GREETINGS FROM CALDWELL, IDAHO

SPECIAL, VERY SPECIAL NOTICE

 

Tonight we were joined by some special friends, the Eichs of Idaho.  The Trackchaser Report is proud to share a special literary section of Mr. Eich’s impression of tonight’s trackchasing event.  His words can be found in the “People” section below.  Don’t miss it!

 

You may also want to check out the “Upcoming Trackchasing Plans” section of this Trackchaser Report.

ALL PICTURES HAVE BEEN UPDATED AT WWW.RANLAYRACING.COM  FOR THIS TRACKCHASING TRIP.  MY WEBSITE HAS MORE THAN 5,000 PHOTOS OF THE TRACKCHASING SIGHTS I’VE SEEN DURING MY TRAVELS.

WE WOKE UP IN SAN CLEMENTE, CALIFORNIA THIS MORNING AND WENT TO SLEEP IN BOISE, IDAHO.  THIS IS WHAT TRANSPIRED TODAY.

 

 

 

 

 

PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS

 

The Strategy                                                                                    

 

As you know, I fly to most of the new tracks I visit.  In the past, I never would have been able to economically justify making a flying trackchasing trip for just one track.  The airfare expense amortized over only one track would have been too expensive.  This is one of the reasons I have never trackchased much in the far western portion of the United States.  The tracks are located long distances from one another.  Often the best you can do is get one Far Western track per trip.  However, times have changed.

 

You’ve seen me make single-track stops in Arizona and New Mexico already this year.  Today, Carol and I added the state of Idaho to the 2007 single track in a trip list.  We were only gone from San Clemente for 31 hours.

 

In the business world, the U.S. is often divided up into geographic areas that are referred to as East, Central and the “eleven Western states plus Alaska and Hawaii.”  No, I don’t know why they don’t just say the “thirteen western states.”  Those states include:  Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming and, of course, Alaska and Hawaii.

 

The far west probably has the most beautiful scenery per square mile anywhere in the United States.  This got me to thinking.  Over the next 2-3 years, I’d like to put a “full-court” press on these far west states for trackchasing purposes.  I want to establish a goal of becoming the number one trackchaser in each of these states except California by the end of 2009.  Becoming #1 in California is not a realistic goal at this time. 

 

Below is a listing of these thirteen Far Western states.  The state’s name is followed by my current rank and how many tracks I need to gain at least a tie for 1^st place.  I’m looking forward to spending more time than usual is this great part of the country.

 

Alaska – 9^th - 3

 

Arizona – 1^st

 

California – 2^nd – 51

 

Colorado – 3^rd – 2

 

Hawaii – 3^rd – 1

 

Idaho – 3^rd – 2

 

Montana – 2^nd – 1

 

Nevada – 2^nd – 3

 

New Mexico – 5^th – 2

 

Oregon – 1^st

 

Utah – 2^nd – 1

 

Washington – 2^nd – 2

 

Wyoming – 2^nd - 2

 

As you can see I don’t have far to go in most states.  However, if I have to get most of these tracks on a one track per trip basis, it could take some time.  Each time I see a Far Western U.S. track, I will keep you posted on my progress.  We’ll see how it goes.

 

The Trip

 

Carol and I were last in Idaho this past summer.  We saw races in the rural towns of Atomic City and Kimberly on warm and sunny days.  This trip takes us to Boise, the capital of Idaho.

 

I have not traveled much in Idaho, the gem state, and can never remember flying into Boise.  I must say that for a town of 185,000 people, their airport is state of the art.  It’s somewhat similar to the Orange County, California airport that I consider to be my favorite airport anywhere for customer convenience and simplicity.

 

The Boise airport has several unique eateries, including one I never would have expected to find here, Maui Tacos.  They even have one bar/restaurant with an open fire pit in the center of the customer seating.  The airport has eight major airlines servicing the area.  When we departed Boise on Sunday morning at 9 a.m., those eight airlines had a combined total of just FIVE passengers checking in!

