GREETINGS FROM HASTINGS, NEW ZEALAND (THAT’S WHERE THE DAY BEGAN)

IN MEMORIUM

I was sad to hear of the passing of Benny Parsons.  From what I could tell, Benny was the nicest of guys.  I had two very brief encounters with him. 

 

The first was back on March 14, 1982 at the Bristol Motor Speedway.  Darrell Waltrip had just won the race.  I was walking the NASCAR Winston Cup pits.  This was back when those pits were just like any other short track and open to everyone after the races.  I got a great picture of Benny standing by his car holding court with a large group of friends.

 

My most recent encounter with Benny was just a bit more than a year ago at the Martinsville Speedway in Virginia.  Here is what I wrote about that brief meeting on October 23, 2005.

 

“The crowds at these events are staggering.  I feared a stampede with the fans trying to walk out of the track.  While Carol and I were waiting for the crowd to thin, I had a conversation with NBC broadcaster, Benny Parsons.  All right “conversation” may be exaggerating.  Benny was leaving the grounds with a friend and walked past us.  Nobody else in the crowd seemed to recognize him.  When he passed I said, “Nice job, Benny.”  He replied with a quick “Thank you” and was gone.”

 

R.I.P.  Benny Parsons

 

 

 

ALL PICTURES HAVE BEEN UPDATED AT WWW.RANLAYRACING.COM  FOR THIS TRACKCHASING TRIP.

This is the FOURTH report in a multi-part series that will detail our 17-day trackchasing and touring adventure to New Zealand and French Polynesia.  The format of this Trackchaser Report will differ from those you have been reading all season. 

 

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 IV

 

 

 

Wednesday, January 3, 2007

TOURIST ACTIVITY

 

After spending the night in the very North end of the South Island, it was time to drive through the island’s interior.  Before we began that drive, we stopped off for breakfast at the Boat Shed in Nelson, where we stayed.

 

This is one of the restaurants that rejected us as being too late last night for dinner.  The food is great and the on the water location beautiful.  If you stop in tell them Randy sent you and ask then if they still have my reading glasses.

 

New Zealand has a total population of 4 million people.  The sheep population is 48 million.  Although the South Island is a third larger than the north, the North claims three-quarters of the population.  This meant the holiday traffic was much lighter on the South Island.

 

We found the North Island geography to be somewhat similar to the U.S. Northwest.  The South Island looked much more like what can be seen in Northern California of the United States.  The traffic was less in the south and it appeared to be quite a bit drier.  By the way, all of New Zealand is in the same time zone.  Standard time is 12 hours ahead of GMT.  During our visit, here daylight-savings advances the time one hour.

 

Our drive today takes us down to Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island.  All of our driving was done on two-lane roads that were in good shape.  We saw snow-capped mountains, but overall the topography reminded us more of the desert.  Our southbound drive to Christchurch took us through the interior portion of the island.  We would choose the ocean road later in the trip when we headed northbound out of Christchurch.

 

We did fall in behind a midget racecar being towed back to Christchurch after the race team was rained out at the Top of the South Speedway last night.  We met up with the race team’s occupants (father, mother and son) at a gas station in Springs Junction.  They had made the more than 10-hour round-trip drive only to be rained out.  The mother told us she had heard me talking about trackchasing during my Top of the South Speedway interview last night. 

 

Tonight’s racetrack is located 10-20km north of downtown Christchurch.  We were lucky to find the Redwood Motel on Route 1 perfectly situated between the city and the track.  What made us especially lucky was that right next to the motel was the Sequoia 88 Dinner Buffet.  This place was just like a U.S. buffet style restaurant. 

 

Since we had been on a diet of hot dogs and chips (French fries) for more than a week, the buffet looked like an oasis in the desert.  Like contestants from the TV show Survivor, we felt we had won a food reward.  After we had stuffed ourselves with all manner of goodies, it was time to take our rounded bellies (mine, anyway) to the track.

 

 

 

TRACKCHASING

 

WOODFORD GLEN SPEEDWAY, CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND – RANDY’S TRACK #1,142 & CAROL’S TRACK #298 – 1/3/07

 

The Woodford Glen Speedway is a well-kept and well-attended facility.  They charged just $12NZ admission.  Fans were allowed to visit the pit area until the races started.  Once the races began, fans without a pass had to leave the pits until after the races.  I call that policy, “Pit Freedom Lite.”  It’s better than virtually every U.S. track, but not as good as the majority of NZ racetrack’s pit entry policies.

