We drove down into a very muddy
paddock (pit) area. Some racecars were
covered with car covers and others sat out in the rain. I asked a fellow with a hat that read, “Official” if they were rained out. He told me they were about to make that
decision at the hastily arranged “committee”
meeting. He invited me to join the
meeting.
I found a safe semi-mud free place
to park. I entered the meeting hall and
was immediately introduced to the club president, Wiz. Wiz and everyone had been expecting the “World’s #1 Ranked Trackchaser” and they were
happy to see me.
Wiz conducted a meeting with first his
committee members and then the drivers as a group. He told them that even though it was 1:30
p.m., it might be difficult to resume racing since it might take an hour an a
half to run the track in. It was still
raining.
The group discussed their options
and decided to postpone today’s event until tomorrow, January 1 since this
would also be a state holiday. I was
concerned that we might have missed some countable racing by arriving somewhat
late. However, I was assured that no
racing had taken place today at all.
The Meremere Dirt Track Club leases
their racetrack from a local farmer. The
oval track is a permanent quarter-mile dirt oval. Since they had not turned a racing wheel
today, they would not be charged any track rent. The racers could return tomorrow and race for
the same total weekend rental fee. That
was good news, since our evening program, at the Huntly
Following the cancellation, Carol
and I were sitting in our car with my laptop trying to explore our
options. We had only one other afternoon
option. That was a youth mini-stock race
in Rotorua. However, they were starting
in 30 minutes, it was at least a two-hour drive away, I didn’t know if they had
any countable adult racing, there was no internet available and I didn’t have a
working cell phone. Heck, that sounded
like the “good old days” of
trackchasing. Not much information!
The Meremere track was just 20
minutes or so north of tonight’s track in Huntly. Huntly is the home of saloon driver Steve
Williams. The Huntly
I spent some time talking to the
locals about Tiger’s visit. Our motel
manager at the North End Motel told us, “We were
already busy before he was to come, but the newspaper wanted to make it sound
like we were a small town (which Huntly is!) so we had to pretend like Tiger’s
visit made us the busiest ever.”
I spoke with an old-timer at the
track. He told me they had “Tiger come in on a helicopter and he parachuted down
into the infield.” That one
sounded a little hard to believe. A
track official simply told me “Tiger helicoptered
in from
We were the guests of Carol at the
track tonight. She was the Huntly rep we
met two nights ago in
From time to time, the rain
sprinkles picked up to the level of a light rain. I walked the pit area and said hello to
several of the saloon drivers I had already met. Steve Williams and I spied each other from a
distance of 50 yards. He yelled, “Hi Randy” and moved off in a different
direction. I am a card carrying eight
golf handicap. To have Tiger Woods
caddie call me by name made my golf year and maybe even my trackchasing
year. Ya, that was cool.
The rain continued at a steady but
light pace. A driver’s meeting was held
with the youth mini-stocks and stock car drivers, both local classes. The meeting went on as if it was a sunny
day. There was no mention of the rain at
all.
About this time the rain picked
up. I sought shelter. Murray Guy, driver of the #13M came over to
chat.
At about 6:45 p.m., they put the
first cars on the track, the youth mini-stocks.
Remember,
I was shocked to hear they were
going to start the youth mini-stock heat race precisely at 7 p.m. I was standing down in the pit area and could
not see the track. I wasn’t too
concerned with the youth mini-stocks since they are not a trackchasing
countable class. I wasn’t even certain
they were holding a race until I saw the tip of the checkered flag.
Soon the announcer was calling the
super stocks (7) to the track for THEIR race.
It was now pouring. What was this
promoter doing? During all of this,
Carol was sitting in the car waiting out the bad weather. From my position in the pits, I was more than
200 yards from Carol and the car. They
were going to run a countable race. I
had to let Carol now.
I motored those 200+ yards as fast
as I could given the muddy footing conditions that resulted from more than two
hours of rain. Our car was parked next
to the pit gate entrance but just outside the pits. Since all the racers had arrived, the pit
gate was now locked. I had to hunt down “Cheryl” who managed the pit gate to get her to
unlock it. I had made friends with
Cheryl earlier in the night. That bit of
graciousness paid dividends now that time was of the essence. As Cheryl was unlocking the pit gate, I was
hand gesturing to Carol to get a move on.
