GREETINGS FROM NAPLES, FLORIDA

AND THE READERS RESPOND

 

Rather than identifying my readers by name in the “And The Readers Respond” section, I will identify them by their geographical region.  This will allow some to offer points of view that are more direct.  By the way, I can neither endorse nor be responsible for any reader’s point of view.  It’s a free country and everyone is entitled to his or her opinion.

 

From a local SoCal reader regarding the lifetime trackchaser standings.

“I enjoy reading about all of the statistics you provide about trackchasing.  I noticed you were starting to distance yourself from the other people in the
 lifetime standings.  Then, all of a sudden, one of the trackchasers who was more than 100 tracks behind your total popped up and is now just 40 tracks
 or so behind.  What gives?”

I’ve been holding this question for a few weeks now.  I’ll attempt to answer the reader’s question.

Yes, Allan Brown’s lifetime trackchasing totals increased by 75-100 tracks in just one day about a month ago.  From what I know of the situation, Allan
made an agreement with the Trackchaser Commissioner, Will White regarding his track totals.  You see, Allan believes all trackchasers must see a feature
event before their track should be counted.  If they don’t see a feature event, then Allan feels their track should not be counted.  Allan had a large number 
of tracks where he had not seen a feature event that had already been added to his totals over the years.  In the last couple of years, Allan decided he 
wanted to rectify this situation.  He convinced Mr. White that each time he saw a new track, one of the old tracks on Allan’s list where he had not seen 
a feature event would be removed.  This resulted in one new track being added to Allan’s list and one old track being removed.  I wondered what was 
happening when Allan was seeing several new tracks and his overall total was not increasing.

Recently, our Trackchaser Commissioner decided that he could no longer go along with Allan’s plan.  Mr. White decided that if Allan or any other
trackchaser had seen a track that met the trackchaser rules, then the track must be counted regardless of whether the trackchaser wanted the track
added to his/her list or not.  I believe, to a much smaller degree, other trackchasers have limited their trackchasing totals if they were politically/morally
or in any other way opposed to a certain situation counting.  

As the current “World’s #1 Ranked Trackchaser” I’d like to offer my opinion on this subject.  My comments have nothing to do with Allan Brown or Will
White or any other trackchaser who was involved in limiting their trackchasing totals.  My comments are simply about playing by the rules we have.

The initial trackchaser rules were established by the top 10 trackchasers back in the late 1990s.  There have been a few rules changes since then.
The biggest change was adding figure 8 tracks to the list of countable track forms.  Currently, any trackchaser who has seen more than 400 tracks,
sends in their list every so often and doesn’t do anything to make the commissioner mad is eligible to vote.  That seems fair.

We have more than fifty trackchasers who have qualified as legitimate trackchasers with 200 or more tracks.  Just about every trackchaser that I have
ever talked too had his/her own way of counting tracks before they joined the trackchaser group.  I believe that if anyone of these trackchasers was,
“king for a day” they would likely want to change the rules to fit their own personal preference.

I feel strongly that when you join a group you abide by the rules of the group.  I was not a member of the trackchasing top 10 when the original rules
were established.  I have never proposed any rule changes whatsoever.  If I were “king for a day,” I would change several of the rules, but probably not
in any major way.  However, I do not ever expect to be “king for a day,” and probably won’t be proposing any rules changes any time soon.

That being the case, I am happy to simply try to understand our trackchasing rules and abide by them.  I would expect (but I know my expectation won’t
ever be met) that all members of the trackchasing group would simply obey the trackchaser rules.  We have a commissioner who will help the group if
there is a “gray” area.

I would also hope and expect that no trackchasers would cry or bellyache when they think another trackchaser is not meeting some criteria that is 
important to the bellyacher but is not part of the trackchasing rules.  We certainly don’t need 50 different trackchasers trying to assert their own personal
agenda on the rest of their counterparts.

I do recommend that the democratic process be used when someone thinks they have a better idea.  We had such a process in place where folks can
 propose just about any new rule or policy that they can think of.  The group will then vote “Yea” or “Nay” and we move on to the next issue.  Anyway,
 that’s my take on the issue of “playing by the rules we have.”

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.