 

The NZ tracks have a lot in common with the U.K. tracks I’ve seen.  However, in the U.K. winning drivers take a “Lap of Victory” celebration with the race is completed.  Each NZ winner stops to collect the checkered flag and then drives a slow lap around the track with the flag hanging out the window as he collects the fan’s admiration.  I like both approaches.

 

I noticed tonight and for several other night’s that the race officials do not wear radio headsets to communicate with each other.  Tonight the officials were wearing earpieces.  I would think that would make hearing each other more difficult.  I didn’t bring my racing radio along on this trip.  I figured it probably wouldn’t operate on NZ frequencies.

 

There were 16 saloon car racers tonight.  What was most noteworthy about this class was the backfiring as the cars slowed to enter the turns.  When you weren’t expecting it, it could scare the heck out of you.  I remember that earlier in the trip at Baypark, drivers were told that after one backfire they would be warned.  After two, they would be trailered.  They didn’t have that policy tonight.

 

There was seating around 100% of the track.  We sat on the main straight behind the flagman.  This area offered lawn seating and a few wooden boards attached to two-foot high ground poles.  Other than the fact that we sat next to two small children that had had way too much chocolate or other energy boosting foods, this was a good location.

 

The backstretch had some very comfortable plastic bucket seat for their fans.  We saw these somewhat form fitting bucket seats at several tracks we visited.  The trouble with the backstretch seating tonight was that those fans faced directly into a tough setting sun.  By the way, it stays light for a long time during this part of the year.  It is light until 9 p.m. or even later.  Tonight, it was still twilight at 9:45 p.m.

 

Tonight’s “50/50 lottery” paid $827.  That’s a goodly sum.  The racing fields were solid with 26 street stocks, 7 modifieds, 16 mini-stocks, 13 production saloons and a large field of stock cars.

 

All of the heat races (two for each class) were just six laps.  All of the cars in each class raced in their classes’ heat race.  In the U.S., starting 26 street stocks would be a nightmare.  Most folks would shake their head in disbelief and mutter, “Don’t do it!  Don’t do it!”  They could just imagine how many yellow flag delays there would be.  Nevertheless, as they say in New Zealand, “No worries mate.”  Twenty-six street stocks can do just fine in a heat race, if they are instructed to keep moving after a spin and yellow flags are not displayed.  It’s a delight for the fans to see so much action.  U.S. promoters, are you listening?

 

The feature events were just eight laps long in most classes.  With seven racing classes that meant 21 overall races.  The super stocks were also in attendance, but just for practice.  The famous English driver, Frankie Wainman Jr., is in town from the U.K. for the South Island stock car championships in Dunedin.  His car ran into mechanical difficulties during practice after running only a few laps.  The commentators told us this was his 10^th racing trip to NZ.

 

We have been disappointed that most commentators do not tell the fans how many laps a race will be, how many laps have been completed or how many laps remain in the race.  However, overall, the commentators have been very entertaining.  Yes better than most in the states.  Tonight’s commentators did give a trackchaser mention, but did not offer an invitation for me to visit their booth.

 

Tonight the track was watered after each race.  The water truck put down just one lap of moisture, which seemed to be enough to make the track dust-free.  They did not take lap after lap to run the water in.  In most cases, the cars drove one lap, maybe two and were ready to race.  U.S. promoters, are you listening?

 

We didn’t feel the need to eat anything following our buffet feast at the Sequoia 88 dining hall.  O.K., I must be honest.  I did sneak a raspberry soda (ice cream, Sprite and raspberry flavoring) from the Mr. Whippie truck during my tour of the backstretch.  This will be the first time Carol learns about this culinary delight.  We did notice the track food trailer was featuring steak and mushroom pie for $3NZ.

 

Overall, a good night of racing on the South Island.  This was our second and last South Island racetrack.  We’ll be back for more some day.  Tomorrow will be reserved for touring.

 

Thursday, January 4, 2007

TOURIST ACTIVITY

 

We don’t have any racetracks scheduled today.  I’d like to go into some long drawn out explanation about how I’m caving into Carol’s request for some non-racing vacation time.  However, that would not be true for two reasons. 

 

First, I couldn’t find anybody, anywhere racing on January 4.  Therefore, I really wasn’t making any trackchasing sacrifice.  There was simply no track racing today.  Secondly, Carol demands that anytime we can see a new track on a trip like this, we MUST do so and that’s the truth!

 

New Zealand keeps track of their temperature using the Celsius scale rather than the Fahrenheit scale as we do at home.  This always creates a bit of a challenge for us.  I’ve come up with a simple way to make the conversion from Celsius to Fahrenheit that seems to work in the summertime NZ temperature ranges.