 

Prior to going to the track, we had a chance to drive through downtown Boise.  The huge capital building sits at the end of one of the major streets.  It’s a beautiful sight.

 

When I checked in with the National Rental Car people, I asked if there were any sights that we should not miss.  “You’ve got to see the ‘blue field’ at Boise State,” the car rental agent told us.  Yes, we did.

 

I had seen Boise State’s football field on TV in a sports bar once.  To my knowledge, they have the only BLUE turf football field in the world.  When I first saw it, I thought the TV reception was screwed up.  The artificial turf color is a dark, but bright blue.  Boise State’s colors are orange and blue and very similar to the Denver Broncos’ colors.  By the way, Boise State is very successful on the football field.  They finished this season at 13-0 with a victory in the last seconds over powerhouse Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.

 

There were various events going on at the campus.  This gave us the opportunity to sneak through an open gate and take a tour of the field.  Carol was what I call a “library girl” in school.  That’s a person who is probably the teacher’s pet, completes all of her assignments on time and smiles politely. 

 

I on the other hand was not a “library boy.”  I took great pleasure in pushing the rules to the limit and “messing” with library girls.  This is why it gave me such great pleasure to try to convince Carol that we should sneak into the stadium and run out onto the field.  You can see pictures of all of these exploits right now at www.ranlayracing.com.  This is exactly what we did.

 

When it was time to leave the field, we made for the exit where we thought we had entered.  The huge open gate that was swung wide open for our entrance was now locked!  At the moment I saw that locked gate, I thought we might be facing a significant problem since there was no one in sight to help us out.

 

It is at this point in these adventures that “library girls” can get even with their tormentors.  Carol was quick to point out that we never should have tried to sneak onto the field and this is a higher power’s way of getting back. 

 

Fortunately, before she could take a breath and begin her second paragraph, I noticed that we were trying to exit at the wrong gate.  The gate we originally used to enter was still open.  We safely made our exit and I was safe from a “moral” lesson from a “library girl.”

 

 

 

 

The People

 

More of my friends are not trackchasing aficionados than are.  Nevertheless, when I blow into town, my friends are often willing to indulge my addictive behaviors and come along for a night of trackchasing fun.  That was the case tonight.

 

Carol and I would be joined by Frank and Debbie Eich of the greater Boise area.  I worked with Frank aka “Frankie” at P&G for several years.  He and I always spent time at our meetings discussing the philosophical advantages and disadvantages of regional distribution centers among other things.  We always respected each other’s point of view.

 

Frank was a lacrosse star at Army’s West Point and he married his Debbie in the same year Trackchasing’s First Mother accepted my wedding invitation, 1972.  Following Frank’s Army career he joined Procter & Gamble and has been hard at the task for some 28 years.  We need strong and able workers like Frank so that the value of my P&G stock options will increase year after year.

 

Debbie is a school marm.  She’s been teaching first and second graders for most of her educational career.  I first met Debbie about 10 years ago at a business dinner in Denver.  During our conversations, I discovered that she had our nephew in her second grade class that year.  Yes, it’s a small world.

 

Like most of my “civilian” friends, the Eichs have a limited trackchasing background.  That’s what classifies them as civilians!  Debbie could not recall ever going to an auto race and Frank had not seen any races since his childhood days.  This is the normal profile of my civilian friends.

 

Of course, I am always on the defensive in this type of social trackchasing situation.  My guests are always bright eyed and bushy tailed about their upcoming experience.  I, on the other hand, know that I am likely to get a stinker of a program as my one and only shot to show them what I do in my hobby.

 

On the way to the track, I filled their heads with disclaimers.  “No, going to an indoor race is not what I usually do.  No, seeing ‘little cars’ race is not what I normally see.”  I don’t think they knew what to expect.

 

I am happy to report that we did not find the track on the first attempt.  I had to stop at a convenience store near the track’s location to get the final directions.  That is what I normally do.  Despite the uncomfortable weather conditions of cold and wet, we had a good time watching big mama’s race ATVs and both big and little guys race motorcycles.  We also got a chance to see two forms of open wheeled racecars for our countable classes.