I WOKE UP IN CLEWISTON, FLORIDA AND WENT TO SLEEP IN AUBURNDALE, FLORIDA.  THIS IS WHAT TRANSPIRED TODAY.

TRACKCHASING TOURIST ATTRACTION

GRAPEFRUIT LEAGUE – SPRING TRAINING GAME

Today’s TTA took me to St. Petersburg, Florida.  I visited the Progress Energy Park which is the spring training home to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.  The “Rays” play in the Eastern division of the American League.  Today they played the Minnesota Twins, also members of the American League.

 

It was a gorgeous Florida day.  The temperature was a warm 75 degrees under a cloudless blue sky.  My last race of the trip finished up on Sunday afternoon.  I wasn’t scheduled to fly back to SoCal until 7 p.m. on Monday night.  This gave me the entire day of Monday to find something fun to do in Florida.

 

Back in the day, a long, long time ago there wasn’t a bigger baseball fan than me.  As a grade schooler, I waited on the steps for the Peoria Journal Star to be delivered to my home.  It usually came at about 4 p.m.  As soon as the paper arrived, I devoured the sports page.  I knew every player’s stats and my baseball card collection was second to none.

 

It all changed for me when the baseball labor strikes and free agency came about.  When I could no longer count on my favorite players being on the home team from one year to the next, it was time for me to leave baseball fandom.  I explained this all to an ardent baseball fan one day.  “You hold a grudge for a long time, don’t you?” he stated.  Maybe.  Now I think of baseball as one of the slowest games there is.  Under normal conditions, I are bored stiff at a baseball game.

 

Of course, that does not include spring training games.  I go to spring training games when I can so I can “add a new park” to my baseball resume.  I am also part of an 8-person consortium that shares Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim season tickets.  Carol and I get tickets to ten games.  I go to these games because Carol likes the Angels and I like eating out!  All of the games we go to are played on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.  That leaves Friday to Monday for trackchasing.

 

Today’s atmosphere was great.  The small stadium was only half-full or was it half-empty?  I bought a ticket at the box office for 15 bucks.  Once in the stadium I could sit anywhere I wanted.

 

The organization of baseball is not like trackchasing in so many ways.  Today’s game was scheduled to start at 1:05 p.m. and it did!  During the game, they had no unusual delays like short track racing often does.  They entertained the crowd with music over an excellent speaker system during the time the teams switched being in the field.

 

I was able to get a foot long hot dog, large bag of peanuts and a Diet Coke for $10.50.  That didn’t seem too bad.  The seating offered nice folding chair seats.  The comforts of this type of entertainment make it easy to see how the casual sports fan might like to try a baseball game rather than a short track auto-racing event.

 

The Twins ended up winning the game 4-2.  After the fifth inning, I had to seek a seat in the shade.  Even though I’m out in the open air a couple of times each week with golf, I could tell I was “getting some sun.”  I hadn’t thought to bring any suntan lotion.  When I did get home, I could see that I should have brought the lotion. 

 

All in all, it was a fun day at the old ballpark.  Had I already been to this stadium, I probably would not have come today.  However, visiting stadiums for the first time is a lot like the thrill of trackchasing to me.  Please add the Progress Energy Park in St. Petersburg to my list.

PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS

 

The Strategy                                                                                    

 

Whenever I can, I prefer to visit tracks that don’t race very many times during the year.  Today’s Florida Speed Park was a perfect strategic fit.  They race only three times per year here.  Another major plus was that this track was racing on Sunday.  I don’t have many tracks where I can see racing on Sunday.

 

 

The Trip

 

The trip for my stepfather and me was rather uneventful.  The Garmin GPS unit worked well.  It directed us to a Steak N Shake when we needed one.  We also stopped at a Bass Pro Shop retail outlet.  Bill had never been in one.  It was huge and had plenty of “wow” factor.

 

I did pick up a package of “Ass-kickin tortilla soup and bean mix” at the Bass Pro Shop.  I’m looking forward to that taste treat sometime soon from the kitchen of Trackchasing’s First Mother.   

 

 

 

 

The People

 

Today’s event brought two NASCAR Craftsman truck drivers to the venue.  Both Todd Bodine and Ted Musgrave were here to promote their Toyota trucks.  The crowd appreciated them being here.