 

I simply say “22=72.”  That means 22 degrees Celsius equals 22 degrees Fahrenheit.  For every Celsius degree above or below 22 degrees I add or subtract two degrees.  That means a Celsius temperature of 20 equals 68 degrees Fahrenheit.  Twenty-five degrees Celsius would be about 78 degree Fahrenheit.  Of course, Carol is always quick to do her own “in her head” calculation and reminds me when my method is off by a degree or two.  This is the kind of marital conversation that keeps a marriage going for some 36 years.

 

By the way, the New Zealand media tells us that this year is the second wettest season in the history of recorded weather.  We’ve had only one rainout, that wasn’t made up so far.  Carol is still on plan to reach the 300-track mark on this trip if we don’t have any more rainouts. 

 

Several of the shows have been seriously threatened with rain.  For the most part, this is not drenching rain.  It’s Seattle rain. That means it mists, then might rain lightly, but nothing really heavy.  When we’re driving, it’s somewhat annoying because the rain just barely requires use of the windshield wipers.

 

As mentioned, there are virtually no large chain motels in New Zealand outside of the bigger cities and there aren’t many even in those locations.  In this part of the world, “Hotel” means a place to eat and “Motel” means a place to sleep. 

 

There is no shortage of “Ma and Pa” motels, typically with 10-15 rooms.  This is the type of motel we have stayed in since we left Auckland.  Most hotels have been in the $90-130NZ price range.  That’s about $60-90US.  Most motels also offer the time-honored tradition of providing a pint of milk with each room rental.  You can get it in “regular or trim” to be used with your tea.  Most rooms offer a “fridge” and many have full cooking facilities.  All of the proprietors have been helpful and friendly.  Carol knows that when we stop at a motel to inquire about room availability and I return from the registration area with a pint of milk, we have scored!

 

We have been somewhat disappointed in our radio and TV media choices.  Most motels have only 6-8 channels with not much of interest on the telly.  Our car radio isn’t much better.  There are not many stations to choose from and the content leaves a bit to be desired.

 

Petrol prices seem to be very consistent all over the country.  More stations than not have their 91-octane petrol priced at $1.429NZ per liter.  I think that’s about $4.50US per gallon.  Prices out in the very rural areas are a little higher, like they would be in the states.  Diesel fuel is priced at about $0.98NZ per liter whereas is the U.S. diesel is slightly more expensive than gasoline.  I don’t understand that.

 

Carol was surprised to see many families drying their clothes on outdoor clotheslines.  That’s the way we did it when I was a boy.  We also saw several rows of clothes getting wet when a light rain shower would sweep through.

 

We took the first half of today to tour Christchurch.  The city was founded by the English in 1850.  The city is very compact and easy to get around.  The Avon River winds its way through town.  We had a very beautiful day for touring.

 

We figured we would grab breakfast downtown before we started our exploration.  I don’t think New Zealanders eat out as much as we Americans do.  Maybe that’s why they are thinner!

 

We didn’t see much of anything for breakfast.  There were some American fast food shops, but, except for once a trip research, we try to avoid those places.  We finally decided on a Holiday Inn Hotel as a place to eat.  If I were in the states, a Holiday Inn would be the last place I would try to eat.  Now, that theory goes for New Zealand as well.  It wasn’t very good, but at least it was expensive.

 

Our first tourist activity was to buy admission ($12.50NZ) to the Christchurch Tramway.  The tram runs from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and a ticket is good for two days.  We figured we could ride one entire revolution, about 25 minutes, aboard the San Francisco style cable car to get a lay of the land.  A combo ticket for $30NZ is also offered which includes the tramway and a ride on the nearby gondola.

 

On our second lap around, we settled on the Canterbury Museum.  This is a general museum relating to New Zealand history and ethnology.  The museum is free and worth a few minutes to explore.

 

Right next door to the Museum is the Botanic Gardens.  The botanical gardens cover 75 acres.  I’m not a big botany fan, but this was a nice place to visit.  It was such a gorgeous day.  People were kayaking and riding gondolas down the placid Avon River, which runs through the gardens.  Try to visit the rose garden and some of the indoor glasshouses if you go.  Again, this attraction does not charge admission.

 

Christchurch also has a brand new art museum serviced by the tramway.  We didn’t try that, but we will next time.  We finished the morning by watching some street performers entertain the crowd with their humor and their unicycle.  We had some Chinese fried rice in the square before beginning to head north toward Picton, where we catch the ferry back to the North Island tomorrow.

 

We did make one final souvenir-shopping excursion.  I wanted to get something from the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team as a memento.  Their stuff is always very expensive.  Rugby shirts can sell for $150NZ and up.  Hats at $30-40NZ.  I settled on a quality All Blacks t-shirt that I look forward to wearing at home.