 

You should know that Frank writes the Eich family Christmas letter.  He does not write the letter from his point of view, but from the family dog’s point of view.  I know it sounds strange….and it is.  With that literary background, I invited Frank to give me his observations of the night’s entertainment.  Here they are in their uncut and unedited version.

 

“so...... some thoughts.......... it was a rainy night in the area of Boise, Idaho.......Saturday, February 10th.  You can imagine our excitement, when, just one day earlier, a call from the World's #1 Trackchaser confirmed the fact that he and the exquisite Women's #1 Trackchaser.... Carol....were going to visit the great state of Idaho.  Randy and I had worked together in his corporate days at P&G..... and I still continue to work had for them......

I quickly placed a call to the Governor of Idaho and the Mayor of Boise to ensure that they would guarantee a very appropriate and well deserved welcome for Randy and Carol, upon their arrival on Saturday afternoon.  No expense was spared.... the marching band was in position.... the banners were hung...... and Randy and Carol made their entrance into the Boise International Airport.  The expressions on the faces of the other passengers was priceless....... they knew that they were in the presence of royalty........kind of.......  as is the custom in Boise, a red carpet was stretched from the arrival gate, to the National Rental Car kiosk and out to the non descript GM rental car.  As the band completed their final 'Hail to the World's #1 Trackchaser', the crowd began to disperse and Randy and Carol were off to visit the highlights of Boise, home of the Fiesta Bowl Champion Boise State University Bronco's....... can you ! say 13 - 0 BSU Broncos?

..... and then Randy awoke from his deep sleep on another great Skywest flight....... to drag  his luggage to the rental car counter and to drag the same out to the GM vehicle of someone else's choice.

At 5pm that Saturday, the Lewis' arrived at our home, dodging the raindrops and making it clear that our time was limited to make it to the Caldwell, ID indoor race track for a 5:30pm start time.  Debbie and I quickly slid into the back seat of the National Race Car as Carol directed us via a new GPS to the race site...... or the alleged race site.....After passing some non descript buildings in the town of Caldwell, Randy determined it best to visit the local Jackson's convenience store to see if the local attendants knew where we should really be heading....  with their guidance, we quickly retraced our steps and made it to another non descript building....located behind the 'Oconnor Field House'....... just in time.  Thankfully, the pit area was obvious as we drove around and within moments, Randy had parked the car, and we were dodging the rain, the mud and the standing water to make our way into the pit area.  Randy ensured that he took the requisite pictures and provided some excellent perspective about some of the vehicles which we were observing in the pit area.  To me, it appeared to be a mix of motorcycles....small and bigger...... and go karts...... small.....really small...... and bigger.  Of note were a number of kids, decked out in appropriate riding safety gear who were obviously going to be racing tonite.

From the pit area, again dodging the rain, we entered the race track building..... a dirt track, covered by a metal building..... chilly inside, but dry.....A quick trip to the concession stand uncovered what I have come to believe is often Randy's dinner..... hot dogs, chili dogs, burgers, fries and cheese, corn dogs.... the normal healthy fare.  Given that we had dinner plans later that night, Randy instead offered to buy us all something to drink...... coffee and hot chocolate were in order, given that the facility seemed to hold in the cold...... it was probably warmer outside.....  Our first trek into the metal bleachers uncovered a number of 'new' learnings for me, the novice trackchaser...... lots of dirt around the first few rows of the bleachers was a bit concerning...... I could quickly figure out that those areas were best left for others..... many fans had brought their own blankets and propane heaters...... I knew that I had to become one of their new, best friends, if I was going to stay reasonably warm thru the festivities.  We found our own cold, hard steel bleacher seats about 8 rows up, between two building supports that made seeing the corners of the track quite a challenge.... but we were near a few of those propane heaters.....we'd survive.....