 

 

 

 

RACE TRACK STATS:

 

FLORIDA SPORTS PARK, NAPLES, FLORIDA - TRACK #1,158

 

This was my 50th lifetime track to see in the Sunshine state, whose state motto is “In God we trust.”  I continue to hold the second place state ranking here.  Ed Esser leads the state with 55 tracks.

 

 

 

 

 

RACE TRACK NEWS:

 

FLORIDA SPORTS PARK

 

No matter how many tracks I visit, it seems like I almost always see something I’ve never seen before.  Often, it’s not a major item, but today it was.  I’ve seen racing on dirt, asphalt, concrete and ice.  I have NEVER seen racing in 1-4 feet of water.

 

Today’s event was for “swamp buggies.”  These were some of the strangest looking creatures I’ve ever seen.  The racing machines in the pro-modified class looked like a B52 airplane with the wings and tail ripped over.  The racers had four wheels, if you could call them that.  The driver sat in front of the front wheels.  I have never seen that before. 

 

You may never have visited my website at www.ranlayracing.com to look at pictures of racecars before.  If that is the case I recommend you make an exception and go to www.ranlayracing.com immediately.  You will be entertained by these unusual looking contraptions.

 

My advance research seemed to indicate it might be best to purchase tickets to today’s races in advance.  Ticket’s bought in advance cost $15.50 per person, while those bought the day of the event were $18.  They even sold standing room only tickets.  This policy gave me the impression they might have a large crowd.  They did.

 

I would estimate that all of the grandstand seating was nearly full.  They probably had between 3,000 and 4,000 spectators.  That seemed like a lot of folks for swamp buggy racing.

 

What made today’s racing so unusual was the racecourse.  The course is listed on www.trackchaser.net as a ½-mile dirt oval.  I can’t agree with that.  This is not an oval course, it is a road course.  I’ll try to describe the layout to you.

 

First, imagine an oval layout.  Then imagine a straight line that runs directly from turn four of this oval to turn two of the oval.  Of course, the turns are labeled based upon the racers running in a counter-clockwise direction.

 

Today, the swamp buggies started just beyond turn four in our mind’s eye racetrack.  They raced from a standing start.  At the drop of the green flag, they drove forward for 50 yards or so, before making a left hand turn and driving on a straight line between turns four and two.  Once they reached turn two, they turned right and drove around an oval in a clockwise direction for a lap and one-half. 

 

I guess it would be technically correct to call this a dirt track.  In reality, the races took place on a track that was designed to replicate a Florida swamp.  The entire track was covered with 1-4 feet of water.  The swamp buggies raced through the water.  When they reached a section of the track that had only one foot of water they got better traction and moved forward faster.  When they reached an area where the water was four feet deep, they sometimes slowed to a crawl.  The announcer told us the track was one mile long and the very fastest racers reached an average of about 60 miles per hour.

 

The crowd was somewhat on the older side.  You might expect this as we were in Florida.  They have a good P.A. and announcers who talk non-stop.  There are no lights. 

 

They’ve been racing swamp buggies down here for a long time.  The three-dollar event program showed feature race winners dating all the way back to 1949.  In fact, Leonard Chesser was the main winner in 1970 and is still the top dog at age 67 today. 

 

I was somewhat concerned when the first of seven classes came out to race, the 4-cylinder two-wheel drive class.  There were just two of them.  It looked like the field might be limited to two racers at a time.  If that had been the case, the track would not have counted.

 

I asked the lady sitting behind us, “if they raced more than two at a time.”  “Oh sure, they’re going to have several racing at a time later today,” she reassured me.  She was right.  Most races had just two or three, but the Jeep class had the most in one race with six.

 

The swamp buggies created quite a wake when they roared through the water.  It was not unusual for the buggies to break at the starting line.  When this happened they quickly sank to the bottom of the water and the driver had to bail out!

 

The Jeeps were the slowest class.  They would bog down so much in the deepest water; they could hardly make any headway.  In the fastest classes, there were even a couple of flips.

 

Overall, beyond the uniqueness factor, the “racing” wasn’t that great.  There were a large number of mechanical failures.  They also took a good deal of time between races.  I wouldn’t go back to seem them again, unless it was to bring Carol.  That made today’s large crowd all the more amazing to me.