The super stocks were about set to begin their race.
Carol and I both made it to the berm
of turn one for the start of the super stock heat race. The track was mush. It was sloppy and it was still raining. The lap times were 3-4 times longer than what
might have been run on a dry track.
Nevertheless, they finished the race.
We watched the race next to two
youth mini stock drivers. Their driving
uniforms were soaked with mud and grime from the race they had just completed. We got to talking with them and one said, “Are you the trackchaser who was interviewed down in the
infield of Baypark last week?”
Yes, I was, I told them. It’s
always fun to be recognized by local race fans.
I didn’t have the heart to tell them that trackchasing’s forefathers had
developed rules, which specifically prohibited the counting of classes like
youth mini-stocks. It might have broken
their spirit.
Next up were the stock cars. There were about 15 of them. They also ran a 10-lap or so heat race. There were all kinds of spinning and sliding
and the cars quickly became brown with mud and slop. When that race checkered, the announcer came
onto the P.A. and told the assembled that the remainder of the program was
being cancelled. Folks could use their
ticket stubs for a future race.
Wow!
I absolutely cannot believe they ran those heat races. The track was terrible and
This race brings Carol and my 2006
trackchasing season to a close. I
finished up with 147 tracks on 115 days of trackchasing with just six days of
rainouts. Carol finished up with 63 new
tracks on 46 days of trackchasing with five days of rainouts. I’ll give you more details of our season in
my upcoming 2006 Annual Trackchasing Report due out by the end of January.
The track decided to cancel at about
8 p.m. It was New Year’s Eve. The good thing about tonight’s cancellation
was that we could have a gourmet dinner to celebrate the end of another good
year. One of the downside’s of
trackchasing is that we are trapped at the racetrack during the dinner hour
most of the time.
With our newfound freedom, I
prevailed upon Steve Williams, a resident of Huntly for a restaurant
recommendation. Steve couldn’t come up
with anything that might be open on New Year’s Eve in Huntly. That’s understandable considering Huntly is a
town with maybe two blocks of commercial businesses. Fortunately, his sidekick was able to direct
us to what turned out to be a great eatery.
Overall, it was a great last day of the year, I’m sorry to see 2006 end.
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,
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.
31. Chris Economaki,
32. Gary Jacob,
33. Ron Rodda,
35. Carol Lewis,
34. Johnny Gibson,
2006 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS
1. Randy Lewis,
2. Mike Knappenberger,
3. Ed Esser,
4. Roland Vanden Eynde,
5. Paul Weisel,
6. Guy Smith, Effort,
6. Roger Ferrell,
8. Allan Brown,
9. Carol Lewis,
10. Gordon Killian, Sinking Spring,
10.
Pam Smith, Effort,
Tracks have been reported from 42
different worldwide trackchasers this season.
Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,
Randy Lewis
#1 Trackchaser Living
West of the
Your best bet is to work your butt off, reach your goals and enjoy your
rewards.
CUMULATIVE TRAVEL DISTANCES:
AIRPLANE
Los Angeles, CA – Sydney,
Sydney, Australia – Auckland,
RENTAL CAR –
Driving all over New Zealand
TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:
Western Springs
Blue Chip
Upper Hutt Family
Huntly
www.trackchaser.net
Some of my standings data comes from trackchaser.net
G’day, mate. Yep! We finally finished up 2006. It’s been a GREAT trackchasing year.
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.
1,108.
1,109.
1,110.
1,111. Enid Motor
1,112. Desert Thunder Raceway,
Price,
1,113.
1,114.
1,115. Londonderry Raceway,
1,116.
1,117. Topsfield Fairgrounds Arena,
1,118. Cricket Arena,
1,119.
1,120. I-20 Kartway,
1,121. Hemi Speedway,
**
1,122.
1,123.
1,124.
1,125.
1,126.
** Willow Springs International
Raceway,
1,127.
1,128. Mercedes Benz of
1,129.
1,130.
**
1,131.