The evening of racing began at about 5:40pm.... a few minutes late, but the races were extremely well organized, without much delay between events.  The start was in part delayed as the track announcer, a wonderful woman, implored the crowd for a few volunteers to handle the yellow flags in the corners.  I guess they found the necessary help....  The first few races were smaller motorcycles, followed by a go-kart race, followed by motorcycles, 4 wheelers, more motorcycles and eventually more go karts....... at least, that was my recollection.  

The crowd was predominately families, presumably from the Caldwell area.  The racers seemed to consist of young kids, aged 8 -10 or so and included some 'older' Idahoan's..... or maybe there were just some 'older' Idahoan's walking around in their racing garb....... hard to be sure......  Perhaps the most astute comment made about the racers was that of the World's #1 Trackchaser...... "some of those drivers are awfully big"........ we're in Idaho, dammit where Potatoes are King......and they must be fried..... and then they must be eaten......  On a more serious note, it was great to see that racing in Caldwell, ID is really a family activity.

There were a few other oddities which we observed during the races....... a race of 4 wheel ATV's.... that  included one 3 wheel ATV....... what's up w/ that ....... and finally, in a 'midget' motorcycle race, a youngster racing with training wheels on his motorcycle.........huh......  well....... good for the youngster to give it try......

Needless to say, the evening of racing  was a success, to be followed by dinner in downtown Eagle, ID.  Randy and Carol were able to add another Idaho track to their legacy and my wife Debbie and I got to tag along with two great friends.”

 

 

 

 

RACE TRACK STATS:

 

CALDWELL RODEO ARENA, CALDWELL, IDAHO - TRACK #1,153

 

This indoor Idaho track was my fourth lifetime track in the potato state and Carol’s third.  I now have sole possession of third place here and Carol is in a tie for fourth.

 

I entered the evening in a tie for third place with G. Killian, my lifetime National Geographic Diversity nemesis.  We each had three Idaho tracks.  Now that I have four, Mr. Killian is relegated to fourth place in the state standings.  Even though I did not improve my NGD score, breaking the tie increased Mr. Killian’s NGD score by one position or .02 NGD points.  Remember low score wins in the NGD world.

 

 

 

 

 

RACE TRACK NEWS:

 

CALDWELL RODEO ARENA

 

The Caldwell Rodeo Arena was located in a typical horse show arena at this local rodeo grounds.  In the west, a rodeo arena is very similar to a county fairgrounds in the Midwest.  We were lucky the racing was indoors tonight.  The weather was cool, about 45 degrees and it was raining lightly.  Had this event been scheduled for the outdoors, it would have been rained out.

 

The Owhyee Motorcycle Club promotes these events (http://www.omcracing.com/).  That being the case, I should have expected that motorcycles would play a key role in the program.  However, we were here to see four-wheeled racing machines raced by adults.

 

The track was a flat dirt oval about 1/6 mile in length.  There was a series of 7-8 row high aluminum grandstands on the front stretch.  There was no seating on the backstretch because the track ran close to the building’s exterior wall.  There was also an area near the fence of turns one and two where spectators could watch the action.

 

The racers entered the arena at turn two and exited at turn three.  The program called for a 5:30 p.m. start.  We arrived at about 5:45 p.m.  I had warned my traveling companions that these types of events do not always start on time.  Since there was no sound of racing engines we lingered in the pit area for a few minutes.  The pit area was a series of covered out buildings that kept the racers out of the rain, but not out of the cold since the pit buildings had no walls.

 

Racing finally did commence at 6:05 p.m.  By this time we had picked out a spot near the start/finish line at the top of the grandstands.  The lower rows had dirt and mud on them, so I didn’t want my guests to be subjected to a mud bath.  Unfortunately, the higher we went in the grandstands, the more the building’s support poles blocked our view. 

 

There were several large doors in the Caldwell Rodeo Arena that were kept open for ventilation purposes.  This also let the cold night air in.  We could see our breath as we talked.  Several local fans brought propane tanks that supported heaters.  They placed these heaters directly in front of their seat position.