 

The overall ambience for the day was somewhat reminiscent of a county fair, complete with the crowning of the “Swamp Buggy Queen.”  Today was the end of the reign for the past year’s queen.  Tradition has it that when her reign ends, she must take a “mud bath.”  As appealing as this might have seemed, Bill and I decided we didn’t need to wait five-six hours to see this happen.  After being at the track for four hours we bolted.

 

 

 

WEATHER CONDITIONS

 

It was a pleasant Florida winter afternoon.  Temperatures were in the mid-70s.

 

 

RENTAL CAR UPDATE:

 

I’ll be going with a Buick LaCrosse CRX.  It was a nice car with leather seats and XM satellite radio.  For some reason, I always try to pick white rental cars.  I had a white one on this trip.

 

Friday total driving miles - 101

 

Saturday total driving miles - 293

 

Sunday total driving miles - 286

 

Monday total driving miles - 77

 

 

We had the opportunity to drive on several Florida state highways rather than the somewhat dull but efficient interstates.  Spread over four days, the 757 miles didn’t see too bad.  I paid an average fuel price of $2.50 giving me a 10.2 cent per mile fuel charge.  The Buick LaCrosse CSX provided fuel mileage of 24.6 M.P.G.  The car cost 19.9 cents per mile to rent, all taxes included.  The overall rental charge was increased by a small amount because I dropped the car in Tampa after I picked it up in Orlando.

 

 

 

 

 

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 – 1,158

 

2.  Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 1,106 (-52)***

 

3.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,088 (-70)*

 

4.  Rick Schneider – Bay Shore, New York - 1,067 (-91)*

 

7.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 977 (-181)**

 

 

* 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.

 

 

 

 

LIFETIME NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY STANDINGS

 

2007 (current thru 2/18/07)**

 

With gains in Idaho, New Mexico and Wisconsin, I have now erased a .08 deficit (four positions) and have a .06 lead (three positions.) 

 

1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 7.04

2. Gordon Killian, Sinking Springs, Pennsylvania – 7.10

3. Allan Brown, Comstock Park, Michigan – 7.55

 

**Until the end of the year, NGD rankings are unofficial.  Rankings are affected not only by the leader’s activities but by other trackchasers impact on the leader’s position. 

  

 

 

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 - 20

 

2.  Mike Knappenberger, Reading, Pennsylvania - 13

 

3.  Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 12

 

4.  Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania - 11

 

5.  Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 10

 

6.  Rick Young, Maxville, Ontario, Canada - 7

 

7.  Will White, Quakertown, Pennsylvania – 5

 

8.  Gordon Killian, Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania – 4

 

8.  Roger Ferrell, Majenica, Indiana – 4

 

10.  Jack Erdmann, DePere, Wisconsin - 3

 

10.  Rick Schneider, Baytown, New York - 3

 

 

Tracks have been reported by 25 different worldwide trackchasers this season.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,

 

Randy Lewis

#1 Trackchaser Living West of the Mississippi

 

God grant me...The senility to forget the people I never liked.
The good fortune to run into the ones that I do, and the eyesight to tell the difference.

 

 

 

CUMULATIVE TRAVEL DISTANCES:

 

AIRPLANE

 

Los Angeles, CA – Orlando, FL – 2,215 miles

RENTAL CAR

 

Orlando International Airport – trip begins

Clewiston, FL – 383 miles*

Naples, FL, – 495 miles

Tampa International Airport – 757 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

 

Tampa, FL – Los Angeles, CA – 2,158 miles

 

 

 

 

Total Air miles – 4,373 miles

 

 

Total auto and air miles traveled on this trip – 5,130 miles

 

 

 

 

TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:

 

New Hendry County Speedway - $12 ($3 senior discount)

 

Florida Sports Park - $15.50 ($2.50 early purchase 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

 

I’m really undecided about my next trackchasing trip.  It really depends on who has an open airplane seat.

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

1,154. Balsam Lake Ice Track, Balsam Lake, Wisconsin – February 18

 

1,155. Northeast Pond Ice Track, Milton, New Hampshire – February 24

 

1,156. Lee Pond Ice Track, Moultonborough, New Hampshire – February 25

 

1,157. New Hendry Country Speedway, Clewiston, Florida – March 3

 

1,158. Florida Sports Park, Naples, Florida – March 4