 

Our drive from Christchurch to the ferryboat will be along Route 1.  This drive is almost entirely along the Pacific Ocean.  It’s one of the more beautiful drives we have ever taken.

 

We did stop at a New World grocery store.  We have seen New World stores throughout our trip.  During my business career, I was in a lot of grocery stores, although I am hardly ever in a grocery store in my personal life.  I always like to tour such stores when we visit foreign countries.  I was disappointed in this store.  It was nearly like those as home, large and modern.  I was hoping to see something unique that I couldn’t find back home.

 

Our drive took us past beautiful mountain scenery on one side of the road and blue crashing waves on the other.  This might have been our most beautiful NZ ride yet, out of many.  Carol and I both agreed that NZ, top to bottom, is the most beautiful country we have ever toured. 

 

We took several turn offs that allowed us to get even closer to the ocean.  There were quite a few “crayfish” restaurants.  We stopped at one location and spotted a dozen or more seals sunning themselves on the rocks.  All in all, a very nice drive.

 

We would be departing tomorrow morning from Picton.  Picton is at the head of the Queen Charlotte Sound.  It is the south island port of the Interisland ferry service from Wellington.  We didn’t get a good view of Picton when we arrived.  We were in a hurry to get to the Top of the Island Speedway a few nights ago.

 

We discovered that Picton is quite the resort destination.  There were many motels with water views.  Most of them were sporting “No vacancy” signs during this holiday season, when we pulled in at about 7 p.m.  That was a bad sign.  After several rejections, we were accepted at the Picton Yacht Club Motor Inn.

 

This might have been the most lavish place in the area and they had prices to match.  Nevertheless, we were treated to a huge ROUND bed and a view of the water.  It was a nice way to finish up the South Island.

 

Before going to bed, we pulled a restaurant recommendation from the reluctant hotel clerk’s lips.  She wanted us to eat in the hotel restaurant and I wanted to go off sight.  We ended up at Skipper’s out on Waikawa Road.  The food was good, not great. They had a lovely marina view where the sun conveniently chose to descend over.  Our last two days on the South Island, had given us our two best weather days of the trip.  We really liked the South Island.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 – 1,142

2.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,077 (-65)*

3.  Rick Schneider – Bay Shore, New York - 1,064 (-78)*

4.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania – 1,044 (-98)*

7.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 965 (-177)**

 

* 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, Ridgewood, New Jersey – 302 (+4)

32.  Gary Jacob, Turlock, California – 301 (+3)

33.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California - 298

34.  Ron Rodda, Lincoln, California – 297 (+1)

35.  Johnny Gibson, Grand Island, Nebraska – 290 (-8)

 

 

 

 

 

2007 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS

 

1.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 4

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California - 4

 

Tracks through this date have been reported from two different worldwide trackchasers this season.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,

 

Randy Lewis

#1 Trackchaser Living West of the Mississippi

 

Your best bet is to work your butt off, reach your goals and enjoy your rewards.

 

 

 

CUMULATIVE TRAVEL DISTANCES:

 

AIRPLANE

 

Los Angeles, CA – Sydney, Australia – 7,490 miles

Sydney, Australia – Auckland, New Zealand – 1,340 miles

RENTAL CAR – AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND

 

Auckland International Airport – trip begins

Driving all over New Zealand

 

 

 

 

TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:

 

Western Springs Speedway - $20NZ

Blue Chip Speedway at Baypark – Free

Upper Hutt Family Speedway - $20NZ

Stratford Speedway - $15NZ

Huntly Speedway – Free

Meremere Raceway – Free

Meeannee Speedway - $15NZ

Top of the South Speedway - $12NZ

Woodford Glen Speedway - $12NZ

 

 

 

 

 

Past trackchasing reports are available at:

www.ranlayracing.com

 

Official trackchaser standings can be viewed at:

www.trackchaser.net

 

Some of my standings data comes from www.trackchaser.net

 

 

 

 

 

UPCOMING TRACKCHASING PLANS

 

G’day, mate.  Yep!  We’re finished with the South Island.  We’ll be back some day.  Just a few more tracks to see in the North and we will finish up our trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

RACETRACKS VISITED IN 2007 (** not the first time to visit this track)

 

 

1,139.  Meremere Dirt Track Club, Meremere, New Zealand - January 1

 

1,140.  Meeanee Speedway, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand - January 1

 

1,141.  Top of the South Speedway, Richmond, New Zealand - January 2

 

1,142.  Woodford Glen Speedway, Christchurch, New Zealand - January 3