 

After a short time, we relocated down by turn one and two.  We watched the races for the rest of the night standing in this position.  The races were run quickly and efficiently with virtually no full course yellows.  When a rider or driver did suffer a problem, the flagmen would wave a “corner yellow” and everyone kept on racing.  I liked that.  This last thing we needed on a weather night like this was a lot of delays.

 

Tonight they were racing motorcycles, ATVs and various open-wheeled racecars as well as flat go-karts.  We didn’t have to wait long to see a countable trackchasing class.  The third race of the night was for four 600cc mini-sprints.  The race program called for 35 different races.  We stayed for 24 races.  The second countable class was for 250cc “midgets.”  This was about race #23. 

 

Between countable racecar events, we saw motorcycle riders of all ages and genders racing big bikes and little ones.  I did see a first.  One young rider actually had TRAINING WHEELS on his small motorcycle.  Yep!  I see something new nearly every time I go to the races.

 

They also raced some box stock karts.  Box stock karts are smaller version of outlaw karts.  They are normally driven by youngsters.  We did not see the outlaw karts race since they were scheduled to be the 34^th and 35^th races of the night.  There looked to be 5-6 outlaw karts in the pit area.

 

I think the doors that were open to the rodeo arena created a draft.  This wind seemed to make it colder than the bank clock reading of 44 degrees.  I’ve got to give Debbie, Carol and Frank credit, they hung in there. 

 

I told them that if I knew the schedule called for 5-10 races in a row that were non-countable, and if I were by myself, I might go to the car to warm up.  Frank’s comment was, “You mean sitting in the car was an option?”  Of course, he said it with a smile.

 

I tried to explain to our guests that this type of racing, meaning indoor racing for a couple of classes of small open-wheeled cars, is not what trackchasing is normally about.  They didn’t seem to mind.  I think they actually enjoyed themselves because they were seeing something that was unique to them.  Of course, they would be within their rights to wonder how I could choose to see such “entertainment” some 1,153 times, but they didn’t dwell on it!

 

Considering the cold and windy weather where we could see our breath as well as the dampness generated by the rain, we bolted after seeing 24 races.  I did not want to wear out my trackchasing welcome with any of my three trackchasing companions.

 

We finished up the evening with wine and a fine dinner at Davinci’s on State Street in downtown Eagle, Idaho.  It was a fine way to end an evening talking about our common interests and experiences.  Good luck, Frank and Debbie, with your near-term future decision-making.

 

 

 

 

WEATHER CONDITIONS

 

I would estimate it was about 40 degrees inside tonight’s arena.  I know that when I walked by a portable propane heater it sure felt good.  It was raining outside.  Forty degrees and rain does not make for a pleasant evening for being outdoors.

RENTAL CAR UPDATE:

 

I called National Rental Car for a price quote for today’s one day rental.  The telephone agent came back with $15.99 per day.  Wow!  How do these guys make any money?  In addition to these rates, they even provide a frequent renter program which actually lowers the price even more.  Finally, there telephone reservation system is the best in the business of any company I do business with over the phone.

 

I am trained to get the very best prices the marketplace has to offer on quality goods.  $15.99 was a great price.  However, my training encouraged me to ask, “What’s your AAA rate.”  That yielded the response, “$15.25 per day.”  “I guess I’ll go with AAA,” was my reply.  Rome wasn’t build in a day, and my fortune (such as it is) was not built on a 74 cent savings, but it’s the principle of the thing with me.

 

Saturday total driving miles – 94

 

Sunday total driving miles - 1

 

The driving portion of our Boise, Idaho trip covered just 95 miles.  Last year gasoline was a major expense.  It was also an expense that exceeded my budget.  This year I have the ability to make much more precise air strikes into what used to be remote areas.  This will result in much less driving and therefore much less gasoline expense.  A quick fuel stop near the airport on the way back to the Boise International Airport had me paying an average price of $2.22 per gallon.  The Grand Prix gave me 23.8 M.P.G. in fuel mileage at an average cost of 9.6 cents per mile for the fuel only.    The car cost 20.4 cents per mile to rent, all taxes included. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 – 1,153

 

2.  Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 1,105 (-48)***

 

3.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,079 (-74)*

 

4.  Rick Schneider – Bay Shore, New York - 1,066 (-87)*

 

7.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 966 (-187)**

 

 

* Warning, you are within 50 tracks of being removed from this list. 

 

** Special exemption.

 

***  This is an exciting new development.  I will go into much greater detail in a future Trackchaser Report.  Stay tuned.

 

  

 

 

Other notables

 

These worldwide trackchasers are within 10 tracks (plus or minus) of Carol’s current trackchaser total.

 

31.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California - 304

 

32.  Chris Economaki, Ridgewood, New Jersey – 302 (-2)

 

33.  Gary Jacob, Turlock, California – 301 (-3)

 

34.  Ron Rodda, Lincoln, California – 297 (-7)

 

 

 

 

 

2007 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS

 

1.  Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California - 15

 

2.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 10

 

3.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania – 3

 

3.  Mike Knappenberger, Reading, Pennsylvania - 3

 

5.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania - 2

 

5.  Pam Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania - 2

 

5.  Rick Schneider, Baytown, New York - 2

 

8.  Several tied with one track

 

Tracks have been reported by 21 different worldwide trackchasers this season.

 

 

 

 

 Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,

 

Randy Lewis

#1 Trackchaser Living West of the Mississippi

 

Remember two wrongs don’t make a right, but three rights make a left.

 

 

 

 

 

CUMULATIVE TRAVEL DISTANCES:

 

AIRPLANE

 

Santa Ana, CA – Salt Lake City, UT – 588 miles

Salt Lake City, UT – Boise, ID – 290 miles

RENTAL CAR

 

Boise International Airport – trip begins

Caldwell, ID – 49 miles*

Boise International Airport – 95 miles - trip ends

 

* This is not always the direct mileage from the airport to the first stop as detours along the way may add to the stated mileage.

 

 

AIRPLANE

 

Boise, ID – San Francisco, CA – 522 miles

San Francisco, CA – Santa Ana, CA – 372 miles

 

 

 

 

Total Air miles – 1,772 miles

Total auto and air miles traveled on this trip – 1,867 miles

 

 

 

 

TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:

 

Caldwell Rodeo Arena - $3 ($5 senior discount)

 

 

 

 

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

 

Next weekend I will be attending the Pan African Film Festival movie premier of daughter Kristy’s first full length motion picture.  It’s titled "Will the Real Pimps and Hos Please Stand Up: Peeping the Multilevel Global Game."  You can visit www.ghettophysics101.com to see a trailer, and learn more about the film.  This activity as well as visiting a chili cheese fries eating contest at the Queen Mary in Long Beach may prevent me from doing much trackchasing over the weekend.  We’ll see if I’m interested in pulling an all-nighter to the east coast somewhere.

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

1,143.  Robertson Holden International Speedway, Palmerston North, New Zealand - January 5

 

1,144.  Taupo Motorsports Park, Taupo, North, New Zealand - January 6

 

1,145.  Waikaraka Park International Speedway, Auckland, New Zealand - January 6

 

1,146.  Angels Stadium of Anaheim (inner oval), Anaheim, California - January 6

 

1,147.  Angels Stadium of Anaheim (outer oval), Anaheim, California - January 6

 

1,148.  West Valley Speedway, Surprise, Arizona - January 14

 

1,149. Sandia Motorsports Park (road course), Albuquerque, New Mexico - January 28

 

1,150. Grand Prix De Lanaudiere, Lavaltrie, Quebec, Canada – February 3

 

1,151. Ste-Eulalie Ice Track, Eulalie, Quebec, Canada – February 4

 

1,152. St Guillaume, St Guillaume, Quebec, Canada – February 4

 

1,153. Caldwell Rodeo Arena, Caldwell, Idaho – February 10